TOPIC: Virgin grower growing

I have a lot of ferns growing near my beds. Does one plant them in the ginseng beds? They do looks cool and I would imagine offer some protection?

It is interesting watching these plants grow:cheer: I am hooked!

Wild 4 prong

I wouldn't want them IN my beds...because they inhibit the growth of other plants. But, I don't get too concerned about them nearby.

BigRoots,

It appears that you have a very good start on some nice plots of Ginseng that should become self-propagating within a very few years and with very little help from you except a watchful eye! I agree that you probably would not want to plant Ferns in your' Ginseng beds but natural intrusion should not hurt as long as the Ferns don't start coming up in too close of proximity to your' Ginseng plants (try to maintain a couple of feet distance or more).

In my experience working for the National Weather Service, I know that the weather (i.e. Climate) in Iowa, can be all over the place with temperature and precipitation extremes. With that said, I would recommend a method to try to insure your' Ginseng plants survival during harsh periods (i.e. extreme heat and cold and/or excessive rain or drought)! At first it would be best to start this as a test for reaction and plant health on at least 10% of the plants in one of your Ginseng beds/plots. The method is adding 2 to 3 inches of rich but clean (not infected with seeds of weeds or destructive insects or larvae) and loose topsoil possibly mixed with some compost around each plant that has a top of at least 8 inches or more (probably 3 and 4 pronged plants) around mid to late summer to hill up soil around the plants. This extra added layer of soil will not only provide extra nutrients for the plants, it will also help retain soil moisture for periods of low or no precipitation, keep the roots from being washed out during heavy rain events and also add protection to the roots from the extreme heat and cold. If you try this suggestion, I would like to know and am sure that others here would like to know the results which may be a year or two into the future!

Good luck and happy Ginseng growing!


Frank

Frank,

Your right on Iowa's extreme weather! Last year we had a drought and now we are flooding.... With rain everyday in the 10 day. Additionally we had a foot of snow in march and then shattered a heat record of 100 degrees. I like your idea of adding soil. I will have to give that a try and let you all know how it goes.

As of right now I am still getting a bunch more of three leafers coming up. And the plants that are up are looking happy. I will be planting more seed this fall and I am excited for the spring.

BigRoots,

Good luck on all of the new emerging and already emerged plants and planting this fall! I hope that you soon have Ginseng plots to be proud of and that will bring some monetary return within a few years! From the pics of the 3 and 4 prongers, it appears that within a few short years, you will no longer have to purchase Ginseng seeds for new beds and will be able to harvest what you need from your' own plants. That in itself, is extremely beneficial in making Ginseng growing a profitable venture!

I know that hilling up the plants for protection from the weather extremes will make it somewhat difficult when the time comes to harvest some plants! However, the benefits of having the plants and their' roots survive and having good seed production, will outweigh any difficulty in harvesting in the years to come. I will make one more point to the method that I recommended, then leave it to you and nature to provide you with great Ginseng plants, root growth and great seed production. If the soil is fairly loose around each plant or can be loosened somewhat without disturbing the roots, the hilling up of rich loose soil around the plants will give the roots much more room and ease to expand and grow but especially for new roots fibers to grow. This will not only add weight to the roots for when it comes time to harvest, it will also aid in having much healthier plants and roots as the extra fiber growth will be able to pull in more nutrients and moisture.

Although I really can't recommend placing straw in the bottom of the holes for plant hills that you have dug to plant any Ginseng roots, this method is extremely beneficial when planting seed potatoes. Potato plants produce 5 times as many potatoes (i.e. tubers to the potatoe plant roots) or more per each hill when planted in this method and the same should aid Ginseng root growth as well! Since I have never heard of anyone trying this method with Ginseng, so I really can't recommend it but maybe a few test hills planted with Ginseng in this way, could not hurt and might prove to work. If you happen to try this, I would advise to not use a whole lot of straw in the bottom of the holes in each hill, as straw produces a lot of heat as it rots and degrades, and too much heat could actually harm the Ginseng roots. The other problem is with straw and weed growth that might come with this method due to seeds in the straw. However, once the Ginseng plants have established good root bases, the straw and weeds can be weeded out.

Good luck and please keep us updated on any and all progress! Oh and I almost forgot to ask for some pics showing the type of terrain you are planting in. I know that much of Iowa is flat with some rolling hills and low ridges in some locations except in the Northeast and along the Mississippi River where the terrain is more rugged with some higher ridges and bluffs. The pics may help others planting in similar terrain and will also give us some reference for future advice!


Frank

1st welcome to this forum!
2nd- what part of Iowa are you in? Eastern? western? The soil there in Iowa is dramatically different that the soils back east... richer, darker, and deeper with both richness and debth. and perhaps more woods-like. I would suspect given that soil differences, that you plants -once established- will be bigger.

By the look of the leaf clutter, there... the land you are gowing on seems to be unused for the usual agriculture there in Iowa. What sort of trees are there locally? Is the grove big?

I live in the northern part of iowa with dark rich soil. I planted on both flat and hilly terrain. I used 2 methods of planting. Tilling on the flat ground that gets a little more sun light.... This method seems to be doing the best. Second method is rake and scatter on a thick sloped woods. I just checked my hard woods ginseng and it seems to be a little behind..... It looks very small, appears to be just coming up, little unhealthy. This area did get 14 inches of rain in the last month..., drought to flooding conditions.


Here is a picture of the hard woods with the slope

Here is a picture of the of my hard woods/sloped ginseng.

Notice 2 of the 3 plants are missing leaves and look unhealthy. I am thinking this may be do to the crazy weather we have been having. Rain for 8 days straight with little sunshine and cold. They could also be struggling to emerge through the heavy wet oak leaves.

Any ideas?

A few more undamaged plants. These are 2 year old plants from wild sim.

Last year extreme drought
This year flooding

Poor little plants..... Some sun and heat would pry help