TOPIC: Indoor 2 year old ginseng sprouting

Well 4 out of the 15 two year old ginseng rootlets are sprouting. They are just poking through the leaf litter and starting to uncurl. I will post some pics periodically of their growth progress.
Latt

The entire indoor planting bed in the shallow 2x3 rubber-maid container. Not much to so thus far as the ginseng is still small and just poking through. Just wanted to show the container I am growing them in. The soil is only 8'' deep but I have the rootlets laying sideways at a 45 degree angle. It will be OK for now.
Latt

Hey Latt,

Congrats on the first emerging Seng of the year!

That's wonderful.

I'm wondering what the temperature is, in the room they are growing.

I was just thinking last night if your transplants were coming up. And there they are!

Thanks,

classicfur

Classicfur,
Room Temp is at about 70 degrees. I am not sure they are getting enough light through the window thou. They look a bit pale in my opinion. We all know Ginseng likes about 75 to 85% shade. But we also know sometimes a canopy that is dense and is at about 90 to 95% shade can stunt ginseng growth or prevent it all together. I think the window is only allowing indirect light to hit them and not enough of it.

I am thinking about getting a grow light and hitting these plants with it in moderation.
Latt

Hey Latt,

You could use just a regular flouresent light. Like a shop light with two 40 or 36 watt bulbs. And keep it on for about 6 hrs a day. These lights have enough of the UV spectrum to cause good growth. The only diffrence with grow lights is that they have more red spectrum to allow good growth in flowers.

I use regular flouresent lights to start flowers and tomatoes indoors and grow for about 8 weeks to get them growing well before I set them in the garden. You can set the lights just 2-3\" above the tops of the plants and it will not burn or hurt them.

You will see the tops turn a lush green in no time.

classicfur

Latt,

I should have added that By using 1 cool white bulb and 1 soft white bulb, that will create a wider UV spectrum(red and blue).

classicfur

Classicfur,
Thanks and that is good info. So let me get this straight. I can use either a shop style fluorescent light bulb or even a compact fluorescent bulb in both 1 cool white and 1 soft white bulb?
Latt

Latt.

That is correct. 1 cool white bulb with 1 soft or warm white bulb. You need both ends of the uv spectrum. Cool white is blue, and soft or warm white is red.

Check this out. Look under Types of bulbs:FLUORESCENT BULBS

www.gardeners.com/Gardening-Under-Lights/5080,default,pg.html

classicfur

Latt, pretty cool growing seng indoors. I have about four pots under my back deck that I'm growing some in. One pot has some small roots I transplanted and the other three have some of the stratified seeds I bought last year. I think it's neat to be able to grow ginseng right at the house so you can look at it whenever you want. I'm looking forward to this Spring so I can see what grows in my pot.

Classicfur,
Thanks again for the info. I will swing buy the store after work and get a few new bulbs.

Jacquo,
I am with you on that. I have great deal of ginseng growing in my Hosta beds in the shade. It's great to be able to go out and check them out when ever I want.

I also put in a shade bed with some woodland plant roots and seed. Yellow Root, Ginseng, Green Dragon, Trillum, Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Blood root. It's pretty cool to see them in my planting beds.

I have some nice roots growing in some of those big whiskey barrels. One year I put 8 big roots in a barrel with fertile soil and the roots rotted because I did not drill holes in the bottom or bottom sides of the barrel and the soil was too wet. Learned a good lesson there and now the barrels work well with holes in them.

Thanks,
Latt