TOPIC: 4 yr old 6 pronger

i was finally able to get up north to check my ginseng patches this weekend. Found a cool 6 pronger.

Ninja...

That is cool...

Looks like you have a little alternaria blight going on there (yellow spots and some bullseye spots)...

I have some trouble with that too. Even on my wild seng around here I often see that.

I have a 6 prong in my seed producing bed this year (previously been a nice 4 pronger).

Mine is almost identical to yours, except mine has double berry stems.

TNhunter

Wow!! that double berry stem is pretty sweet. that must be pretty rare? See many 7 prongs by you?
last year i planted 30 3-yr roots and only about 13 popped up. I took pictures of the other now 4 yr old roots and they all appear to have the little yellow dots.
I planted 100 1 yr roots last fall and 92 of them came up and all have nice healthy leaves. I wonder if i got bad 3 yr roots? Is fungicide the only way to fix? i was hoping to not have to put anything on this patch and let it be.

Hi TN,
I had a chance to check on my seng growing in northern, IL this weekend and when i checked back on the 6 leaf plant I noticed it had 2 berry pods just like yours. I wonder if this is normal for a 6 pronger? I'm going to snag some of these berries in the fall and plant and monitor them over the course of 4 years and hope they come out as 6 prongers.

NinjaSeng wrote:

Wow!! that double berry stem is pretty sweet. that must be pretty rare? See many 7 prongs by you?
last year i planted 30 3-yr roots and only about 13 popped up. I took pictures of the other now 4 yr old roots and they all appear to have the little yellow dots.
I planted 100 1 yr roots last fall and 92 of them came up and all have nice healthy leaves. I wonder if i got bad 3 yr roots? Is fungicide the only way to fix? i was hoping to not have to put anything on this patch and let it be.

That is about the ratio mine come up with. Most have signs of transplant shock and some have fallen after turning yellow. Several are still just yellow. Maybe 5% look very healthy (out of 950;10 lbs.). Had some getting berries but they yellowed and/or dropped.

I too bought 100 one year old rootlets and have about 95 up and kicking butt! Most 2 prong and one three and a few wide-leaved one prongers. I really think seeds are the way to go but if a person wants to get ahead by one year the one-year rootlets seem to do pretty good. No more 3 year old rootlets for me. A lot of cash down the drain. We will see how they fare next year on both the 1 and 3 year old rootlets. I think a little more time will tell the real outcome.

By the way, I am a newbie at growing.

Ninja... just now noticed your reply with another 6 pronger with double berry stems like mine.

That is crazy... I bet the odds of that happening are similar to winning the lottery.

I have never found a 5 prong or anything over a 4 prong around here in many years of seng hunting. I started hunting in the late 70's.

I have found many that had multiple tops, two 3 prong tops is most common. I found one that had 3 - 3 prong tops once.

This 6 pronger in my seed bed this year is the first for me... It is from a wild root, but it has been growing in a cultivated and organic fertilized seed producing bed since 2010.

TNhunter