TOPIC: Stratified seed - 30.00/lb

Good evening everyone.

Last fall was the first time I ever really gave much thought to growing ginseng myself. I have been digging it for years and have planted back thousands of berries, just never thought about growing it on my own property.

When we sold our seng late last October our buyer mentioned that he also sold stratified ginseng seed and I remember him saying 28.00/lb. I did not buy any but have kicked myself several times since then. That mention of it got me interested and well at this point I am very excited about planting on my own property this year.

I just called the Dealer we sold to last year and asked him about the seed he sells. He said he gets it from a cultivated seng grower in Wisconson and his price this year was going to be 30.00/lb.

He has been selling seed from this grower for several years and the past two years has sold around 80 lb of seed from this source.

He said the seed is good, very few floaters, and the germination rate is in the 90% or higher range.

Yep - I know this site and many other sell stratified seed for a much higher price and you may get what you pay for but at 30.00/lb and this Dealer (who we have gotten to know and trust a bit at this point) giving it a very good rating - what do you think ?

At 30.00/lb thought I might just buy 5 lb or so and possibly plant 1 lb and then broadcast the other 4 lbs.

By planting I mean putting the seed under a bit of dirt with leaves on top, taking the time to do it right and ensure the highest germination rate.

By broadcasting I mean just that. In Scotts book he mentions that if you pick the right time and conditions (just before heavy leaf fall and heavy rain) you can simply broadcast ginseng seed and if you time it right the germination rate can be in the 20-30% range.

Almost no work to that and you could cover a lot of ground quickly. I am sure you have all been in the woods one one of those days when the leaves were really starting to come down. Then a good rain hits and man they really fall and cover the ground thick. That is the time he is talking about that you might have some decent success at simply broadcasting ginseng seed.

Anyway - what are your thoughts on this source for seed and the price/potential quality ?

Also - have any of you ever tried the broadcasting method, had any success with it ?

Thanks

TNhunter

TN Hunter,

That is a good price at 30 a pound.I have been paying over 100 a pound.

I would worry about bringing disease in, as with any seed from artificial shade gardens. I have bought 1 pound of shade seeds and had no problems at all, but a lot of people have bad luck with them.

I planted those seeds in a different location from my other ginseng just to be sure. I am lucky- now have my own seeds so no need to buy now.

I am interested to see how your broadcast method works. It sure would be easier that way.

Good luck

lenno or others...

How do you know if the seed you are buying is from a cultivated/shade grown situation or wild simulated ?

I looked all over this wildgrown site and did not see anywhere that they mention where their seeds come from.

I could call or email them and ask ? but it looks to me like if their 100.00/lb seed was from wild simulated disease free source they would be mentioning that where they list it for sale.

How do we know for sure that any online seed site is not selling you cultivated/shade grown (possibly diseased) seed ?

I guess the answer to that is that you really would not know for sure. You could only take their word for it.

Do any of you have first hand knowledge of where the seed you are buying comes from - know for sure it is from wild simulated and hopefully disease free ?

Could you list a few good sources of seed like that ?

Thanks

TNhunter

TN
I guess there is no way to know for sure. I have bought several pounds of seed from Scott Persons from Tuckasegee Valley and just assumed he was honest. I have also bought from Ozark Mountain Ginseng and I have visited his farm in southern Mo. I suppose he could still be selling artificial shade grown seeds, but I hope not.

The pound of seed I bought from the shade gardens done just fine, but it looked different [bigger seeds and darker in color].
Who knows?

I bought some seed from a grower in Wisconsin last year at $49.00 a pound and it did better than the seed i paid $100.00 a pound for. I will never pay double price again. I only bought a pound because I figured it wasn't going to be any good. Wish I would have bought all 10 pounds I planted last year from Wisconsin. Premier Ginseng is the grower I bought from. And the more you buy, the better the price.

I can not be of much help in this topic just as of yet as I also am just trying stratified seed planting Tnhunter.

I can tell you that I orederd a lb/ of seed from this site to try and Im looking forward to planting them and seeing the results next season.....

lenno,

You are right - who knows for sure.

I checked out the Ozark Mtn Site and found this mentioned on their site:

\"Growers are planting 100 pounds of ginseng seed per acre. We plant seed close together, you will get more pounds per acre this way. Ginseng likes good drainage so planting on a slope is great. We use a rear tined rototiller in the woods and work ground up 4 to 6 inches.\"

Wow - 100 pounds per acre. I have heard 20-22 suggested for wild simulated plantings.

When it comes to disease \"I think\" it is the spacing that makes disease more likely and if they do plant their woods shade grown as they say above, not sure it would be less likely to have disease than artificial shade grown.

I am going to transplant (this fall) a bunch of nice 3 & 4 prong plants to a location that I hope to establish my own seed producing bed.

I may just buy a pound of seed from Tuckasagee Valley and plant it this fall, but get around 5 lbs of that cheap seed from my local Dealer and try out some of that broadcast seeding and see how it does.

I have 30 acres that my Home is on that I can plant the (more expensive - hopefully woods grown seed on) and another 200 acres that I own that is very remote and about 10 miles from my home site that I can try the broadcasting method on.

PS - I emailed Ozark and asked them about the source for their stratified seed. On their website it says the rootlets they sell are from their own woods grown location but I did not see anywhere that they said what the source was for the stratified seed they sell.

I will report back when I hear.

TNhunter

TnHunter

Once you find out the details of the seed in question please let me know. I would be interested in a pound or two for that price. I've never \"broadcast\" seed by simply waiting on the leaves and a rain. I have however raked an area up with a stiff rake and planted seed and blew leaves from above the area ontop of the \"tilled and seeded\" area to keep the critters out of them. I have had marginal success at that (work/germination ratio). I prefer the dig a spot for each seed method. I have planted seed in a pine thicket and had them doing very well until someone found the spot and dug up my dozen plants.

TNhunter, Hello and hi to everyone else that has an intrest in all things ginseng,This is my first post on this site and I also live in tennessee and have been growing wild simulated ginseng since 1999, I havent made a penny off of it yet..lol..i have planted somewhere close to 200 lbs of seed to date, I am in no way considering myself an expert but here are some of my personal observations. cultivated seeds are 2 to 3 times the size of wild seed on average,....do not broadcast seeds if you live in the south...we have too many mice and birds and rodents that are active late into the season with the warm temperatures you will be throwing your money away if you broadcast,,,trust me ive done it...and i have went back to see empty seed cases all over the ground, additionally i usually start planting my ginseng in feburary and try to finish by the end of march by that time the woods are starting to come back to life and there is much more for the critters to eat then..by waiting until late winter very early spring you can avoid having you seeds becoming mice buffets, also raking the leaves in spring planting helps the young seedlings come up with less effort...if you have alot of oak trees where you plant they can cover the ground and become wet and matted and the young plants will struggle to reach the surface...

I just picked up a pound of seeds from a guy in shawano wisconsin for 40.00 shipped. His name is barry anker and his number is 715-853-7154
I usually bought from hsu but his prices are getting high