TOPIC: SO WHAT IS THE MAGIC NUMBER?

When you've got a number of 30+ yo root and no less than 10yo that price goes up.

maya wrote:

BCastle wrote:

Latt wrote:

It seems like NY and Vermont root sure bring in top dollar. So it really doesn't matter whats happening in other states from what I have observed related to pricing. NY and Vermont seng seems to bring the highest price and that's great for you fellas up North East.


Congrats Maya,
Latt

If you pay attention to those roots from up that way, most of them are old and bulby. I never see anyone posting pencils or so so roots from up there. This means that the diggers are more conscientious and only dig roots which are ready for the market, and they handle them correctly the way the market wants them. I suspect that if those diggers dug roots like we see everywhere else in the country, they would see prices similar to everywhere else in the country also.

.....and dig them intact. I try and get as much of the hair root as possible. To many on this site are showing root beat to hell!

Every year I get at least $100-300 more than what I see posted on this site. Dig them whole, only dig roots at least 10 yo, you have to get a number of 30+ yo root and you must care for them properly after the dig.

I also know top dollar buyers know who is digging wild root. My buyer this year was talking about a guy that brought him a bunch of 8-12 yo root, all looking very similar. Dead give away.

You need a bunch of this for top dollar. Age and hair root...

We get the age here no problem the hair roots though here are no where near as pronounced as in your area though unless the ginsengs is in the really deep rich soil at or near the base or conflux of several ravines. Basically from 2-6\" down we will have rich soil then it hits the clay underlying this soil and the hair roots produced in this clay soil just aren't as present in most cases and to be honest the dealers here complain about the fiber of the hair roots on those that have a lot bringing the overall price down as they say the buyers don't want this ultra-fine fiber.

Getting the hair root is as simple as understanding where it is in the soil.... It's not down deep in the clay, most of it reaches back up toward the surface, especially if you are on a slope in a ravine. It took me a while to understand that. I thought like you that they were not as present or they were just to hard to get, not true once I understood where they went. I was simple digging right past them to loosen the soil down deeper. It's clear to me seeing the pics of some of the root dug here and watching the tv shows people don't take the time and are in to much of a hurry to get big numbers of root and not quality. BTW, we have clay and even shale that are hard on roots.

If you have dealers saying they don't want the hair root, find someone else, they are rank armatures! No wonder they don't pay good money. It's the end user that wants them in tact, these guys if they knew what they were doing would realize it. My buyers absolutely want to see a well dug root!I have never heard of a dealer not wanting to see the hair root.....

maya wrote:

Getting the hair root is as simple as understanding where it is in the soil.... It's not down deep in the clay, most of it reaches back up toward the surface, especially if you are on a slope in a ravine. It took me a while to understand that. I thought like you that they were not as present or they were just to hard to get, not true once I understood where they went. I was simple digging right past them to loosen the soil down deeper. It's clear to me seeing the pics of some of the root dug here and watching the tv shows people don't take the time and are in to much of a hurry to get big numbers of root and not quality. BTW, we have clay and even shale that are hard on roots.
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LOL I can toss dirt with the best of them in regards to getting roots out with the fine hairs intact and I do when they are present. But I also can look at those roots I find with next to no fine hairs and can see by examining the ends and root that I've not broken any fine hair root ends off as the ends terminate in a tan end the same as the roots exterior color without showing the fine white spots on ends showing where a fine hair root was attached and broken off.

Alrighty then...

NCSmokiesanger wrote:

congrats on the sell Maya.... That's awesome! wish prices here were anything close to that but its still to early for me to sell. I always wait till after thanksgiving.

Good luck Smokie!

maya wrote:

Alrighty then...

That final statement & smiley came across to me to as though you didn't believe me and that your being condescending to me. Did I misread or take it wrong?? If I took it wrong I apologize for miss-reading the brief statement & smiley you made
In regards to my digging I use a carpenters flat bar to dig with, I shove it into the ground 1/2-3/4 of its length keeping it the length of my flat bar from the root 20\" and then pry upward as I make a circle around the plant, once I've done this if the soils had rain within the last week its then broke up rather loosely and I begin sifting through and removing the dirt by hand until I reach the neck which upon reaching I check for length to determine if I want to dig the plants root. If so I then continue sifting and breaking up the dirt by hand occasionally using the flat bar curved end back side to smack the ground with to break up clumps, and continue sifting and removing the dirt until the roots completely free and can be lifted from the ground with zero resistance. If we haven't had any rain in the last week or so quite often the dirt breaks up like concrete breaking into large chunks which then requires more use of the curved end of my flat bar to break it into smaller sections. Occasionally in really hard dry soil like this when the ground fractures and 1 portion of root is on 1 side of fracture and another portions on the other side the root will break but nearly always I do get it out of the ground whole. So based upon my digging & sifting method where would you say I'm loosing the fine hair root and if it were present why wouldn't I see the white look of the hair roots interior when I look at the roots ends??
Where as in the really rich loamy soil I described the hair roots look to be as good or better than those you've pictured.
I'm not trying to cause conflict just trying to understand and Improve if I can but I'm not seeing where I can improve.
Perhaps next year I should video digging a root for you to see the method used and the lack of fine hair root on the average lot of roots we find here.

I'm not going get into discussion about how you dig. How you dig is your business, but if you really think that there are no hair root in certain areas and that buyers don't want it, please excuse me, but there is no way I believe it! Heavy soil can lead to shorter roots, but they eventually lead down to hair root.

Hey, I could be wrong about the hair root but having dug for years and being the owner of an apple orchard and knowing very much how things grow, ya I think my rolling eyes is pretty appropriate. I just looked at some of the pictures you posted in another thread, and I'm sorry, I don't believe the roots grew like that.

I'm in know way saying it's easy to get all the hair root, I break off way to many, but don't try and BS us w/ stories of no hair root and buyers not wanting them. I'll roll my eyes every time at that!

GMCPaul and maya,

maya has that black loamy soil and of course he is going to get more of the hair roots.
GMCPaul does the best job he can do in his type of soil just like where I live. That's the reason I use a long handled mattock and it is next to impossible to get the hair roots out of this tightly knit soil. So let us give each other a little slack. Peace.

rootman wrote:

GMCPaul and maya,

maya has that black loamy soil and of course he is going to get more of the hair roots.
GMCPaul does the best job he can do in his type of soil just like where I live. That's the reason I use a long handled mattock and it is next to impossible to get the hair roots out of this tightly knit soil. So let us give each other a little slack. Peace.

Who said I have black loamy soil? 99% is not. I have about 3 spots that have black loam.