TOPIC: Planting this weekend!

Patch two goin' in this weekend. I'm planning to spread the planting over this month, and one month from now.

I'm thinking 8 lbs of seed in there. Perhaps there will be a bit more needed, however that's what I'm thinking now.

Going to do a bowhunt there before planting on Sat.... Photo below is from last year, a two year old harvested near patch one.

I'm stoked...

Whitjr

Good Luck on both the deer hunting and with the new seed work I to am planing to put out a few pound of seed throughout the mountians

I will not keep a check on these but just toss and leave them.I already have an exsperiment plot that i started 2 years back to learn from.

Best
Billy.

I hear ya Whitjr,I need to do a deer thinning as well. Iv noticed a lot more wild plants that have been browsed and also extra trails formed in the area. It definately makes me think the deer population has increased.

Hillhopper

Fellas, I have found many ginseng plants along deer trails untouched by the deer. However, I have heard from some experts that suggest that the increasing deer population is the largest threat to the wild ginseng population. I have also personally seen a corn field in Southern Ohio (Putman County area)full of over 400 wild turkey in Oct picking at the corn left behind. Not sure if the turkey eat the plant but I know they love to eat the berries.
Due to the food source we provide though farming, there are more deer and turkey now than when the Pilgrims came to America.
Glad we have hunters keeping the population in check.
Latt

In my patches, the deer trails are headed into and out of my 'sang. Oh, gonna have to get me a couple of them....

5 lbs into the ground so far, guys. 2/3's of the patch done! We'll finish this patch next month.

Fellows,
I'm reading this thread with a great big question mark in my mind about conditions right now. It is awfully dry here in the lower elevations right now and it may be better where you are, especially in the mountains. If it does not rain some real soon I'm afraid we're going to see more planting failures from seed drying out. We sure have had our share of problems for the last three years and it is not looking much better this season. I have been planting rootlets instead of seed this year to try to make up for some of the losses. Let's hope that both methods are successful.
Hugh

It's good to keep on top of coditions, Hugh. I try to as well.

I'm glad to say that my area's conditions are doing pretty good, and I really don't have big worries there.

Well,
I finally just said to myself that \"I'm not letting this situation get any worse\" and I drug my irrigation hoses out this morning and I've been running the water all day. It sure gets old and costly to have to go through this planting or replanting thing every year. You can bet you are going to see some stratified seed plantings fail next Spring. This is the very reason that I said that I felt that planting ripe berries at about 2 inches is safer than 3/4 inch. I hope the rest of you guys are a little wetter where you are.
Hugh

Well I planted about 4,000 seeds yesterday and hope that most of them germinate and produce nice healthy plants and roots! I planted the seeds on my brother-in-laws nephew's property where I took a lot of Ginseng around 1970 or 1971 and a fair amount last year and this year as well. Although it was tough going with my' ruptured disks, pinched nerves and bone spurs, I made my way all the way from the bottom of the hollow to almost the top of the ridge at the hollow's head. I alternated between punching holes and scraping out furrows with my' sharpened walking stick to plant seeds to broadcasting many, many more from side to side as I made my way up. I even made my way around the right side ridge where conditions are perfect for Ginseng but there has just never been much. I know that in broadcasting the seeds, I am taking a great risk that some of the seeds will be eaten by rodents or ground squirrels or just not get covered enough to germinate! However, the whole area had been recently scratched out by the two flocks of Wild Turkeys that live in and travel through the area. Their scratchings made ideal pockets of exposed grounds for broadcasting and with the leaves already falling and plenty more to fall, I believe that they will be quickly covered and somewhat protected. Although the forecast was and still is calling for rain this weekend, I removed the seeds from the refrigerator Thursday night and added water to the breathable bag (with small holes in it) that they were shipped in and placed this bag in a water tight ziplock bag. I did not drain the water off until I began planting and the seeds should have had plenty of moisture until Mother Nature provides more for them! In climbing to almost the top of the ridge, I was able to locate the spot where I believe that there may be some big 4 pronged or even bigger (5, 6, 7 and/or 8 pronged) plants hiding from sight. This spot is very hard to get to and is about 1/4 of the way down from the top and covered in dense bushes, small trees, brush and from all of the dead stems that I could see, apparently a lot of companion type plants. The location also has a fairly good canopy of trees covering it. I was hoping to find some still standing stems of Ginseng with forks (prongs) on them but the drought really took it's toll on almost all of the smaller undergrowth (Ginseng and companion plants) as 90 percent of the stems were down and many were now covered over due to the Wild Turkey scratchings. I will search this location and from this point all the way to the top of the ridge at the head of the hollow and down the other side for those elusive old, old Ginseng plants and with hope, I will find them. If I do find quite a few, I will leave some for future offspring at this location and dig some for transplanting deep in the mountains in a secretive location. I think that this is the right thing to do, considering how much Ginseng that God, these same mountains and Mother Nature has provided me with over the many years! I also plan to take the remaining Ginseng seeds I have (about 3,000) and plant them soon in these same mountains.


Frank