TOPIC: Appearance of a transplanted rootet

I was talking with a herbal buyer who's been in business a very long time... his point of view was that he could tell a transplanted dried 'snag root up for sale from a never transplanted dried root. His offer would correspondeningly decrease in value if he saw that.

I was wondering if any of you guys who have sold dried sang root have run into that?

Also, what would be your opinion as to how said transplanted dried root would differ from one that had never been transplanted.

Whitjr,
He wouldn't if it was done right. A lot of times the tail end will be bent towards the top if its new home is to shallow when planted. Dig it out a bit deeper, fill it in with dirt 2/3 full with the root inserted and then pull it up to its finished depth. Of course, if it was transplanted in something to loose it would look cultivated but I'm almost certain he is talking about the root tendrils being bent skyward.

Hillhopper

Whitjr,
I made a video of transplanting rootlets a couple of years ago and before I started transplanting any I had read and heard some dealers and buyers say that they could tell transplanted rootlets by the upturned bottom hair roots and it showed a picture of some. In the video I purposely dug fairly deep trenches and backfilled with a mixture of Gypsum and topsoil to a certain depth and then placed the rootlets straight up and down like a wild root would normally grow. I also placed some in a lateral slant, which is the way that most sellers of rootlets advise to plant. I did both ways to show how they can be planted successfully. If you want to make them look the most realistic to a buyer I would suggest that you plant them in holes or rows dug deeper than the normal roots reach and they can go right on down in the looser soil without curling or bending very much. A little extra work, but it may be worth it.

Hugh

I guess you are talking about a transplanted wild root that was small and allowed to grow larger. Just the process of digging up the soil to plant the root will stimulate growth for a few years, the root will increase in size and send out feeder roots and the neck curl will also increase in size which will be an indicator of being transplanted. In time the feeder roots will decrease but the curl on the neck will remain large for the few years of increased growth. Like hillhopper said a fish hook shaped root would give away a transplanted root.

Logging or a increased sunlight will do the same thing however so the dealer would not know for sure the reason for increased growth for a few years.

I have done the opposite before, I had a small artificial shade plot about 4 years old that I dug, at that time cultivated was $25.00 a pound. Most roots were 2-3 ounces and smooth, I planted them in the woods with no cultivation except the hole, and dug them in about 3 years. They had lost most of their feeder roots, gotten darker, a few rings, and seemed lighter, more like wild roots, they sold for wild.

I'll go along with Hill and Hugh both for the biggest part of this answer. Discolored light roots with curled roots are a dead give away. Second is the large neck size. I know a lot of roots are truly wild with larger necks, but I still have them throw those out on me. As KYsang said, a small neck and then a larger neck and feeder roots will indicate a change in the surroundings of the plant. Most dealers see this as a transplant.

There are a couple other things. The one I still see but shouldn't, is all the necks of the roots the same age. Traditional wisdom suggests truly wild roots take 10-20 years to get to maybe 1/2 ounce in size. However, if you bring in a bunch of root that is over an ounce each and is only five or six years old, that's a clue.

Another common opinion is that transplants/woodsgrown roots have more fine roots (thereby produce a higher percentage of fines which in turn cause it to be worth less). If you lay some roots together, you can often see the difference.

One of the more nit-picky ways of culling ginseng said to be woodsgrown (which honestly I'm not convinced is accurate), is by the roughness of the root after it is dry. Nematode galls in the feeder roots are one, but even on the rings of the root's body if there are little rough ridges or bumps, some dealers will cull that root as woodsgrown.

To avoid the problem of increased fiber root growth and increased neck size of the roots that are a dead give away as being transplanted, maybe the way we transplant these roots should change! Could we not do the following: 1) Dig the hole deep enough to plant the root vertical as others have stated/recommended? 2) Pack the dirt tightly around the root, especially around the root fibers and the neck? 3) Then walk on/step on the spots where the roots are transplanted to insure that the dirt is tightly packed around them and thus avoid the inherent problems described?

I believe the above may not prevent all of the transplanted roots from growing extra as well as extra long root fibers and an increased neck size but it is worth trying to see the results. Besides, the hard packing of the soil around the roots would more emulate the conditions of the soil around the root when it was dug up for transplantation!


Frank

Frank,

I think that might help some, but the fundamental fact remains we want to produce wild roots -even though we might plant them. This is an issue that I do not see an easy solution to, and one which exists in the minds of the buyers (retail and wholesale). It boils down to the man (or woman) who is offering you money for your product has control over what that product is or is not. If it is not what they want, they won't buy it. All of us here together cannot convince someone to buy something they don't believe is as high a quality as they want (even if we could scientifically prove they are misled or mistaken).

I have always advocated transplanting rootlets into tilled beds, and making rows across the bed. When making the furrows, leave the back side at a 45' angle and lay the rootlets on this side. Cover them from the dirt pulled up by making the next furrow down the bed. However, I don't see an issue in transplanting the rootlets horizontally either. I know much of the ginseng I have dug over the years is actually as much horizontal as not (45 degrees being common).

I think by planting in the fall we ensure good ground contact (fall rains etc) so don't think tamping down is going to make that much difference. I think the real issue is the amount of moisture and light the plants receive. However, there has been some experimentation in packing commercial seed beds slightly and a higher percentage of ball roots.

Oops...double post

Pretty interesting discussion...

When transplanting in a deeper hole... What if the deeper soil is a grey clay? I've noticed this in my patch one. about 3\" down, there's a looser grey clay. I say looser, as compared to the red/orange clay I have under my grass in the flat-lands where I live... not that thick or compact.

I do appreciate the advice, guys.

Whitjr wrote:

Pretty interesting discussion...

When transplanting in a deeper hole... What if the deeper soil is a grey clay? I've noticed this in my patch one. about 3\" down, there's a looser grey clay. I say looser, as compared to the red/orange clay I have under my grass in the flat-lands where I live... not that thick or compact.

I do appreciate the advice, guys.

Yes, it is an interesting discussion! Also, I agree with Brad on all of the negative hooplah that the big Buyers are giving over the transplanted roots. Most if not all transplanted plants are just as good and potent as most of what they buy, so I say, what is the big deal! Maybe everyone should just dig transplanted Ginseng plants and offer them up to them for sale and see where the Buyers will be with that. If they have no real supply to meet the demand and they refuse a supply of good and potent transplanted Ginseng, then let them suffer the consequences.

Have you had a soil analysis down on the grey soil? If it is near to or just as good as the 3 inches of top soil, then it probably will not be a problem if you mix the top and under soil good when digging a deeper soil. However, you could always supplement the soil in each hole by pulling in more top soil from around the hole. A little hilling over each hole when down, should not be a problem unless you fear that poachers will get in the area and notice. If you only have 3 inches of good top soil over (on top of) the grey, it sounds like that a lot of the leaves are being blown off by the wind and not creating compost. Besides pulling in surrounding top soil and hilling up the soil for each hole, you might want to grind up and compost some leaves, then spread them in the area where you plan to transplant.

Good luck!


Frank