TOPIC: Rookie Suburban Experience

Hi All,
I have been reading this forum for several years now and just decided to register. I just wanted to say thanks to all who have shared their experiences and provided knowledge. Everyone on here seems very educated and respectable. This is my first post and i will be sharing my rookie experience.

Last fall i decided to buy 25 1 yr old rootlets. I bought off of ebay from a dealer in minnesota. I was a little sketched out from ordering from ebay but the roots only cost me $20 and i wasn't going to get all bent out of shape if these roots didnt come up this spring.

In the back of my yard i have a large compost pile behind my shed and underneath some giant pine trees. The slope of the compost pile faces north and the area is very shady from the pine trees. the top layer of the compost is all pine needles. on the very top of the compost pile there are wild ferns growing. Last october i planted 1 row of 12 rootlets and 1 row of 13 rootlets. Rows were about 8 inches apart and plants were 3-4 inches apart.

To my surprise, in late april/early May of this year i could see sprouting. Right now 23 of the 25 rootlets i planted are up and appear to be thriving. Some plants are nearly 6 inches. Some have some leaves chewed up but i will mention this later in my thread.

Side Note:
Last fall after i planted the 25 roots in my back yard i actually bought 100 more 1 yr old rootlets from the same dealer on ebay in minnesota. By then i had the ginseng itch. I actually explained to my mom how i planted some test roots in my back yard and she went ahead and bought a kit online that came with about 900 seeds and 30 3-yr old roots. She has a bigger green thumb than I. I can't remember where she bought the kit from but if i had to guess i think it was Harding. I can confirm this at another time. We own 80 acres of dense wooded land in northern Illinois. Prime hunting ground for deer and turkey. Anyways, last week of october, my mother, gf and I went up to our land and spent a good 2 days planting the 1 yr olds, 3 yr olds and seeds. Some plots we planted roots and seeds and some plots were just root or just seed. It took many hours to plant but i don't mind as i love being in the woods. It's where i belong. The land we planted on appeared to be prime ginseng thriving land. Slopes were in the right direction and the area seemed super shady. Prince in the pulpit plants thrive all over in this area. So do the dolls eye plants. I have only been able to go up north once this spring and it was when i was spring turkey hunting. I did not check my seng plots as i did't want to be stomping through the woods looking for seng and potentially scaring away the turkeys. I will be checking my plots up north in 2-3 weeks. I will definitely share my results on this forum. I have a good feeling the success rate will be good as the land seemed like great ginseng living conditions..but again, what do i know, i'm just a rookie.

Anyways, back to the suburban seng in my back yard. I have some questions.

1. the leaves seem light green. I've read on here that light green leaves usually mean there is too much sunlight or the ground doesnt have all the proper nutrients seng needs to thrive? I'm going to attempt to post my pics at the bottom of this thread.

2. I'm thinking I should transfer these plants to my property up north, especially if i find the seng has come up there. Would it be ok to dig these up late october and then go plant them up north?

3. lastly 1-2 plants have been mangled bad by something. the leaves are all chewed up. I really don't think we have slugs. I have a garden on the other side of the yard and i normally do not see any slugs. However we do have mice in the back yard by the shed. Should I bother spraying with something? I'd prefer to keep these as natural as i can but i don't like the pretty leaves getting chewed up.

I'm attempting to post my pics so any comments or feedback would be much appreciated. I like constructive criticism too. Thanks again and glad to be part of the community

here is a plant with bad leaves from critters

row

row

more seng

last pic

Nice looking plants. You want to watch how much pine is in the ground though. A little helps keep fungus down, to much puts the ph balance out and ginseng won't do well.

Good Luck

TnTrader wrote:

Nice looking plants. You want to watch how much pine is in the ground though. A little helps keep fungus down, to much puts the ph balance out and ginseng won't do well.

Good Luck

This is very true. I'm also in a suburban area, and almost everywhere around me is pine. Won't find anything naturally growing unfortunately until you drive 100 miles West.

Nice start you have there NinjaSeng.

To answer your main questions, I would leave those there. As you said, they only cost you $20, so if they die off its not going to be a huge loss. Secondly, there is really something to say about having some ginseng around the house that you can see and watch go through its stages every day or so. (and the guys are right about pine, but more so because of the color of the roots than the pH I think)

Secondly, I can't say for sure what ate those leaves. It doesn't really look like slug damage, but a rabbit or deer would have eaten off the whole plant at the stem. back to slugs I think. Set out an upside down orange rind and see if they come to it...then you will know.

thanks for the comments and advice. It is nice being able to walk out my back door and check on the suburban seng each day. I will try the slugg test this weekend too!