TOPIC: Growing ginseng in the coastal plain of Virginia

Can i grow ginseng in the coastal plain of Virginia. I have controlled outdoor growing area, irrigation, shade cloth if needed. I want to develop a large supply over several years. But, I live far from the mountains. We have experience growing a wide variety of obscure herbs and ginseng would be a great addition to our selection. Thanks

You might be able to obtain good information from your state universities. I'm sure they could tell you if it can be done. If you are the first to try maybe you could get a grant. Also do a search for the West Virginia ginseng growers association. They may have members from down your way and possibly some help. Good luck and please let us know how you make out and what you find.This is a growing knowledge base and this is a good thing.

There is a research paper by Dr. Marla McIntosh of the University of Maryland, it's very technical, but part of the research is attempting to grow ginseng on the eastern shore of MD. It is a very long paper, so you might want to just skip to the conclusions. To sum it up they had some success with seeds but much better success with rootlets. Their results about the use of lime vs gypsum were also interesting. The area they picked may be similar to your conditions. Here is the Link, it is the second bullet on the page \"Cultural Practices Affecting the Profitable Production of Ginseng in Different Physiographic Regions of Maryland Forests Contact: Dr. Marla McIntosh\"
http://agroecol.umd.edu/Research/forestry1.cfm
The direct link to the PDF file is:
http://agroecol.umd.edu/files/M.%20McIntosh%20Ginseng.pdf

You should also get a copy of Scott Persons book on Growing Ginseng. He mentions Andy Hankins, in the book, who is part of the Virginia Cooperative Extension. Andy encourages people to try to grow Ginseng in suburban areas of Virginia. I believe he has used some grant funding to send seed to people in different areas of VA.

I am going to give it a try, I just got some seed in the ground this past weekend. I am in Manassas VA. Not Coastal plain, but not really mountains either.

Hope you give it a try.

Not all ginseng are the same. Different ginseng preparations give you different results to your body functions. There are generally two types of ginseng preparations, namely, traditional and scientific ginseng preparations.

In the traditional preparation, they incorporate thirty or more herbs during the process. These herbs are hot in nature. That is why their products are no good for people with hot body types.

In the traditional preparation, they get rid of the skin and tendrils of ginseng.The tendrils contain a lot of ginsenosides. And the skin contains a lot of organic germanium, a heavy metal compound. Organic germanium is as good as a strong antioxidant which supplies large amount of oxygen to human tissues. This heavy metal compound also activates the function of insulin for the Type II diabetes. Organic germanium is proven to arrest the growth of cancer cells. The ginsenosides inside the tendrils are even ten times more in concentration than those distributed in the main root. It is just a waste.

Bing Han Refined Ginseng Powder, an example of the scientific ginseng preparation, applies a unique technology of a new breakthrough in this Century

In the Bing Han preparation, we keep all the skin and tendrils and the root as a whole. We wash the whole root and freeze them and send them to our pharmaceutical factory for further process.

Bing Han Refined Ginseng Powder Preparation selects at least 6 year-old whole ginseng root with skin and tendrils. We keep more than 100 natural elements in the product under the preparation of the unique low heat technology. There are no additives and are convenient to use for all body types, both sexes, and all ages. The product does rejuvenation, detoxification, and normalizing body functions.

Traditional Ginseng Preparations use 1-6 year-old ginseng. They remove the skin and the tendrils. They prepare their products at temperature higher than 100 C. A lot of herbs are added to the product during the process. Therefore, it?s hot in nature and it's no good for most people.