When do i plant ginseng

Ginseng should not be planted in areas where people go to dig wild ginseng. In some regions, ginseng hunters comb the mountains every fall looking for wild ginseng. These hunters will certainly be excited if they come across a dense population of plants. Somehow cultivated ginseng plants are often considered "fair game" by wild gatherers.

Fines for stealing ginseng are negligible. It is highly recommended that anyone attempting to grow ginseng this way, keep quiet about the enterprise. Ideal growing conditions for ginseng are more difficult to find in low-lying regions than they are in the mountains.

The forest floor in most woodland areas is too hot and dry during the summer for ginseng to survive. Micro-environments may be found, however, that are good, if not perfect, places for ginseng to grow.

Many Virginia landowners are successfully growing ginseng well out of the mountains. For several decades, natives of the Southern Appalachianregion have harvested natural plant materials from the wild for sale to the many medicinal herb buyers in the region.

Very often these buyers operate small grocery stores. Products most commonly traded are ginseng, black cohosh, bloodroot, golden seal, lady slipper, mayapple and slippery elm. The local person, who buys the roots, bark, leaves or seeds from medicinal plants, often also buys furs and hides.

These small buyers, in turn, sell the plant materials they purchase to regional brokers who either export the materials to the Orient or sell them directly to pharmaceutical companies in the United States. As native wild populations of these medicinal plants disappear due to over harvesting, potential increases for profitable sale of cultivated woodland medicinal plants.

Indeed, many small landowners throughout the region have already successfully grown and sold these plants. There is never any problem marketing the products they grow. Prices fluctuate, of course, but the market channels developed years ago for sale of wild harvested plant materials can reliably be used for sale of any cultivated medicinal herbs in current demand. AFTA What is agroforestry? Current Recent - Current. Archive - Signup! Try to spread the seeds evenly over the plot by walking along the top of the plot and sprinkling the seeds by hand.

Although it may take some getting used to, this should become a comfortable technique to use for seeding your ginseng. Remember you want to seed at a rate of four to five seeds per square foot. The next step is to move upslope and begin the process over again.

This time you will use the leaf litter that you are raking downhill off of the next area to be seeded to cover the previously seeded plot. Make sure to cover the seeded plot entirely with leaf litter, but do not exceed more than 3 inches of leaf litter over the seeded plot.

Once you've raked the leaf litter down onto the seeded plot, your next plot should be ready to seed. Repeat the process and continue until you have seeded your whole area. Figure 4. Raking to remove leaf litter in preparation for planting of American ginseng seed. On sites where raking and other site preparation would be difficult, ginseng can also be planted by hand one seed at a time. Although this method will substantially increase the time spent planting, it will dramatically increase germination rates and will also allow you to plant areas that may be more difficult to plant with the technique described above.

Many growers like to use a variety of techniques to seed their wild-simulated ginseng. You should experiment and determine what works best for you on your sites.

Growing wild-simulated ginseng can be a relaxing and rewarding experience. You should take time to do research on growing ginseng and on the laws that govern ginseng harvesting and sales before ever planting a seed. Currently in Ohio it is illegal to market a ginseng root under five years of age.

This law also applies to wild-simulated ginseng growers because wild-simulated ginseng is typically not distinguished from wild ginseng in the marketplace. Administrative Rules for The Ohio Ginseng Management Program are available through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife and should be obtained, read, and understood before taking up this pastime. Contact the Rural Action Forestry Program for information about how to obtain seed and planting stock of ginseng and other medicinal herbs:.

They can be contacted through Rural Action Forestry. CFAES provides research and related educational programs to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis. For more information, visit cfaesdiversity. For an accessible format of this publication, visit cfaes. Skip to main content. Site Preparation Before preparing any site one should consider many factors, foremost is security.

Sadly, for almost every agricultural commodity I know of, that is not the case. Of course, most of these buyers are primarily interested in buying wild ginseng, but the fact is that ginseng is indeed easy to sell.

Growing it successfully is a different story, however! If it were easy to grow or if it grew in any forest, it would not be as expensive as it is to buy. Wild simulated woodland ginseng growing requires a specific type of forest habitat and there are certainly challenges to doing it successfully. The first and by far most important step, is to assess the available forest resource to see if it is suitable for ginseng production. It does require knowledge of the herbaceous plants in your forest, as well as the tree and shrub species, to use it accurately.

A six year old ginseng root from wild simulated patch. If you think you have a suitable forest, the next step is to purchase stratified seed from a reputable dealer and try some test plots. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in growing ginseng, goldenseal, black cohosh, ramps, bloodroot, or any other woodland crop. Although it now October, ginseng is always planted in the fall and may be sown right until the ground freezes.

If Scott has sold all his seed, you may contact me rlb14 cornell. Stratified seed was harvested last summer and will germinate next spring. Ginseng seed cannot be held over for spring planting in It will perish even if refrigerated or frozen.

I suggest you begin with some test plots. Here is a protocol that I use myself after I determine that a particular site looks promising. Measure and mark 3-foot-wide by 3-foot-long test plots using survey flags. Survey flags are available from farm and home stores, forestry suppliers, or many County Soil and Water Conservation districts.

Set up as many 3 foot square plots as you desire. Below is a guide of useful plant care tips so you can grow your own ginseng. Both Asian and American ginseng are herbaceous perennials. American ginseng Panax quinquefolius grows to inches tall in eastern North America in hardiness zones Forest farming of ginseng has a long-standing tradition in Appalachia. Asian ginseng Panax ginseng is frost-hardy and grows to about 8 inches tall. Today, it is mainly found growing in the remote mountains of Korea, China, and Russia.

While collecting the seeds of wild ginseng is legal, given its scarce nature, you will most likely need to purchase seeds or seedlings from a commercial grower. Seeds can be stored until you are ready to plant. Seeds will sprout in early to mid-spring, at which point, thin them to 3 inches apart. Seedlings should be planted immediately upon arrival from a commercial grower.

Plant seedlings 3 inches apart, then water in. Appropriately, ginseng's genus name Panax comes from the Greek word for panacea. The Iroquois and Mohegans used American ginseng as a fertility drug, painkiller, anti-emetic, and psychiatric drug, among other uses. In Asian traditions, it is used for treating colds, fatigue, and cancer; to promote stamina, strength, concentration, and memory; to relieve anxiety, hot flashes, and respiratory disorders; and to slow the aging process.

Ginseng is a woodland plant, so your goal should be to reproduce those conditions as much as possible. Once planted, however, your ginseng will need little care. Ginseng grows in partial to full shade, with good air circulation. If you can't find a natural tree canopy to plant under, you can create your own with artificial structures. Prepare a bed with soil up to 8 inches deep underneath mature hardwood trees, preferably on a northeast-facing slope.

Ginseng requires well-draining soil, rich in humus, with a slightly acidic pH level.