TOPIC: Transplant ion of thick 2 year olds

Frank I agree with most of what you said. I also agree with you on Oak trees and the large waxy leaves. However, I have found in my experience that the soil under beech to be very fertile . Beech trees do require a lot of water and have a large network of fine roots just below the soil surface. Never had any problem growing good send under beech. Now if you want to harvest seng grown under beech in 10 years it ain't going to happen. Frank is right. Canopy is thick and you better plan on 15 years minimum growth time. I have never had any problems with the seedlings popping up through beech leaves tho. Just my experience fellas. Results will vary.
Good luck,
Latt

Latt wrote:

Frank I agree with most of what you said. I also agree with you on Oak trees and the large waxy leaves. However, I have found in my experience that the soil under beech to be very fertile . Beech trees do require a lot of water and have a large network of fine roots just below the soil surface. Never had any problem growing good send under beech. Now if you want to harvest seng grown under beech in 10 years it ain't going to happen. Frank is right. Canopy is thick and you better plan on 15 years minimum growth time. I have never had any problems with the seedlings popping up through beech leaves tho. Just my experience fellas. Results will vary.
Good luck,
Latt

Latt,

You are right, when accumulated Beech tree leaves have rotted, the soil under Beech trees is very fertile! I think the problem may be the density of Beech trees to other hardwoods trees. If there are too many Beech trees in a location, these could hinder the emergence of plants as well as block sunlight and rob nutrients and water from the plants as well. I am sorry but I accidentally left the following out of my previous post. I have read that Beech trees and especially their' roots are somewhat susceptible to fungus and disease. This is probably true as in some areas, I have seen many Beech trees with snapped limbs, snapped trunks or just dead while in other areas, I have seen that the majority of the Beech trees were healthy, undamaged and thriving. I wonder if these diseases and fungi that effect Beech trees also effect Ginseng!!??

On my brother-in-laws nephew's land, there is a pretty good population of Beech trees on one ridge off a hollow. From the head of the hollow down the ridge for some 100 yards or more, the density of Beech trees to other hardwood trees is about 5 in 30 or more. In this area, Ginseng grows very well here (lots of it and they are big plants with big roots) and especially so because the plants get enough sunshine in the afternoon. Below this area, the density of Beech trees to other hardwood trees is about 20 to 30 with not a single Ginseng plant growing anywhere even though it is on the same ridge, has the same general slope and generally gets the same amount of sunshine. Another mystery to this is that I checked it two years previously (2011 and 2012) and only found 6 or 7 small Ginseng plants. I checked this same area again in 2013 because I had sowed some Ginseng seeds there in 2012 and I wanted to see if any had germinated and emerged. To my amazement, I had only gone about 20 yards into this upper spot on the ridge and started finding patches of Ginseng growing all over this area. There were 3 and 4 prong plants growing all over with very few 2 prongs and flat tops. As I said, there was only 6 or 7 small plants to be found in this same area the two previous years, so what could have caused the plants that I found in 2013 to go dormant for the two previous years?? I can't be sure but maybe it was due to being in a drought the two previous years and because the slope is very steep, any rainfall drains very rapidly.


Frank

Thanks for the input guys. I also planted 1/2 lb of seed that first along with the rootlets. I threw some down right next to the rootlets and in several other spots around the woods. I haven't been back there in a while but from what I recall germination was significantly worse under beech trees. Plus those damn beech roots make a successful rake and scatter method very difficult. Perhaps the seeds dried out because I didn't get them deep enough in the ground and covered sufficiently. 50 yards away I had 50% germination under a mix of maple and ash where I found maiden hair fern. Every year I learn a little more at the expense of viable seed, it's not easy finding that perfect spot.

Never found much of anything under beeches. All the roots of a beech tree tend to sap all the nutrients.

Hum, rootman interesting. I agree somewhat because I notice the ground underneath beech is usually void of weeds and saplings. I just assumed it was due to the canopy blocking out the light thus reducing the chance for weeds and saplings to grow. I find plenty of fern and other perennials under beech trees. One of me best spots back in the 70's was under a beech tree forest. My seed beds under the beech trees now are doing great. I will take some pics of them. I do agree that seng grown under beech grows slow. I just thought it was due to canopy. Never considered it could be the soil. I had an old time ginseng buyer tell me one time to never evaluate the soil by the color. I thought the darker the color the better. He said that is not the case.
Soil under beech is typically nice dark and loamy. However maybe you are correct root man.
Thanks for the post and I think I will have to look into it further.
Latt

The soil is very dark and loamy. I thought I had the perfect spot but nothing came up... very disappointing. I suppose all trees with a shallow root system could deprive the soil of nutrients. There is very little undergrowth beneath the Beech trees and I also thought it was due to the dense canopy so I removed a few of the smaller trees to open it up.
I'm looking forward to rescuing those rootlets (which should be 5 yrs old now). If they haven't died off from disease or been eaten, what do you think are the odds of them alive? I know right where I planted them.

TheLittleman, I think your chances are good. As I have stated my plants are doing great. Lots of them and very small tho. I have had no disease problems under beech. Wonder if there is something to that?
Latt