Behind my house there are two 4 prong plants that have been the same size since I moved here 10 years ago. They are probably 18 inches tall, and the stems go into the ground touching side by side. I have not dug around to see if they are from the same root or separate roots. How long will these plants live in the wild? These plants have come up every year and they are always the same, they haven't seemed to have gotten any larger, or smaller either. Will ginseng start to degrade or decline when it starts getting towards the end of it's life? Will ginseng roots send 2 stems up off of 1 root? Any help and insight would be appreciated.

I have dug some 2 stem 1 root bunches of seng. Not a lot, but a few. Hard to say how long it will live or how old it is without digging it. Biggest worry I would have is someone else digging it. Drought, disease, deer eating plant could shorten its life. Some people may disagree with me, but not all seng comes up every year. One of the biggest roots I dug was found by digging another bunch. Big root was right at other root. It did have a new growth bud on it.

I am not too worried about someone digging it, it is not on my property so I have no right to it. There are other plants around these that do not come up every year. How accurate is counting growth rings on the root? If the plant doesn't come up one year, does the root still have a new ring on it? I know my neighbor would not care for me digging them, but I have not dug any ginseng since I was in elementary school. When i notice the plants declining i will probably dig them just out of curiosity, my brother sell a couple pounds of ginseng every fall so I can give them to him.

I've always understood counting growth rings is the way to age seng. Regardless of whether the plant doesn't come up one year, it will still form its growth bud, which will make a new growth ring. This is just my assumptions. Maybe Mr. Wolf will comment, he knows seng real well.

Sorry I have been so long in getting back to you. I have been setting our trap line up with my trapping partner and busy buying roots and fur. Now to answer your question. In my humble opinion, Ginseng can't form a growth ring on a bud stem with out growing a full season. It does form the bud for next year during the fall of the season it grew in. In my thoughts, it must grow for a good portion of the season so that it can create a stalk for the root to grow on. If the plant does not grow a season or at least part of the season, it can't create a growth ring. I personally think that something happens to the bud either during the winter months or when the plant starts to send the new top up for that season. I do not think a root can grow with out a top. The leaves of the plant feeds the root from the small amount of Sun the top gets. It also helps the plant to gather certain chemicals from the soil, that the root thrives on.
I could be wrong and if you can find a good source of information that says something different, please let me know. I do not like putting information out, that I am misguided on.
Once again, I am sorry for being so late in responding.