i have just recieved 1000+ american ginseng seeds and they have started germing in the bag they were shipped in. i was wondering if thats a bad thing? my plans were to plant them outside as soon as i got them but with it starting to get cold out now i didnt know if it would be too hard on the seeds to grow now or not? i was also planing to just grow a few in the house which i know that the seeds will be fine for that just outside is questionable. I live in south western PA. btw.

Just curious, where did you order those seeds from?

Ginseng is suppose to be planted in cold weather. As long as the ground isn't frozen.

What do you mean by "have started germinating"? If the outer brown hull is split and the white is starting to peek out, kind of like the seed is smiling, then there just fine, that's a good sign. Keep them in the frig until you can get them in the ground, and make sure you keep them moist (not wet).

I think that the American ginseng seeds will only sprout during their second spring. The ginseng seed has to "age" for at least a year in a damp soil and experiences the warm/cold sequence of the seasons.If the location has proven its ability grow ginseng it would make a seed bed.





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There is no problem with your seeds. Stratified seeds will often start to spit their hulls as the embryo grows inside. Ginseng seeds have their own little biological clocks inside them. They lie dormant the first year as the embryo developes and then the next year (often in fall) the outer hull begins to split open with developement. These seeds will grow into plants the following April - June. The seeds you have are stratified seeds and you are seeing part of their normal life cycle.

Thank you all for your help! i thought they would be okay but im new to ginseng so i did not know how hardy/picky they were

I got about 30,000 of them in and a fair amount are germinating even in the fridge. I'm off in the morning to start putting them in the ground. I know they are viable; they're sprouting, I just need to confirm that the sprout points down, like a redwood seed.

Jeez, I hope someone posts a reply before I head out!

When you plant them you do not have to worry about the sprout being pointed "down". The root knows gravity like all plants, and will change course and start growing downward even if it is placed on its side. After all, the narlier the root looks, the better.

I have some that are sprouting pretty good in the fridge. We won't have unthawed ground until the end of April. Has anyone started them in a mini greenhouse? I'm trying it now and have about a dozen coming up after just four days.

I know tree growers force trees in greenhouses in the fall, bring them out in the spring so they get a lot of growth on them in one year. We'll see what happends here.

Cool, thanks. I wasn't able to get in the other day to plant (creek washed out big time), so I'm going up in the morning to see how many I can get planted. Thanks for the info!