TOPIC: What 10lbs of Stratified Ginseng Seed Looks Like

Latt...

I have some now that are 6 years old, several 5, 4, 3, etc...

I remember years ago when you were saying 10% survival and I was doubting that...

Now unfortunately I have to confirm you were right. That is about where most of my older patches are (5 and 6 year olds).

Now my ground and calcium levels are not even close to what you have, but my results on survival have been very similar.

I have several beds where I planted 5'x 50' beds... and along that 50' length, the majority of the survivors will be in one location, perhaps on one end or the other rather than being evenly dispersed along that length. Where they did well, they did well, but where they did not, they did not.

I am happy to have what I have though and now after 6 years of planting, I have several plants that are making berries now, and that is going to get better each year now.

I have faith in those plants that lived and produced berries, that those berries will do well. I expect them to do much better than the original shade grown cultivated seed did.

TNHunter

Pretty much, sums it up TN.

rootman

Here is a wild simulated root I dug up yesterday from the spot where I planted those 10 lbs of seed. I transplanted this root and plant top back into the soil on the other side of the hill to see if that side would grow ginseng.

Here is a pic of a small area showing the density of my wild simulated in the spot where I planted those 10 lbs of seed. Looks pretty thin in my opinion and this is one of my denser spots. Some spots have no ginseng at all.

Here is another pic of a small section in the wild simulated patch. Now in the spring there are a few more plants and a bit thicker density than in the fall.

For some reason these deer in this area do eat ginseng leaves. I have found stalks void of leaves in late spring and summer.

I got to plant about 1 lb if seed unexpectedly yesterday morning.
My buddy who owns the land has a friend that gave him the seed. It is from his woods cultivated patch in NC. It will be interesting to see how it does in this spot where I have had my best results.

I planted it in a 5 foot wide x 100 foot long planting bed.
Here is a pic of the top half of the bed. The soil was really dry but we are getting a nice rain today. This spoil looks gray but turns a deep dark almost black when it has some moisture in it.

That wild sim root looks huge for only 6 years old! How much would you expect a root like that to weigh?

Would you expect a better survival rate than 10% from the seeds you are now getting from your original planting or is 10% pretty much to be expected as the best you can hope for?

Thanks for any replies,

John B

John B,

Thanks for the compliment on my \"Wild Simulated\" root. I am not sure what it weighs. It is for sure big for a 6 year old root. But the pic makes the root look huge and it's of good size but it's not a whopper or anything crazy big like a 3 or 4 oz root.

It's hard to say about the seed dropping off the plants and growing being more stable. It is pretty cool to see the patch self seeding. I am not even close to 10%. More like 1 to 2 %. If one can get 10% then I would think this is about the best you could hope for when planting \"Wild Simulated\".

Now \"Woods Grown\" is totally different. If you take care of your ginseng with a spraying program you can most likely have results well above 10% survival rates.

However, now you are looking at time, labor and material cost to spray on a regular basis. I have no idea what the break even point is for \"Woods Grown\" pertaining to the cost and what % survival rate it would take.

I have stood in \"Woods Grown\" patches that COMPLETELY cover the ground and are so thick you can't see the ground below and cover every inch of the hillside. What a wonderful sight to behold. I would like to try this someday.

There are folks on this forum that are doing exactly this and I wish them the best and really enjoy seeing their post and pics and success stories. Looking forward to how their efforts treat them in the upcoming years.

Good luck,
Latt

Latt,

That is a nice looking root. Looks much like some of Hillhoppers wild sim... impressive root size and yours has a great shape to it (running legs).

Only thing that is missing, is the same thing that is missing from Hill's roots, a nice long neck.

Can't expect that to be there in 6 years but to me that is what is missing that would really make that root look good. Around 20 flats on a long neck.

For a 6 year old I would say that is about as good as it gets.

Your 6 year olds are for sure stouter looking than mine are... you have better ground by far and may have better light too. Mine are in heavy timber and just don't get all of the light they need, which adds up to slower growth.

TNHunter

TNhunter,
Thanks for the kind words. I agree, the root is nice but sure is missing the long neck. I have no intention of digging these anytime soon. Good lord willing I hope to see what these look like in 10 or more years from now.

At another location I have some really healthy roots growing that I planted back in 2007 in Eastern Ohio.
The soil is Brownsville Clay and the canopy is thick which is a bad combination in my opinion. Healthy is good but the roots are tiny. I have thought about digging them up and transplanting them but I probably will just leave them alone for another 10 years and see what happens. I have a lot of them and they are close together. Still no disease though and it's going on 10 years.

A couple of fellas I know acquired a few of these tiny roots from me and transplanted them on their land and they did pretty good from what they said. So yep dirt and canopy is pretty darn important.

Good luck TN and everyone.
Latt