TOPIC: Stratifying Ginseng Seed

I know many have read how to stratify ginseng seed so I am not going to explain it in detail. I must admit thou, from everything I have read I thought it was a fairly simple process. I thought it consisted of layering sand and seed until the stratification box or pit is full then burying it for 12 to 18 months. The Stratification box size would be determined by the amount of seed one is attempting to stratify. I have personally seen an above ground stratification box larger than a small car. It was filled with sand and seed.

Stratifying seed may sound simple on the surface but many things can go wrong. I have talked to an expert that is very well respected in the ginseng community and has the credentials to go with it. He has confirmed that stratifying seed can be very tricky. He has first hand knowledge of this as he had stated that he has lost very large quantities of seed during the stratification process.

Apparently there are techniques that many successful seed suppliers are using. However many are very secretive with their techniques.

I have stratified seed but nothing larger than a half pound at a time.

Someday many of the new ginseng growers may have a large quantity of seed to stratify and I sure would hate to hear that any of us have lost any seed in a stratification box.

If there is anyone out there that would like to share their techniques I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks,
Latt

Latt,

I have stratified small amounts, around 5 pounds, for the past couple of years.
I just mix sand and seed in a screen pouch and bury it 8 or so inches deep. This has worked well for me,but I dont know about larger amounts using a box.

Lenno

Latt / Lenno - - -

I have no experience at all at stratifying seed but hope to do a small batch next fall if my seed producing bed does well enough.

I may be thinking small production here - but I would think that stashing your seeds away in smaller batches (like 1-2 lbs max) and burying those in good areas but spreading them out quite a bit - that might help to avoid disease problems.

If you do smaller batches like that and if disease does hit hopefully it would not hit all of your stashes.

1-2 lbs is about all I want to have up and ready to plant at one time anyway. Could just leave the other bags burried until ready to plant, then pull up a bag and have the quantity you want to plant.

If you put all of your seed in one big stash and disease hits it could wipe out all you have.

Spreading them around, different locations, in smaller quantities sounds like a better idea to me.

PS - on Pg 185 in Scotts book he shows a pic of Oscar and he is burying a bag fashoned from aluminum screen filled with a seed/sand mixture. That sure looks like a simple way to do it.


TNhunter

Guys,

I have not hat any experience in stratifying seeds, but I plan on doing that for the first time this year from my 6 and 7 year old plants. I plan on stratifying with a screen mesh pouch and bury in the ground with just soil as recommended by Guy on this forum.

Here's what guy wrote:

\"classicfur


I regularly stratify one or two plants worth of seed seperatly in a small pouch made from screening. Stratifying is easy if you follow Scotts idea, you won't have any problems.

We don't use sand like everyone recommends, forest mulch works fine with no loss or disease, never lost any to disease knock on wood. It's what they would normally stratify in.
Seperating the seed from the mulch and float testing them is work when you have a few pounds.

A test to see if the seed is good, split the seed with a knife along it's seam, you should see a pure white firm bean like stuff on both halves and a small yellowish sprout. Any spots of discolouration is a reject. Test ten seeds in a row if they are all good then you have good seed.

guy\"

And on a larger scale this is what the \"GINSENG PRODUCTION GUIDE FOR COMMERCIAL GROWERS ? 2003 EDITION\" from Canada has to say. It may not have much that's applicable for the smaller amount of seeds, but it's still interesting.

www.agf.gov.bc.ca/speccrop/ginseng/prodg.../16_harvest_seed.pdf

And here is the link for the index for the complete Growers Guide.

www.agf.gov.bc.ca/speccrop/ginseng/ginseng_production_guide.htm

It sounds like disease and lack of neccessary temperature needs(warm and cold storage) is the biggest reason for failure.

classicfur

Thanks fellas, much appreciated.
Latt