TOPIC: Techniques for planting and growing wild ginseng

I myself, am either blessed or cursed with calcium and ph on the other end of the spectrum. Due to the vast amount of limestone in my area my calcium ranges from 6500-8000 ppa and my ph hovers around 7 to 7.5 . My recent soil test shows that the application of amending my soil before my first planting has reduced ph from 7.2 to 6.5 . The funny thing is that another sample I took from the most populated wild patch on my farm shows that the ph is 7.5 . Go figure..... Studies show higher ph makes ginseng far more susceptible to disease, the only thing I can come up with is that the super deep shade keeps these plants cool enough that disease is improbable. It sure doesn't help with their growth rate though, these plants average twenty plus years and are very small for their age.

Hillhopper

Whitjr - I tested the pH in the area I planted. I had the water tested before I bought the place and saw it was alkaline. So I was surprised when I saw most of the plants seemed to be acid loving plants. I wish I had a clue why there is a difference, but I'm not a geologist/hydrologist . My well is a deep drilled well so I'd assume something is happening to the water on the way down to alter it's pH. I looked up info on the mountain Laurels and they indicate a pH range between 5 and 5.5 and indicate low calcium levels. Apparently soil acidity and low calcium levels go hand in hand. So that makes ginseng kind of an enigma to me.

Hillhopper - If you have neutral to alkaline soil maybe you should try truffles, they get you more money than Ginseng and love pH ranges between 7 and 8. They also grow in one season

Fellows,
I'm going to step out on a limb here and make a guestimate on the soil PH where Ittiz has planted his seeds. I'm basing the values on what I see in almost all of the pictures that he has shown. I'm guessing that the soil survey would show a range OF 6.5-7PH because of all the high grade limestone rocks sticking out of the ground. That appears to be the parent rock formation that this soil is built upon and it would continually wash degraded limestone and calcium into the building soil. I hope that he has a Soil Survey done that gives the actual Calcium levels this Winter.
Hugh

Hugh - I just rechecked my pH test and it was in the mid 6 range for the area I planted. The statement I made that it was 4.5 to 5 before was a mistake. However most of the rocks in my area are granite and quartz.

Thanks Ittiz for the followup.
That sounds about normal. Granite and Quartz would give readings of 5 or lower and limestone would give readings of 6 or higher. One of the tale-tale signs of good calcium levels in young plants is that they will probably have better growth and many more hair roots at a young age. Hillhopper makes me sick when he shows his 2 year old plants. They look like they will be ready to take to the buyer in a couple of years. He has very high Calcium levels in his soil and it really shows, early on. \"I'm eating my heart out.\"
Hugh

I posted wrong earlier on. The sample from the wild patch tested at 7.6, this is really getting on up there in alkalinity.
A third test I took was from a two acre site that has a much more shallow grade that I will plant a test plot on for consideration of next year's planting, it faces due east and has fairly decent shade but not the really old and mature trees I have elsewhere. It has a shallow grade enough so that tobacco was raised there by using a team of mules up until the early sixties but since has grown up, don't get me wrong though, its still a hillside that was to steep for a farmall tractor back in the day. It has a ph of 6.2 and Ca levels at 2000 ppa, that goes to show what the presence of (or in this case the lack of) limestone out croppings do for soil.

Hugh,
Sorry Hugh,lol. But seriously, I don't know if my situation is such a great one or not. Gypsum and lime are fairly cheap and I have learned it costs way more to lower your ph than it does to raise it along with Ca levels. Lower ph and such high Ca makes great growing conditions once you get it there but it costs a pretty good bit to drop the ph of a half acre by nearly a point. But, on the other hand, ill deal with my negatives and consider myself lucky with the positives. How does that phrase go........give us a hillside and we'll give you a ginseng farm. Something like that I think

Hillhopper