TOPIC: thoughts? (south hillside planting)

Hey guys,

Im looking for honest opinions on this.. and trust me, if its stupid.. please tell me

Heres the story, i have a ravine that has 1/2 acre north side and 1/2 acre south side.. i currently go to school and live with my parents and they were generous enough to let me plant the north side of the hill with 10lbs seed \"wild simulated\" as an investment. (i finished planting approx 1 month ago)

i've been diving into other investment ideas and maybe went a little overboard with this idea but hey, i figured id ask you guys who actually know quite a bit..

So with this south sided hillside.....it has about 70% shade when the trees have leaves in summertime. Soil is almost identical to north side, but its warmer than the north and has maybe 10% less shade.. this is common, But what if i put up artificial shade? i posted some pics of a test plot i was going to monitor this upcomming year. (this is mostly the frame. im making it out of dead trees and limbs on the ground) I figured if i could block more sunlight, conditions could be favorable. there isnt anything planted yet. i was going to focus on the soil mostly and maybe in the spring purchase some rootlets to test.

This would be a cultivation setup since it has this artificial shade. (i may till slighty just to create drainage paths) Im particularly looking for an answer to this... When the trees lose their leaves, does the seng need the shade as much? i get that underground the soil stays moist with leaves. but the tops dry out around this time correct? so will i need this shade up still?

I think the struggle will be monitoring the shade since the trees provide 70% already in the summer. But if i have all the sticks as artificial shade in the fall, how will leaves make it to the ground.

i appreciate any info, please dont call me an idiot too many times lol

Thanks!

im having trouble uploading pics, but the frame is pretty much just 4 logs about 3ft tall in the ground vertical. 2 on each side with 2 longer logs running horizontally connecting the posts. Then small branches run across the long logs creating a roof type structure. Sorry for any confusion. ill try to get some pics up

i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah6/showtim...1617_zpse3edbwfg.jpg

i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah6/showtim...1618_zpskwoe12gg.jpg

hope these work for yall. thanks

GreenBoy...

Success on the South facing hillside will depend on how far north you are.

If you are way up north somewhere... the south hillside may work fine for you. We used to have a member named classicfur, that was from up in Main and he said it grew just fine on south hillsides up there. Best I remember he actually preferred the South and West hillsides.

If you were down in Southern Tennessee like me, it is just TOO HOT on the south facing hillside for it. I don't think you could grow it even with dense artificial shade on the south hillside here unless you could somehow cool the soil and air around the plants too.

If you happen to be in one of our northern states, it might work fine. I would recommend taking it slow, do a small test planting first and see how it goes for a few years then got all in if it looks to be working.

Good Luck

TNHunter

Might work. Who knows. I have done all sorts of experiments with many different plants.

Don't forget to observe wild ginseng in your local area. That is the fastest way to learn. Many times I have gone to check on ginseng plants and found something unexpected was happening.

located in illinois, about 2 hours straight south from the wisconsin boarder..
im just excited to see what the results are. I would almost dump $100 into it.. half roots half seed just to see how it pans out in the spring!

any recommended seed and rootlet growers out there? or should i wait till spring?

Thanks for the replies guys

update on the southern hillside, 3 yr old rootlets are popping nicely! seem to be the same as my northern and eastern hillside rootlets. will monitor this summer to see if they stand the heat!