Mike Belt
Well-Known Member
I usually don't spend much time in this forum but I noticed several posts on ginseng (most dated back in October) and a couple on trying to grow the seeds. A few years back I attempted to grow some agriculturally so I found out all I could about it. To grow the stuff under agricultural practices you have to provide about a 78% shade cover. This is where growing it this way gets pricey. Between the price of the shading and everything needed to install it and the seeds and the chemicals when I attempted it years ago it cost about $25,000 to plant an acre to maturity (4 years). It gets cheaper after that because by then you're producing your own seeds (no further expense) and you're rotating the shading you have from crop to crop. The general idea is to plant X amount (we'll say an acre) every year. By your second year you're beginning to produce seeds and by the third year you're producing enough to plant your next acre plus have extra to sell. By your 4th year into growing you're producing enough seeds that you no longer have to buy any. You're buying seed up until that point yearly. The reason you can't plant your 3rd year crop's worth of seeds for the 4th year crop is one of the things that make the plant so interesting. The seeds have to go through a stratification process. What this means is that normally they fall off the plant in the Fall and are covered up by soil, decaying leaves, etc. They remain in this state throughout the winter and the following year and don't sprout until the second spring after they have fallen off. You duplicate this cycle with your 3rd year seeds. This is also the type seeds you buy (stratified) for planting. To do this you dig a hole deep enough to bury a 5 gallon bucket. You drill holes in the bottom for drainage. You layer sand, seeds, sand, seeds, sand, seeds to the top. Drop this bucket into the hole you dug, cover it in dirt, and walk away for a year. Remember this is done in the Fall. The following Fall you dig them up, plant them, and they sprout the following spring.
You also must maintain a vigorous spraying program; especially the first couple of years. Generally if they make it until then they'll make it to maturity. The plant is much like a tobacco crop in that it's susceptable to root rot and fungus.
If you have years to spend waiting the place to plant is in the woods. You save the price of shading and you don't have to mulch in the Fall (I used wheat straw). As mentioned it takes twice as long to grow to maturity but it (considered wild) brings twice the price as if grown agriculturally without near the expense doing so. Ideally I would have liked a pecan orchard for growing it in. You have shading in the summer when needed, leaf drop in the Fall for mulching, and the rows can be kept uniform within the limits of the tree planting.
If it's such a lucrative venture why didn't I stick with it? Divorce changes alot of things and I just never attempted again. I fooled with it enough to know I could grow it if I wanted to. Good information is hard to come by even after researching it. Not alot of people are into growing it especially in the south. Most is exported and Marathon County in Wi. probably grows 95% of that. Most info you find is too general and old. Most of the Northern growers are willing to sell you the seed (or 1,2,3, or 4 year old plants for transplanting) but not too helpful on growing advice.
You also must maintain a vigorous spraying program; especially the first couple of years. Generally if they make it until then they'll make it to maturity. The plant is much like a tobacco crop in that it's susceptable to root rot and fungus.
If you have years to spend waiting the place to plant is in the woods. You save the price of shading and you don't have to mulch in the Fall (I used wheat straw). As mentioned it takes twice as long to grow to maturity but it (considered wild) brings twice the price as if grown agriculturally without near the expense doing so. Ideally I would have liked a pecan orchard for growing it in. You have shading in the summer when needed, leaf drop in the Fall for mulching, and the rows can be kept uniform within the limits of the tree planting.
If it's such a lucrative venture why didn't I stick with it? Divorce changes alot of things and I just never attempted again. I fooled with it enough to know I could grow it if I wanted to. Good information is hard to come by even after researching it. Not alot of people are into growing it especially in the south. Most is exported and Marathon County in Wi. probably grows 95% of that. Most info you find is too general and old. Most of the Northern growers are willing to sell you the seed (or 1,2,3, or 4 year old plants for transplanting) but not too helpful on growing advice.
