TOPIC: So seriously...who does this for a living...

Right on TNhunter & Hopper, having the time is the key factor and relying only on sang for income could be foolish, i agree.

All of your stories help to put this in perspective for me. I want to make the farm work for me and would love for ginseng to be a part of it.

Bcastle, you are not far from me at all, i would like mabye next summer to get together, i appreaciate the offer and look forward to it.

Latt, you hit it right on the head dude.....i find my self so caught up in sang sometimes that i find myself walking in circles! sounds like you got the bug pretty bad too. Thats great man.

This coming summer i am going to make it a point to visit some of the larger farms. Hardings for sure.

We can certainly do that. The other 'farms' around the area I've consulted on before they got started are doing pretty well at this point.

I would suggest you start small...a pound or two a year...and I would also suggest you plan to wait until 10 years to harvest at the earliest. This does a couple things. First, you get the hang of things before spending a ton of money, and secondly, the ginseng you will harvest will have the longer necks which is much more desirable in the market. Additionally, the increase in size is a big plus too.

Buckeyefist -
I am by no means a large scale grower, but I have planted a small amount of stratified seed the last couple of years and also have transplanted some mature wild plants into a seed producing area. Some of my methods are no doubt a little unorthodox. I don't want to publish all of my thoughts on this forum, but would be glad to share them with you over the phone and possibly show you a couple of my areas next spring. Feel free to call sometime 740-260-3084 (after 7 pm is best) ask for Jeff.

Sounds great 5prong. I will do that.

Keep the info coming guys, i appreaciate it immensely.

Good luck.......

Don't do it as a full time job. It's to frickin easy to go down. most farms the size you talk of have four full timers and a agro office that can check plants for disease before the disease shows.
do you have chemical training
do you have farm experience
do you have watering ponds
do you have access to migrant workers for seed pickin
do you have dependants
do you have a pension, plan
does your wife nag at ya
is the family into it
do you have a good account with God
it's possible to make a good living, I know a few guys that make a very good income growing field grown.
The guys I know that started in the woods, none are at it now they went down in flames.

I wouldn't do it, part time at best.
Try to find guys that did it and did not succeed, more to learn there than any where.

don't go full time,you should grow to a full time opp at best.

guy

Daaang Guy, talk about a buzz kill for a hopeful grower.
I would come near thinkin you were makin a killin at it and tryin to keep everyone's hand out of the honey hole with all that negativity, and, I know good and well you dont need any watering ponds up there if all you have to do is scratch the leaves back and pull a root up out of the ground like you said you do last year.

buckeyefist,
There is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. Example: I have achieved starting and running my business in an area where no one said it could be done... and I mean no one. But guess what, I am now considered the authority in a large area we service and am succesfull at what I do. It was tough at first but I figured it out along the way and things really picked up when I seeked advice from people that had been in my shoes before and accomplished what they set out to do. I more or less worked two jobs until my clientel was built large enough that I could quit my public job.
Sounds like you should just ask Guy how he does it and..... do just the opposite. lol

Hillhopper

Guy,

What are the reasons for failure for these woodsgrowers, it seems like it should be easier and cheaper to grow in the woods than under shade cloth.

Lenno

do you have chemical training----no
do you have farm experience----yes
do you have watering ponds----yes, one. 1/2 acre
do you have access to migrant workers for seed pickin----dont know, mabye
do you have dependants----yes, wife and 5 year old son.
do you have a pension, plan----i am 36, so not much of one yet. Wife has 401K.
does your wife nag at ya----100% supportive sofar. Good woman with green thumb.
is the family into it

---

yes.
do you have a good account with God----In God i trust, all others pay cash.

Negativity is OK as long as its constructive. I understand that there is a flip side to every buisness venture and all is not \"blue sky\", especially in agriculture. If you do this for a living Guy i take your advice seriously. Thank you for your honesty.

This is just the type of stuff i need to hear. The good and bad. If 25% return is the collective average that i can expect to reap in 8-10 years then mabye this buisness is not a full time option for me. The familiarity with the crop and training of app of the chemicals is my current weak points. You have a great point there. My thoughts were that having the proper equipment and the land would give me a little of an advantage on this, but i see where this is not as important as knowing how to care for the little fellars.

Keep it coming, its all good.

Buckeyefist,
After reading all the post and responses I would try this. You have the land, equipment, desire, passion and family support. If I were you I would plant between 50 and 100 lbs of seed next fall. I think it is way too early to try doing ginseng farming full time at this point.

However, lets say you buy between 50 and 100 lbs of seed and invest between 5 to 10 thousand dollars on seed and plant it next fall. That is a good bit and it will give you an indication of what the future holds for you in ginseng farming. You are either going to get a great jump on it at an early age of 36 years old. Or you may discover it is not for you. Worst case scenario is you end up with no ginseng from that experience and you are out 10 thousand bucks.

No one wants to lose 10 thousand bucks. But most can recover from losing that amount. Painful yes, but a life changing lose the house and cars type situation probably not.

Tinker with that 50 to 100 lbs for 3 or 4 years and see how it goes. If all looks good then you can grow the size of your ginseng farm. By 40 years old you will have tested it out a bit and can make the call on what you think the future holds in ginseng farming.

Who knows, by 40 years old you might have a boat load of seng growing from that 50 to 100 lbs of seed planted.

I do not think you will get a feel for it by planting just a pound or two. To see if this is for you I think you need to manage a good amount of ginseng growing derived from 50 to 100 lbs of planted seed.

I plan on planting between 50 to 100 lbs next fall and I do not plant on failing. No one plans on failing I am sure but I will not be happy until I try it. I wanted to do that this year and things just didn't work out land wise. Next year will be a different story and I have the spot already selected and will be preparing it this winter, next spring and mid summer for planting next fall.
Good luck,
Latt