TOPIC: Foliar Feeding

Have any of you guys experimented with foliar feeding ginseng? If you have and would share your findings it may be educational for us. Whitjr has mentioned the soil ammendment he uses with micronutrients as a soil prep before planting. I remembered a product I used several years ago when growing tobacco. The problem was soil ph was lower than ideal. An application of transplanter moly(molybdenum) allowed tobacco to use nitrogen that wasnt as available at the lower ph.
So could an application of fertilizer with micronutrients sprayed directly on the plant supply an essential mineral/nutrient that could maximize growth and help with disease resistence?
Since ginseng likes the lower ph could other nutrients in the soil be made more available by spraying?
Thoughts please

I use my previously mentioned spary both as a soil prep before planting, as well as a foliar application.

Redbeard,
Studies have shown that nutrients are more readily absorbed through foliar feeding than through root zone intake. Therefore, while the plant is in active growth it is more efficient. If it isn't, you may possibly be wasting your time unless your spraying large amounts of product. When spraying, we are concerned with foliar feeding and dealing with parts per million due to intake from foliage directly, at other times to alter soil chemistry, we then are dealing with pounds per acre. If someone were to use a spray and hope to alter the conditions by one application only, it would be in vane. As you know, tobacco is a fast growing plant that runs it's cycle in one season's time... Give it what it needs at the right time and it will make in just a few weeks.

Spraying the ground and hoping for a fix to a soil chemistry problem is like your truck being 2 quarts low of oil and then only adding a tablespoon. Have you helped the problem? Yes.... Has it really made a difference? No.
It also depends on what it needs and what you feed it. I think many gardeners make this mistake. Let's make a comparison here:
Nitrogen and phosphorous are good for plants,Right? And, milk does a body good!
Well, if a man is sick with a stomach virus and doesn't look so good then, let's force feed him some milk... He throws it up and we then give him some more. He get's sick again. What's wrong, milk does a body good ,right? So then comes the task of finding out exactly what the ginseng is lacking.

Long story short..The easiest fix to this is using areas containing the same companion plants that live alongside wild ginseng. If you can't, get the chemistry as close to right as possible. You can then use foliar feeding as a boost to plant growth. When we are talking about a seven to ten year crop, you have to prepare for the long haul. If it's a happy plant, in it's happy home,free from disease, foliar feeding will help a lot but it will not fix an existing problem.

Hillopper

As Hillhopper said, and I didn't make plain... I use my foliar applications strictly to boost the plant while it's growing.

Whitjr,

Have you dug up and inspected some of the roots on which you have applied foliar feeding?

Specifically, I am wondering if it might cause (or partly cause) either cultivated looking roots (smooth) or grey scaley roots (which is often associated with woodsgrown roots I've seen)?

I am new to mass planting ginseng. I have planted 3 lbs so far in 6 different places. All places have the companion plants, even some wild ginseng nearby. I wish you guys could see how difficult it is to get into some of these places. Hauling in fertilizer and lime by the ton is not an option.
I know I have planted too thick in some places. So i'm thinking I will experiment with foliar feeding as my seeds emerge next year. Spray 1/3 at reccomended rate, 1/3 at 1/2 recomended rate, and 1/3 no spray at all, at all 6 locations I've planted. I'm thinking of a 2 to 3 week schedule. Then next fall I'll dig some to thin and weigh them to see if it was beneficial. I'm interested to see if it boosts survivability also.
I know its early to be talking about next years growing season but I like to be armed with as much info as possible before devoting a lot of time.
Do you guys have any suggestions of any other things I should add to this experiment?

Well, first and foremost you must have a control against which to measure any improvement. That is just a sample of similarly planted roots in the same location to which the feeding is not applied. That way, you will know what the roots would do without the feeding and be able to reasonably determine if the feeding made a difference or not.

I would argue that you might need to continue your experiment for several years to really be able to determine a difference. And, of course, accurate measurements and meticulous records are a must. Pictures throughout the process (roots sampled from which groups etc) with specific descriptions are also a big plus in the event you turn up something unexpected or better than expected.

I agree BCastle.
I will not treat some from each area as a control. The good thing about a test is that since I have 6 different sites I will also be able to capture the effects of environment.
God willing, with good health I plan on this being a many years project with lots of pictures and notes.
When the time comes I may need the help of you guys to id any root problems like grey scaly root or cultivated looking roots.
With 6 years, 11 months and 18 days left until retirement i think its about time to put my property to good use and produce something besides timber. Plus my 7 year old loves it and there is nothing better than hearing him repeat our big plans to his mother.

I think that's awesome Redbeard that your little guy is interested in the plan!

I know in my own operation, by the third year you can normally determine the wild character a root will have. You can see the basic shape the root will have, and the amount and prominence of rings it will show.

I use no fertilizer at all, and would argue that for wild simulated or woodsgrown roots, you should not use any. So, I\"m interested if your roots will have wild character at the 3-4 year mark and beyond.

This is one of the aspects I see being very important for any growers association we form. The ability to do verifiable scientific or quasi scientific experiments and document them properly to make them available for review in such a way that it will add to the credible scientific knowledge we have about ginseng.

I'm glad to see you going down that path!

The most important thing for me at this point is trying to keep as many alive as possible considering hill climbing like a billygoat is hard work. I hate the thought of losing any plants that my son and I worked hard to plant. Everywhere I look it is said that the first 3 years are when mortality is the highest.

Second is seed production. I want to get them in shape to produce seed as soon as possible. Seed cost is my biggest expense.

Third root quality. This will move to number one priority as the years go by. If spraying causes root quality problems the I guess I'll have to keep them for seed.

Getting on this forum has been great because everytime I read posts from any of you guys it generates new questions that need answers.

Heres a new one.

If spraying for the first 3 years could help more survive could the root take on wild characteristics in say 4 or 5 more years of growth without suppliments?

Dang. You guys have got me wishing away 7 years just to find out!