TOPIC: Who will see seng tops up first this spring ?

Hey Guys,

Not much to talk about seng wise here mid-late winter.

Just wondering how much difference it makes (location north/south wise) in when seng tops first appear.

I am sure looking forward to seeing the tops in my seed producing bed and hoping to see about 20,000 (3 leafers) up in the beds I have planted this fall/winter (planted a bit over 3 lbs now - may plant more if weather permits).

I have a little patch of seng just off the hill from my house and last spring checked it on April 15 and could not locate any tops. It was nice and warm then and two days later on April 17 about 5 of 10 tops were up.

Those were on some small 2 prong roots I transplanted the fall before.

Do new sprouts (3 leafers) come up about the same time as established roots ? or sooner or later ?

Anyone see any seng tops up earlier than April 17 last year ?

I am South of Nashville TN just to give you a north/south idea where I am located.

I think most of you guys are up north of me and some quite a bit.

Anyone here further south than I am ?

PS - we got a bit of snow last night - one of those really wet ones that sticks to everything.

I took a couple of pic's today and will post them here in a bit.

TNhunter

Here is a pic of my seed producing bed - got 44 nice roots in there - sure looking forward to seeing them up in the spring.

Here is a pic of a location just a short distance from my seed bed where I have 3 (4' x 40') beds planted with stratified seed this fall/winter.



TNhunter

TN,
I have about 40 good size roots planted in my ginseng bed out behind my house. They are all around 15 to 25 years old. They are all planted the same depth. Every year they all come up at different times over a two week period. I don't know why but they just do. The ones that come up first look no different than the ones that come up later. They usually start around the third week of April and run through the first week of May.
Nice Pics by the way.
Latt

Guys

In central Maine, my tops usually start coming up the first week of May and continue to emerge through the third week of May. We usually have some snow pack left on the ground into April, so the soil is still cold.

I have noticed over the years, that the oldest plants seem to emerge first, then the younger plants, then the new seedlings emerge last.

I look forward to each new year. Especially since I now have a wide range of plants up to seven years old.

They will look spectacular this Spring!!!

classicfur

Latt / Classicfur,

Sounds about like what I was expecting - the more north you are the tops will emerge a bit later.

Latt - I am sure I have heard you say before - but can't remember now what State you are located in - was that KY ?

Sounds like your tops on average will be up a couple weeks after mine, and then Classicfur (being way on up north in Main) will average a couple weeks after yours.

I don't recall anyone posting here that mentioned being located more south than me (like in AL) but I bet their tops would be up a week or two ahead of mine.

I know in the early spring I have made a trip down to south east TN (Chattanooga area) and when I left home there were no dogwoods or redbuds blooming here, but down there they were all nicely bloomed out.

So when you guys hear me shouting \"there up\" you will know about how much longer you have to wait

Of course I will be sending up some pictures to help you out with the wait.

TNhunter

TN,
I live in Ohio. We are about a week to two weeks behind you for sure. I have seen ginseng come up mid April depending on the weather. Most of the time it's more towards the end of April thou into the first week of May.

I am looking forward to seeing my new ginseng seedlings come up as well. I look forward to seeing your new pics TN and others new seeding pics as well as sending out some of my new seedling pics.

I was really concerned about the drought we had last April and how it would effect my new seedlings that were due to come up from my 2009 Fall planting. I expected many of them to die due to the drought. I called Larry Harding about it and he asked me how they were doing. I told him it was a blanket of green baby ginseng plants and they all appeared to be healthy.

Much to my surprise Larry told me the lack of rain probably helped. He said the first year seedlings are prone to diseases due to an abundance of moisture in the spring and the dry weather most likely worked to my advantage.

After everything I have learned and read about like \"Damping Off\" or \"Tip Over\", I am more concerned now than ever about the seedlings that I will have coming up this spring. I always leaned more towards letting mother nature take its course. But like Classicfur said to me once in a past posting, was I just willing to stand back and let a problem take over my ginseng, thus killing some or all of the plants. I paraphrased this a bit, but that is what we discussed in a nut shell.

Now I do not think I want to just stand back and let it work itself out. I have seen what \"Damping Off\" does to a small ginseng plant. Basically the base of the stem at ground level thins a great deal, turns brown and eventually breaks. Strangely enough the leaves can still be green and in tact for a while after this happens and can remain upright due to being supported by the leaf litter. So basically the baby plant top looks healthy even thou it is disconnected from the root. At that point the root has no energy left in it to regrow the following year and the root does not produce the second year.

So this year I am definitely going to do some traveling to my ginseng beds and spray with my Micorrizal Fungi \"Plant Helper\" product that I have purchased. From what I have read and heard this will really inhibit bad fungi from invading my seed beds. Thanks for the tip Classicfur and info on \"Plant Helper\"

So I know many of us have many seeds planted and I am sure you have concerns as well. Are any of you fellas going to spray with a natural product or chemicals this spring?
Latt

Latt,

After having Damping Off destroy about a 1/2 pound seedlings one spring. I will be spraying Trichoderma Plant Helper this spring on newly planted beds and possibly the one & two year old beds. Before they emerge I will rake back the leaves and spray onto the soil, then rake the leaves back onto the beds.

The plant helper Trichoderma is active down to 35 degrees. So it could be sprayed shortly after all the snow is gone and before the seeds start to grow.

It's a sad thing to see thousands of seedling go to wasting away. I hope to never see that happen again!

classicfur

Classicfur,
Do you think it would be possible for me to spray my Trichoderma Plant Helper on the ginseng beds on top the leaves after the snow melts. I am wondering if the Trichoderma would survive on the leaf litter surface and gaps and get washed down through the leaves to the soil.

I am not a lazy man, but I would hate to rake all those leaves back again and then back on.
Thanks,
Latt

Latt

I suppose that spraying the Trichoderma on top of the leaves would be an alternate way of applying instead of directly to the soil. From what I understand of this product is that it's difficult to kill the spores. So the Trichoderma should survive and eventually make it's way into the soil. I know that if applied on top of the leaves, it will take longer to get into the soil where the seeds are at.

The seeds that you treated with the Trichoderma, should be protected so that they would not need to be sprayed until later in the spring after they have emerged.

I'm new to this product just as you are, and testing what works best for ginseng will take some time.

I know this product has been tested on culivated ginseng, but I have not found much written on how to apply it on Wild simulated seng.

Your best bet would be to contact Kelly at Ampac and see if applying on top of leaves would be ok.

classicfur