Well I've been told by a trusted source that the root rot pic is rust (Cylindrocarpon) and the yellowing leaves are Alternaria. Crap!
I've been told to expect failure growing ginseng because of its unique growing requirements. I've decided this will just be part of my first year (expensive)learning experiences. The roots I bought from Wildgrown.com could have been a carrier, or maybe its just the luck of the weather draw and a stressful season. A veteran grower in the Catskills told me even his 'healthy' ten year old patch is showing signs of disease. So many variables; my cultural practice and site prep may have been faulty. My 1st year seedlings, which are supposedly pretty hardy in their youth, are even looking a little stressed- yellow margins, curling edges.
I went out to get fungicides, but couldn't find anything that was mentioned in Scott's bible, either by brand name or chemical component. Lime sulphur is not available in NYS, at least through my nurseries and garden supply stores. I wound up getting a Neem oil derivative in a spray bottle ($9/qt) and some stuff that uses Chlorothalonil (same$) as the main ingredient.Anybody have any luck with alternate fungicides? Daconyl (brand name)is also widely available.
I've started to spray my seedlings and am removing the infected tops from the seed plot. I will keep my seeds and sterilize them and see what happens in this plot next year. I may dig the roots for inspection later this fall.
