TOPIC: site selection

Hello- I need a little help about site selection.

I have 2 acres of woods on my property- where I would like to plant ginseng beds. It just doesn?t have the right requirements for the beds.

Description of Site:

Northwest face, 5-8% grade, oaks and primarily silver and stripped maple trees (average age of trees 20-30 yr old), plenty of shade- maybe too much shade, undergrowth- not much , may apples come up in April- but die off by now, some ferns, weeds, the soil is dark organic, silty, sand, seems to get very dry this time of year, pH seems very acidic. Do you have any suggestions to get this site capable of growing ginseng!! Would irrigation and lime help?

Thanks for your time

Matt

As a rule of thumb, choose a well-drained upland area that is 70-80% shady, slopes toward the north or east.
Soil should not acidic. As a guide to appropriate sites, look for indicator plants, those that often grow among naturally occurring ginseng populations. Besides the usual deciduous trees (ash, basswood, elm, hickory, suga maple, red oak and white oak), herbaceous, perennials that incude the rattlesnake fern, spleenworts, jack in the pulpits, the May apple and wild gingers indicate suitable habitats.

Hope this helps.

Sounds good to me! Don't add lime unless the ph is below 4.5. Ginseng does best in 4.5 to 5.5 ph. If the calcium is low add Gypsum.

I Suggest planting a few 3 to 4 yr old plants along with some seeds. If the plants do well, it is a good indication that the seedlings will grow well without too much trouble.

MMG

How are you? I would like to have some of that mayapple to try and grow. Would you help me with some? Randy