Most on here are like me, we do not buy and re-sell seed. I have bought seed from many seed suppliers to plant myself. I find the majority of the seed suppliers to be very helpful and I do not want this tread to go in the wrong direction. 90% of what I have bought I paid the higher price in order to get the Wild Simulated seed or Woods Grown Seed. However I have bought some Field Grown Shade Cultivated seed too. I have kept it separate from my other seed beds. I have also kept all of my seed separated from any wild plants. However, I know many are planting seed in areas with wild plants and I am OK with them planting seed on proven land that ginseng grows well on.

I do not think anyone on this forum is out to mislead or misrepresent themselves or their product.

Many experts believe the "Presumably Wild Ginseng" growing in our woods today are offspring of once planted seed from our ancestors in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
Most of that seed purchased back then came from Field Grown Shade Cultivated seed stock.

So even thou their may be some true wild ginseng out there, much of the "Presumably Wild" ginseng we hunt today is not derived from wild seed stock.

Here is the magic question that I cannot answer fellas. What constitutes "Wild Ginseng"? If a seed is grown in the wild under wild conditions and then harvested and sold as wild, is it wild? There are many officials and experts trying to answer this question and they cannot agree on it.

I do not think I am misleading anyone when I go to sell my wild roots that I find in the woods. Are they from wild seed, or perhaps 2nd, 3rd, 4th or more generation plants from cultivated seed planted many years ago? I do not know and apparently the local ginseng buyers do not know and cannot tell a difference. Apparently the buyers over in Asia are still buying what we are digging in the wild so apparently they like our roots wherever they have derived from.

I for one am glad many of us are planting and growing ginseng. I for one think growing ginseng will assist in helping to relieve the pressure off "Presumably Wild" ginseng growing in our forest. Oh sure some will say are you nuts, the more that grow it the higher the supply and the price will fall.

All I have to say is it has been dug to the point it is on the endangered species list in some states. It may be close in other states. So growing ginseng is a way to help keep ginseng going regardless of which side of the fence one stands pertaining to where seed comes from or where "Presumably Wild" ginseng comes from.
Latt

I sure hope you all decide soon whether lying to a customers face about your products authenticity is a benefit to your business or not.!


Guy, I agree with some things you say but not others. With some other things, I agree with what you say, but not your opinions _base_d thereon.

I think one of the issues we all have is defining what is what.

"Cultivated" or "Woods Cultivated" to me is ginseng grown under shade -either artificial OR natural- where one uses common cultivational practices and fertilizers. Often this ginseng is harvested at four years of age, but occasionally 5 or 6 years.

"Woods Grown" is ginseng planted and grown under natural shade with some common cultivational practices such as tilling and shaping beds, weeding, sprays if necessary, calcium and phosphorous may be added, but NO fertilizer to enhance growth.

"Wild Simulated" is ginseng planted and grown under natural shade in natural ground. Seed must be planted 'no-til' that is making a hole and placing a seed or rootlet, or raking back leaves and broadcasting seed. But, after planting, the ginseng is left to fend for itself naturally for a minimum of seven years and preferred ten years or long before harvest for market. I think the addition of calcium and phosphporus would be ok here as long as it is top dressed only and not incorporated, as this is naturally occurring in most soils.

Personally, I plant 'woods grown' and 'wild sim' both. I do not sell the wild sim plants as rootlets, as wild sim in this state is considered by law to be 'wild' and falls under the harvest guidlines for wild. My 'woods grown' roots are only sprayed if necessary, and usually only for the first year or so to keep them alive to sell as rootstock. After that, they are normally left to their own devices and I must say, at three years, I cannot tell them apart from 'wild' roots. They look and taste the same to me. If someone were to plant these 'woods grown' rootlets and leave them, they would be for all the world 'wild' except for their method of origin.

This is my suggestion that we all agree on a set of definitions so we are not miss speaking referring to woods grown or woods cultivated interchangably.

Guy, I think our fundamental difference is the age old question of nurture vs nature. I suggest that if any ginseng seed is planted and then grows as wild, it is wild. If I understand you correctly, you are saying that if a seed originally comes from a cultivated strain, no matter how it is planted or grows, it will always be cultivated. Is that correct?

If it is, then I would have to honestly ask you where the cultivated strains of ginseng originated.

I think this discussion is a good thing. We need to express our ideas and sort them out. Anyone want to alter those definitions? Add your own?

BCastle and Guy

Here is a post I started back a year ago.

Wild or Wild-Simulated

Check it out.

http://www.wildgrown.com/index.php/Ginseng-Forum/Growing-Ginseng/6919-Wild-or-Wild-Simulated.html#6919

classicfur

classicfur wrote:
BCastle and Guy

Here is a post I started back a year ago.

Wild or Wild-Simulated

Check it out.

http://www.wildgrown.com/index.php/Ginseng-Forum/Growing-Ginseng/6919-Wild-or-Wild-Simulated.html#6919

classicfur

Interesting thread. It sort of got more into methods of planting rather than which is and which isnt wild. I have started a new thread for the definitions and that whole discusson to free this thread of further stray from the original discusson.

Latt
you got it.
We have about five acres of wild and it is an effort to get 10 pounds out of it each year. Every living thing it seems eats the berries before it's ripe.

guy

Just from my general knowledge of biology... a few generations of cultivation probably won't affect the genetic makeup of the seeds, unless the planter is isolating specific characteristics and trying to enhance them. In other words, if you buy shade raised seed and toss it out in the woods, you'll probably get skinny wild roots.

As for making a living at seng... it's a persnickety plant, and you're at the mercy of the weather. One bad year, and your crop could be toast, or seriously damaged. The multiyear nature of raising seng leaves open multiple years when a drought or a late freeze could really hammer you.

Doing it full time? Doesn't make a lot of sense, unless you have a huge crop. If you're wild planting it in suitable hillsides like I am, it doesn't need a lot of attention other than seed planting in the fall, some leaf raking in the spring.