Why
grow Ginseng?
Growing and selling top grade
Ginseng can be quite profitable.
Each year the market grows in size for the top grade roots and seed.
However it takes five to seven years, or more, to grow top grade
Ginseng roots from seed. Selling quality young roots and stratified
seeds to Ginseng growers can provide some income also.
Growing Ginseng
Ginseng can be grown in
the northern hardwood forests or on farms that simulate the proper
growing conditions. The soil that Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is
grown in must be fairly well drained and fertile, with a pH of 5-7.
A well drained sandy loam forest soil well fertilized with rotted
leaves or other mulching material is excellent. Ginseng needs plenty
of Phosphate for proper plant metabolic processes, seed production,
and full root developement. A good source of this nutrient is bone
meal (1-11-0). Finely ground bone meal may be applied at a rate of
one pound per square yard of coverage.
If drainage is a problem, plant your Ginseng in a raised bed. Seed
is planted in the spring as early as possible. The seeds are placed
about 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep and 6 inches apart each way in permanent
beds or two by six inches in raised seed beds.
The seedlings are then transplanted when two years old. Then plant
them six to eight inches apart each way. A top dressing of one to
two inches of rotted or composted hardwood tree leaves should be
applied for moisture control and some fertilizer.
Ginseng must be shaded from direct sunlight. Filtered sun is best,
shade of 70 to 80 % must be provided. Exposing Ginseng to prolonged
direct sunlight may kill the plants. However, sometimes they only
die back, go dormant, and return the following spring.
The dormate period during the winter must be a least 90 days in
length. During this season extended periods of below freezing
tempertures is necessary for Ginseng to grow properly.
The leaves, stems, flowers and seeds of the Ginseng plant are the
favorite targets of slugs. Here in the Pacific Northwest, slugs are
a real problem. One slug can severly damage several plants in one
evening. So protect your plants from slugs. The top part of the
plant roots are sometimes damaged by burrowing mice. So some
protection must be provided to prevent these problems.
Keep the Ginseng beds free from weeds. Keep the surface of the soil
loose so that the roots can breath. A inch or two of mulch made from
leaf mold is suggested to help maintain moisture, help to prevent
soil compacting from the falling rain and to add some nutrients.
The addition of earthworms or wrigglers into the Ginseng beds helps
to keep the soil loose and the worms bring up additional nutrient to
the surface. And their activity aids in soil drainage.
Fall and Winter Care
In late summer or early
fall the Ginseng red berries containing the seeds are gathered.
Gather them when they are bright red and the husks separates easily
from the cream colored seeds. Usually one to three flat cream
colored seeds are in each red berry. Later, with time, the color of
the seeds becomes light tan. In the fall when the Ginseng plant
leaves have turned yellow, then brown and the stems have died back,
cover the plants with a layer of freshly collected fallen leaves
from hardwood trees. This will help to protect them from our
occasional cold periods. We use a combination of Big Leaf Maple, Red
Alder, and Beech leaves. Conifer leaves or needles are to avoided.
In the Spring
Be sure to remove this
leaf cover early in the spring as soon as the weather warms up. And
at this time be watchful of those pesty slugs. Especially the tiny
ones and any collections of pearly white small round eggs in
clusters. These are almost always slug and snail eggs. Remove them
completely. Then shred and replace the shredded leaves loosely over
the Ginseng planted areas. Apply enough shredded leaves to make
about one inch of settled leaves.
Saving the seeds
When the bright red
berries containing the seeds are collected in the fall, the seed
must be separated from the husks part of the berry. The easist way
that we have found is to soak the flat creamy colored seeds with the
berry husks in clean cool water until the husks get mushy. Then the
seeds and their husks are easily separated. The seeds are then
washed and stored in moist clean sand until the fall or spring
plantimg. But, take care, the seeds can not be allowed to completely
dry out. The seeds will darken to a medium dark tan with time.
Some of the seeds will grow the first year when planted, however
most will wait until the second spring to sprout and grow. Although
we have planted the seeds in beds or in small individual containers
in the fall, most are planted in the early spring in shaded beds.
(Which is early to mid March for our area.) These containers which
are called tree bands are 4" x 4" x 10" deep. The
sprouting seeds begin to raise the young stems above ground usually
between April and early May. During the spring and the growing
season those containers with sprouted gingeng seeds are cared the
same as other ginseng plants. While the containers with unsprouted
seeds are watered, cared for, and left alone in a shaded area. The
next spring these seeds usually sprout and the ginseng plants grow
fine. However, some seeds don't sprout until the third spring.. |