TOPIC: Planting as much Ginseng seeds now as possible

Hillhopper

I have a friend in Wisconsin that has 4 acres of seng planted that ranges from 1-8 yr old plants. He still has his full time job. He's harvested small amounts but is holding off to make sure the price is as high as it can go. The whole awe of that much seng can make a man pretty nervouse, thinking, what if something bad happens.

Anyway it takes some years before you could quit a full time job and feel secure with the income of seng alone.

I have about 5,000 five and six yr old plants that are growing on his property, which used to be my land before I sold it to him.

Don't quit your job yet!

classicfur

i have planted 18 pounds of seed from wis. and ontario on a little over an acre over the last 4 years, and also have tranplanted over 2000 roots of all age some are 20-30 years old.being56years old i hope to cash in for retirement money seeing i dont have any now.if all goes well i will:)

yellowscarf

Welcome aboard!

Thats exciting. Extra cash or a little retirement money is the way I look at it also.

I have about 45,000 plants growing now(1-6 yr olds), but I'm hoping to jump up the amount I plant next year to maybe 10,000 or what I can afford to buy(seeds). Now that I'm comfortable with my planting method.

Sounds like you have a good size patch.

I wish you well in your Ginseng Adventure!


classicfur

This is a pretty cool video on Ginseng. It is about 28 minutes long and is worth watching if you haven't seen it already.



Thanks,
Latt

Geez, and I thought I was doing a lot with 5 pounds spread across around 5 acres.

that 2000 roots is taking some serious work, especially as I've been waiting for the rain to alleviate this fall drought here in KY, and the freeze won't be too long after. Got maybe 1 more good weekend, maybe 2, plus Thursday. Going to be cutting it close, but quality still enters the picture. No point in planting them badly and having them die.

Good news is, I did find some healthy roots from last spring's planting so it appears they just went dormant during the drought and didn't die.

I hear a lot of wild claims on what you can make, but this old farm boy knows not to count your plants before they mature. I figure I have about 20 acres of prime north facing hillsides, and another 20 - 30 south facing that I'll give a try and see how it goes. At least I can really space the plants out, though having to rake off the oak leaves in the spring will be a job. I didn't do that last spring, and probably lost some plants. Live and learn.

If I can just feed the retirement fund that I didn't save enough for, I'll be happy.

Johno,
You can plant 30 pounds of ginseng seed per acre wild simulated style if you want. That's about 1 pound of ginseng seed per 1600 square foot. I plant 1 pound of seed in two side by side 5 foot wide per row x 160 feet per row. I make sure now that there is 2 to 3 feet between the two 5 foot rows. So a 12 foot wide row with a 2 foot strip down the middle x 160 long will get you your 1600 square foot planting bed per 1 pound of ginseng seed. Your could plant up to 30 pounds per acre time 5 acres = 150 pounds of seed and still not be to over crowded.
That's a bunch of roots in 10 years. Point is you have a lot of land to plant a bunch of seed if you wanted to.
Good luck weather you plant 5 lbs, 50 lbs or 150 lbs.
Ain't it fun!
Thanks,
Latt