TOPIC: How many pounds of seed per acre?

Good morning guys. I'm trying to put together some exact numbers. I've read different things about amounts of seed per acre. Wouldn't the numbers vary depending upon what terrain you have on your land? For instance, out of 1 acre of land (in the mountains), only 1/2 of that may be usable. Is this a safe assumption? With that being said, out of a full acre, how many pounds of seed are needed per acre? How many seed per sq/ft? Safely without over crowding. After planting, through the years not all will survive. Is it best to spot plant every year as they thin out and die? Thanks for all the help and support you guys have shown.

garethNjessica,
Well those are a lot of questions but good ones. Lets take wild simulated for example. If you plant 4 seeds per square foot on 1 acre its going to take about 24 lbs of ginseng seed. 24 lbs of seed will cost you about $120 per lb at the moment. That's $2,880 for the seed.

24 lbs of seed = 156,000 seeds

156,000 x 5% survival = 7,800 roots at year 10

7,800 divided by 300 roots per dried lb = 26 lbs of dried root

26 lbs dried root x $700 per lb = $18,200


Assuming you have deer on you property you will be luck to be left with 5 % after year 10.

Trust me, if you think you will be left with more that 5 % after year 10, you will be greatly disappointed.

If you can control the deer, turkey, slugs, snails, mice, voles, poachers, disease and weather, then you may be able to improve your survival rate thus harvesting more root and making more money.'

Now you have the math above and you can plug in you own numbers.
Good luck,
Latt

OK, thanks for your input Latt. Now, would it be wise to harvest at say 7 years instead of 10? Would it more valuble to save that percentage of loss or wait the additional 3 years to get more weight? Sorry to ask so many questions. I have to know what to expect and all the issues that arise. Some I can control, others there is now way. Oh, is it wise to reseed in the spots where the seng thins and dies?

garethNjessica,

I probably wouldn't plant over 10 lbs. of seed to the acre. Like you say, discounting for the rocks and trees you may not have but 1/2 acre of actual space. You sure don't want to plant to thick.
If it grows well you could dig some at 7 years to pay for your initial seed cost. Of course this is all theory and there is a chance it's a disaster and you lose your labor and investment. Anyone that has tried can testify on the ups and downs.

Do like me and barbwire fence it! It keeps the deer out 90% of the time. I do two lines, one just below chest height and one knee height. So they can't go over and they can't go under. A deer may occasionally jump the fence on occasion, but they never do it twice. Barbwire is cheap too. It doesn't keep turkeys out, and they can be a pain, but turkeys aren't that much of a risk after the first year or so, since they want to eat the seed you planted or the berries on the plant.

Ittiz,
I agree Turkey are rough the first year or two on the seed that is planted as well as the seed that comes on when the plants start producing it. I was wondering how barbwire might work. It makes sense to me what you have stated. I think I may do both. A couple rows of barbwire and a row or two of electric fence.
Thanks,
Latt

I agree with the others on all accounts. I've figured about 5 seed per square foot at just over 20 lbs per acre. So if you have about half that available, Latt is right on the money.

Turkeys....yes...turkeys. >:

Electric fence is a pain in the a$$ to setup. You need to be near a source of power and you need to check it monthly. I grew up on a farm and my father used electric fence to keep the cows corralled and we often had to go out with four wheelers and go along the fence to find places where plants had fallen, grounding the wire. making it useless. Usually the only indication this had happen was that cows would jump the fence. Fine if you have a controlled environment like a farm.

However in the woods I'd use barbed wire, if a branch or bush leans on it, no big deal. Check and fix it once a season and you're usually good. Although electric fence should be extremely good at keeping the deer out, but probably not worth the extra cost unless you have a very controlled area. Not sure the advantage would be worth the cost difference of pure barbered wire though.

Something I thought of doing, but haven't because the investment would be larger, is to take the cheap short green fencing (plastic or metal) Then put a row of barbed wire over it at about 5 feet or so. The turkeys couldn't get through the low fencing and the deer would have no way to jump the high fencing. That should keep 99% of the turkeys and deer out.

That's great suggestions. Thanks guys. Ittiz, that's a great idea with the posts. I think there called metal t posts. I know they are spray coated to to last through the seasons. Maybe cost effective, would be to use fence post, just go 4 strands. To keep out the turkeys and deer. Maybe at the corners of the plots use large posts, like 6 x 6.

I helped my uncle fence in 4 acres of sweetcorn he planted a few years back, that were not too far from the barn, out along the edge of a hayfield. Chickenwire fence buried in the ground 1 foot deep, and rose up to 4 foot above the ground. Then an electric fence was run all the way around at 8 inches off the ground, and another electric fence run at 5 foot high. The theory was to keep out the woodchucks and turkey with the chickenwire, keep the coons out with the lower electric fence, and keep the deer out with the taller electric fence. I can say, we were pretty disappointed with the outcome. Deer can jump over the 5 foot fence with no trouble if they want to, and they did it every night to ransack the corn. The coons did seem to stay out moderately well, but did get in a few times. The turkey just flew over the fence and stayed inside the corn and ate away all day and night. The woodchucks dug under the fence and had a great time. Then the crows, pheasants, and everything else eventually found it's way in.

Long story short, my uncle decided that they money spent was a huge waste. Fenceposts, wire, electric pulser, time spent. He found the cheaper and easier solution was to just plant 8 acres of corn with the expectation of only getting 4 of it for himself.

I'm not sure how any of this would apply to protecting ginseng, but I can tell you that nature does not take well to being kept out of something that it wants.