TOPIC: Growing ginseng in New England - Vermont/Maine

they wasn't too bad here this year like in past years...two years ago i scooped them off my back deck with a scoop shovel ...no joke,they were a foot deep in places....

Dang Chief, ain't had them that bad here yet. We drove here from OR arriving 12/29/17. I can't recall exactly when in Jan/Feb but they were all over the inside of our windows. My first chore of the day was to shop vac them.

We had plumbers, HVAC folks and electricians working in the house (we drove into a nightmare) and they initially told us of the issue and that the little SOBs bite, which I have since experienced firsthand. Since replacing windows and siding the house, less get in but I can't work outside when they're way their flying around in the gazillions.

I find a nice shady place when they're flying around and have a beer or two until it cools down some and they're not such a nuisance.

This year seemed a bit worse than last year. From my understanding, warm days after the first frost brings them out. Once it cools down they fade away. It's been a couple weeks or so and I'm still sweeping them up here and there.

BTW, I apologize for attaching this beetle thing to this thread.

Hello Nick.

I have been studying ginseng in NH since 2014. No one knows more than I do about ginseng in NH.

Finding a property with the right soil type is very difficult in this State. The best soil I have seen was light gray and completely free of pebbles. Not alluvial soil. Some kind of ancient subsoil that was not scraped away by the glaciers in the last Ice Age. This dirt grows huge roots.

Have also found ginseng in rich dirt full of pebbles. Every plant looks healthy but they all had tiny roots. Not worth harvesting. Still fun to observe though.

You will need to learn about different types of dirt and how they affect ginseng plants.

In one location I planted seeds for 3 years in a row. Do not know how many seedlings resulted because wild turkeys showed up and killed almost everything.

Takes a long time to get conclusive results. In other words, wild-grown plants should thrive and not just hang on for a few years before dying back. Or even worse, growing well but never getting a large root.

Best to learn about mushrooms while waiting for ginseng to grow. You will be in the woods anyway.

Hi Archon,
Sorry for the late reply, the notification went in my spam folder.
I will keep looking, Thanks for the advice.