TOPIC: Huge Ginseng

Hello Everyone,

I am very new to this site and thought I would post an experience that happen when hunting wild Ginseng about 15 years ago... My uncle Bobby started takeing me Ginseng hunting when I was about 10 years old. Bobby has been hunting ginseng all over for the last 30 years and one day he called me up and told me to call of work cause he wanted to take me to an area of ginseng he found. I love to dig ginseng and enjoy the hunt but I told him I just cant call off work.. Well he talked me into it anyways and said he would be over around 7am to pick me up. He took me to a small block of woods prob. not even 100 yards by 100 yards just off a freeway.. The woods was surrounded by fields and could see a white farmers house about 300 years aways... I thought it was odd to dig ginseng that close to the freeway and that tiny little woods but i let him lead the way cause he was an abbit ginseng digger and knew his stuff. But anyways we got into the woods and only walked maybe 20 yards in and he told me to start looking for it.. I look and look and look and I said where is the ginseng? He told me to look up and this is no lie.. The ginseng plants was about 6ft tall all where 3 and 4 prongs... I freaked out they were so big... A few roots was about 12 inches long and about 3 to 4 inches think. If I only knew what I know now... I think that patch of ginseng was one of a kind and could of made a ton of money.. But my question is Has anyone ever found ginseng plants that tall before and that big of roots? I only doug about 20 plants that tall out of that patch because he left that for me to dig and he got the rest of it the day before... But for the last 15 years I still have yet to find ginseng that big! I have yet to return to that patch but am thinking of going back to it again just to see if there is more... This time if there is I will take Pics and post it for sure...

Around here (Middle TN) the tallest plants I have ever seen (and have been hunting seng since 1977) were in the 24\" tall range. I remember one that may have been a bit taller than that.

I spotted a patch of nice 3 & 4 prongs and as I was about to dig one of the 4's I always break out of the way any brush or vines that may be in the way. I grabbed one of those that I thought was a small sapling and then noticed the leaves and it was actually a big old ginseng plant. Probably the parent plant of that patch.

I did not have anyting to measure it with but I best I can rembmer it may have been up closer to 30\" tall. The stem was nearly as big as my pinky finger diameter wise.

The only place I have every seen any 6 footers - was in my dreams

TNhunter

!! WOW !!

Only in my dreams.

Well it seems the days of monster ginseng have since been long gone. I will have to get the picture up of the two one pound roots that my fiancee's grandfather dug in the mid 80's. I didn't realize the importance of the picture a year back( I wasn't a seng digger then), now I listen to every word the man says about diggin. I'll try to get them up asap.

How many 6 prongs have you all ever seen?

It's not just the age that makes ginseng grow big - it has a lot more to do with the soil & light conditions than age.

A couple of hunts ago I dug some smallish 3 prongs that were 25 years old (north facing hillside in deep woods, soil type was mostly clay but with leaf mulch layer of the usual forest type compost material).

On that same hunt I went around a rock bluff (probably 200 ft tall) and part way up that bluff there were some areas where lots of rock chips were in the soil and the soil had some deep dark rich color to it between all of the rock flakes and there I found some 6-8 year old 3 & 4 prongs that were HUGE and had big ball roots on em. That rock bluff was facing east so it got good morning sun but no evening sun.

I would love to have seen those HUGE 3 & 4 prongs if they had been 25 years old. May not have been 6 foot tall but no doubt they would have been larger and had much larger roots.

If you can find that place again that grew those really big ginseng plants - if I were you I would buy some stratified seed and plant it back again.

TNhunter

I have never seen a 5 or a 6 prong yet. And I thought those monster Ginseng plants I found would of been bigger than 3's and 4's but they weren't. I didnt have anything with me to actually get the full size but im like 100 pct positive that they were between 50\" to 72\" inches. I showed a buddy of mine the roots I dug out of that patch. And he freaked out. I remember I sold the roots to a guy down in Sommerset Ohio (Joe) who my Uncle sold to for atleast 20 years... My uncle told me he has only found 5 (5 prongs) in his life.. Myself I can't remember finiding any lol.. But I did see a picture of a 8 prong that Joe had posted in his shop! I remember him telling me that guy who took the pic didn't dig the root. And it wasnt like a 5 or 6 prong like normal, it had 4 prongs then the stem continued to another 4 prong above then the berries at top. It looked awesome!

I was just curious if anyone else seen plant's that big. Thanks for the info and I going to have to make a trip out there again to where I dug those monsters... 15 years ago been a long time so I hope some has regrown that high!

ive dug 1 five prong. and one double 3. and i dig one the other day with 2 berry pods. plants like that get me so excited i can hardly breathe lol. never say any with another plant coming up out of the berry pod but ive heard tales of em. good lords willing i will find one one day

Ginseng Hunter,
I got up early this morning and was just searching the older post for the heck of it. I read your post about selling one of your roots to a guy named Joe in Summerset Ohio. I grew up in the Zanesville. I used to sell ginseng to Joe in Summerset back in 1979 when I was 17 years old. I think his last name was Glogeley or something close to that. I called him up about two years ago and he was still buying root. I thought he was old in 79. Small world ain't it.
Thanks,
Latt

I've heard stories of monster plants, but never seen a pic. Keep a small cam and a tape measure next year, we'll see what we can find for the biggest in the ground! Here's my big on this year, 26\" to top of berry pod.

In the ground.