TOPIC: Growing for a Business.

Frank,

Let me add a little to what Hillhopper said.

All the reasons Hill gave are correct. I would emphasize that straw stays put better than leaves though. There is evidence that mulch helps considerably avoid rust. It seems to be a temperature related condition. By staying put, straw helps better than leaves.

Time is the other major reason to use straw. It is easier and faster to crack open a bale and spread it than to suck up or rake up leaves and spread them.

Finally, oat straw or wheat straw. Oat straw if you can get it. Oat straw doesn't seem to have the seed problem that wheat straw does. If you don't get VERY clean wheat straw it might look more like a bed of grass than ginseng.

Hillhopper & Brad,

Thanks! I now understand the reasoning behind using Straw, especially Oat Straw!

I believe that there is a way that Oat Straw can be used on Ginseng Beds that is just as or even more beneficial and does not throw up a Red Marker Flag. If you mulch the Oat Straw and let it start to decompose before spreading it onto the Ginseng Beds, it will not only provide the same thing you are looking for by using Straw applied directly from bales, it will be less visible as a Red Marker Flag, it will discourage disease, enrich the soil, help retain needed moisture and promote good microbial life in the soil. Several of my neighbors coop and raise corn and soy beans together for profit and plant cover crops in the late Fall or early Spring and mulch and till the cover crops before planting each year. They plant somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 acres in corn or soy beans and rotate an individual fields crop (i.e. corn one year then soy beans the next) every year and the cover crops that are mulched before planting, definitely works. They always have great looking fields of corn and soy beans and must make a lot of money at it because they just purchased another farm down the road from my' home and this farm is probably 1,000 acres or more. They did not even take the time and effort to dismantle or sell anything from the nice home and many of the out-buildings on the property and just bulldozed them away. I hope to get permission to metal detect on the property and others that they own since there were quite a few Civil War battles fought up and down this valley.


Frank

Hillhopper,
Being in the landscaping business, what is your thoughts on shooting straw out over ginseng beds from a mechanical spreader? I know it may not be possible if the terrain is to steep. What is that straw mixed with to make it green when they shoot it out? Is that a dye to make it blend in better or is that chemical fertilizers that give it color or a combination of both?
Just thought I would ask since no one bit on my input. lol
Latt

Latt,
Actually, I haven't seen it that color. Rolls of straw netting sometimes are held together with a biodegradable net that is green. Usually you will see that on slopes along rite of ways. I have thought about that in some places. They come in 10'x50'or 100'rolls. It's a little more costly but you can stand at the top of a slope, give that baby a little nudge and your done other than pinning it down here and there. Being able to use a straw blower would be awesome and fast,but as you said, I can't get mine up there

Hillhopper

Latt, What you are referring to is called Hydro-Seeding! I copied and pasted the Hydro-Seeding Process from the Web and it is explained as follows: Hydro seed machines mix together seed, water, fertilizer, tackifier (glue), and green wood fiber mulch to create a slurry. The slurry is sprayed on the ground with a high pressure hose which helps it to reach all kinds of terrain, like slopes, that may be difficult to reach. When the slurry dries, it creates a crust over the ground, protecting the area from erosion. The crust protects the seeds from being washed away in the rain or eaten by birds.

Like you, I believe that this process would work on Ginseng Beds and probably even some that are on steep terrain! You would just leave out the seeds and fertilizers, add Straw mulch and maybe add some leaf mulch to add some browns to the mixture. Companies provide Hydro-Seeding services for lawns, large construction sites and even for road construction (i.e. seeding of road banks and drainage ditch banks). For lawns, the process is not much more expensive than the traditional way of seeding, fertilizing and putting down straw on lawns. A Ginseng Grower could choose to pay to have Ginseng Beds covered with this process or purchase the equipment and apply it themselves. Either way, since there are no seeds and fertilizers involved, the costs would be reduced! Heck, a very ingenuitive Farmer/Ginseng Grower could build a Hydro-Seeding Setup himself or herself! It appears that you only need to build/assemble a mixing/pump setup with a large (probably) stainless steel tank with mixer installed but a portable hand-held mixer might work, a small 1/2 to 1 HP trash pump, connections to connect the tank and trash pump and a certain amount of hose/hoses to pump the mixture to a ready to use holding tank. (This could be either a fixed or portable setup depending upon the Farmer's/Ginseng Grower's needs!) Then assemble a holding tank, a strong (probably) 5 to 6 HP trash pump onto an appropriate sized and load rated trailer, again connections to connect the holding tank and trash pump, an array of assorted lengths of hoses for pumping the mixture onto the Ginseng Beds and an assortment of appropriate sized and shaped nozzles.


Frank

Interesting fellas. Thanks Hill and Huntsman.

Hillhopper, I was wondering about that \"Rolls of straw netting\" and just giving it a roll down the hillside over the planted area. Hum food for thought.

Huntsman, sounds like you have a good working knowledge of how to make machines work well. Interesting idea.
Thanks guys,
Latt

I try to mimic the commercial seeding when I plant woodsgrown. So after seeding and before I put down the mulch I spray a fungicide on the beds. I wonder if there is some merit to the idea of spraying a coloring agent on top of the straw? I doubt it will make much sense since the beds will likely still be noticable for sme time.

Generally, however, after the first year, they are hard to pick out and by the third year you can't even tell they are there or that you hilled them up some.

BCastle,
I think a large planting area covered with straw would be better hidden on the forest floor if sprayed with a muddy /leafy brown color dye to blend in with the forest floor. Not sure if a product like this exist. One that would be absorbed by the straw or stain the straw and not wash off. Just food for thought tho. I am sure anyone in the woods would notice straw regardless of the color if they walked up on it. But from a distance of 50 yards or more it may keep the beds hidden a little better.
Anyway thanks for the input fellas and sorry WVwhitewolf for steering this post in a different direction. Interesting concept to me tho.
Latt

I agree, Latt, a real interesting discussion. BTW, you got mail from me.

WVAWhitewolf- Have you the headers to this forum, as to the \"business plans,\" and \"Can anyone do it\". good info there...