TOPIC: Listen up TN Hunter!

I have been going back through all of the post made through the years to glean as much info as I can about growing ginseng and last night I came across a post made by TN about his ginseng bed plants and in the discussion it was mentioned that some of the leaves were showing damage on the plants that he had bought from Billy. http://www.wildgrown.com/index.php/Ginseng-Forum/Growing-Ginseng/10207-A-few-pictures-of-plants-and-flower-spikes-from-today-6/3/2011.html
The wrinkled look of the leaves caught my attention and it took me back in time to a lot of studing at different universities about soils that were deficient in the mineral Boron.
When I grew peaches commercially I had this problem and some of the pictures and first hand looks at boron damage looked just like this. I believe that the plants that Billy digs and sells come from an almost perfect enviornment for growing ginseng and have taken on the best genetic qualities that you can see in ginseng grown in the Eastern U.S. I also believe that taking the plants out of their native soil and placing them in an enviornment where the soil is lacking in calcium and boron might be causing the problem that TN is seeing in his plants. Add to that the very dry and hot weather that we had this summer and the effects of low boron in the soil shows up. It is not such a big thing to see wrinkled leaves ,but there is also damage taking place in the roots and it will eventually cause disease and you will lose your large seed bearing plants.
So TN, I'm going to make a suggestion to you and see if it helps with that problem. Take some 20 Mule Team Borax or Boric Acid and mix with a water soluble calcium product. Pour this mixture on 2 or 3 of the roots that you bought from Billy, right now before growth starts and do it again in a few weeks. I believe this will cure the problem and you can do it to the rest of the plants the next season. This is an effect caused by soils low in calcium and boron and exaserbated by dry weather. If this works, we will all have learned something.
Hugh

Hugh,

You may be right, but not sure.

I found some info on adding boron to deficient soil below - sounds simple enough.

==
1 - Calculate the approximate square footage of the area where you want to add boron. Multiply the area's width by its length.

2 - Measure 1 tbsp. of powdered laundry borax for each 100 square feet. Mix each tablespoon of borax with 1 gallon of water in a watering can.

3 - Sprinkle the solution over the garden area. You probably won't need to add boron again for as long as three years, unless you test the soil and find a deficiency sooner, according to the Oregon State University Extension.
==

Problem is having too little or too much can be a problem for plants.

Should have soil test results before you do anything, and my standard soil test done on that area did not show boron content.

I am not sure if you read the details on how I put that bed together.

It is in the woods, on a north/east facing hillside. I broke up the ground in a 14' x 7' area and then raked the sides up to form a raised bed '14 x 4'.

I went to one of the best seng growing hollows I know of and got 6, 5gal buckets of the rock chip filled soil (30 gallons) and poured it on top of the bed and worked it in good to the first 3-5\" of soil. I also added organic material, composted peat (200 lbs), and also added gypsum, bonemeal and epson salt.

One thing that makes me doubt the boron issue is that of the 44 roots I put in, 42 came up last spring.

Only 5 of those had deformed leaves (the 5 I got from Billy).

The rest of the roots were local roots and they all had perfectly normal looking leaves.

If the soil was defficient in something and that caused the deformed leaves, then surly some of my local roots would have show the same symptoms, but they did not.

I think I am just going to wait and see how they do this year.

I just gave that bed a nice dose of gypsom, and that is about all I plan to do to it this year, except take care of the varmits that ate up my berries, and perhaps spray it a time or two with actinovate (organic fungicide).

When they start showign up here in a few more weeks, I will be posting pics - so we will all see how they turn out this year.

Thanks

TNhunter

TN,
I can understand how you might be sceptical about the boron issue. I think that my thoughts are coming from the idea that the roots have been growing in soil that apparently has the nutrients that the ginseng needs and all of a sudden they have been placed into a new setting where there might be a defiecency and they have not adjusted to the new enviornment. The other plants have grown apparently from seeds and have made the necessary adjustments needed or had enough of the nutrients already in the root systems to not show a problem. I could be completely wrong and this next year may tell the story. Once the roots get settled into their new homes they may be completely fine. The conditions that we had this past summer really compound this problem and let's hope that it doesn't ever get that bad again.
Hugh

Hugh,

You may be right about that.

One things for sure they had a serious change of scenery, from a KY Mountain to a TN Hillside.

Billy did have to store the roots for a while, while he collected all 5, before he shipped them to me, perhaps that had something to do with it.

Some of the local roots I put in that bed were collected from areas that were quite different from my hillside though, Like Bluff area with rock chip filled soil, and they came up with normal looking leaves.

All of the local roots I planted, I harvested them in the morning, and planted them as soon as I got back home.

Anyway - we'll see here in a couple more months what they look like this year.

PS - Billy also sent me a root from a 5 prong last fall, that I planted here. Can't wait to see if it comes back a 5 prong this year.

Thanks

TNhunter

TN,
When you start to show your plants this Spring I will be looking closely at mine because I bought some roots from him this past year myself. It is a lower altitude here and usually less rainfall which may complicate things for me. I do plan to water my plants when I feel it is necessary and if I see that problem developing I will try the method I mentioned myself. I do have a much better soil where I live now than when I grew peaches commercially.

Right now, I have all of my peach trees pruned and I finished cleaning up the orchard today. It's time to do a dormant spray and soon after that, It's off to the races. I usually spread some 20 Mule Team Borax and then fertilize the trees. I'll post pictures and posibly a video or two of the peaches as well as the ginseng. I look forward to seeing yours again this year.
Hugh