TOPIC: The beginning of the Late Winter-Early Spring work

Guys,
I began a couple of days ago starting to plant Butterfly Bush seeds to fill in spots where too much sunlight is getting to some of my plants. I had planted some roots of Black Cohosh in the early winter to help a little as well. I'll dig up and replant some Beechnut and small Maples in a few minutes to help with long term shade problems around the borders of my patch. This is probably an ongoing thing that many ginsengers will have to do to replace lost trees or other openings as time progresses on a planting. In the next week or so I'll be adding fertilizer and Gypsum so that it will be in the ground as new growth starts. I'm sure hoping to see some nice plants this year where I have replanted bare spots.
Let's hear from some others as you prepare for the upcoming season.
Hugh

Hugh,

I hope to get some Gypsum on the ground this weekend..

I like to get it down Mid Feb... as they start poping up around here mid to late March...

Not real sure how long it takes organic fertilizers like Gypsum to actually be available/usefull to the plants, but I really want it to be in there and working soon after they pop up to give them a boost in that early growth spurt and hopefully thru late spring and into summer some.

PS.. On my Garden I have started working already. Cole wants to plant some stuff this year and we worked him up a little spot and I also broke up one of my raised beds (6' x 35') and the soil is looking fine this spring. I leave it covered nicely with straw all winter and when you take that off, the soil is nice and soft and a lot of that straw has composted into the soil. Looks really good.

I will not be planting anything until early March... and then only lettuce, potatoes and some snap peas.

Last year Billy mentioned a herb called Heal All and I think I will get some of that and plant it in with my lettuce and see how I like that. I like fresh greens from the garden, might as well get something in there too that is going to heal all !

TNhunter

Hugh,
As of now, all is prepared in my patches I think. In about three weeks I will spray the early weeds in my beds before the ginseng emerges and also apply the trichoderma blend that I'm growing now to my previous years' plantings. Other than those things and maybe cleaning up a few fallen branches and things of that sort I'm caught up.

The one thing I forgot to do earlier was apply the sulpher and lower my ph to this years planting before we put it in. I'm afraid to do it now seeing as I have these seed treated with an experimental trichoderma blend and sulpher is pretty hard on fungi...I guess we'll see how it goes, its not that high really. It's at a neutral 7 but I was wanting it between 6 and 6.5

Hillhopper

Well folks good to hear from ya all on this. As usual I am doing nothing to my planting beds to assist them. They are planted wild simulated style. I am sure I will lose another 10% of the population this year due to natural causes in mother nature. By year 10 I hope I still have 10 to 20 % left to dig. Time will tell I guess. Wish I could help mine along too like you fellas are doing but my planting beds are so spread out here and there it is just not possible.
Good luck fellas,
Latt

Latt,
10 to 20% is about right by my experience, but on the upswing you should also have some 2nd, 3rd and hopefully 4th year of seed production and most likely will have second generation wild-simulated plants growing as well, Its a good feeling to see that the ginseng that you have planted is now providing offspring in the form of 1 leafers to 3 prongs, a good feeling indeed.
good luck to everyone.

Thanks K_duce.
Latt

It's is good ideed to see folks doing stuff already.

We are putting lime and gypsum down this weekend and gathering soil samples again. Also beginning on manicuring one area to remove cut limbs and cutting some treefall limbs that have come down. Nothing like winter weather to \"grind\" the lime and gypsum into the soil, IMHO.

good luck to all of you in the forthcoming season....

Fellows,
Here is a question to those of you that have been growing Wild Simulated in beds long
enough to have plants that are 7-8 years old or older. I have seen many comments and read articles about the natural thinning out that takes place in most heavily planted beds as time moves along; and Latt, you have commented several times how you only seem to wind up with 10-20% of the total amount you started with. I'm wondering about how far apart your plants are by the time they are old enough to start digging? Hillhopper has just planted what looks like a very high density 1/2 acre and he will probably use some sort of intervention to help with losses. It will be interesting to see your numbers as compared to his as the new planting matures. This could give a lot of insight as to how to best control problems and maybe get the best production.
Hugh

Hugh,
I plant 1 lb of seed per 1600 square foot. So that's about 4 seeds per square foot. I guess I will have about 650 to 1200 plants left at year 10. So maybe 1 plant to every 1 to 2 square feet when its all said and done. Taking care of your plants is the way to go in my opinion and you will be left with more than 20 % at year from what I have seen in person with my own eyes. I would take care of my planting beds if I could, but they are many many miles apart.
Latt

I'll chime in here a little, Hugh I started planting 18 years ago and not really knowing too much about what seng really needed. I thought anywhere in the woods would be fine or where I found a plant or two of wild growing but that wasn't the case. Wild ginseng is just naturally hardier and takes longer to mature. Ordered seed is much inferior to wild strands and has to be babied to survive. The ones that do make it and you plant the seeds from these then you have a better offspring. My survival rate on my first years hasn't been that great but I got better at it in my later years choosing the best locations to plant.
Some of the plants are doing great and I harvest every fall and put the seeds back in the ground. I'm not getting rich by no means but I enjoy what I'm doing and I do a little better each year. I dug a total of 3 lbs. last year but I'll do better next year and the year after. It's like a tobacco check coming in each fall.
I hope I haven't discouraged anyone, just hang in there.

rootman