My whole life I have seen advertisements for Ginseng seed or small plants for sale . Can it really be grown cosmetically ? Meaning buying seed or even plants and planting it yourself and selling it ? I have heard wild Ginseng is $650.00 a pound but commercially raised is less. Questions….
1…We’re do you plant Ginseng seeds ? In a dirt bed of some sort , in your own woods under tree canopy?
2…How long or seasons does it need to grow before roots are big enough to sale ?
I think if it was easy every one would be doing it.
Any insight on this topic? Thanks. Marty

I plant my seeds whenever I pick wild Seng. I usually plant it in the woods behind the Barn. It usually takes about 5 to 7 years to get a decent root and yes the buyers can tell the difference between cultivated Ginseng and wild grown.

Hsu in wisconsin does it all the time.

He will consult with you of you contact him on how.

We attended his conference at the FH convention in wisconsin.it was very informative but he needed a microphone.

If I was buying seed would likely look for a small place maybe local. Not sure if just coincidence but I’ve planted it since late 70s and seemed that I frequently got disease issues with seed from large commercial places

In Wisconsin you can plant it but the dnr wants to know about it.

1…We’re do you plant Ginseng seeds ? In a dirt bed of some sort , in your own woods under tree canopy?

You can plant in your own woods if conditions are right or it can be grown under man made shade on either a small scale or large, there are larger operations in Wisconsin that grown it under shade

2…How long or seasons does it need to grow before roots are big enough to sale ?
I think if it was easy every one would be doing it.
Any insight on this topic? Thanks. Marty

Just like any kind of farming it takes a combination of knowledge and skill and if you have never even grown a garden then your results are probably not going to be good, or if you have no or little idea of what kind of conditions it likes and flourish’s in but personally it’s not that hard it’s not like growing something like exotic orchids but it does take some knowledge of how to and that can be gains from books or trial and error or experience either your own or from someone else

I have been planting it since the late 70s mine is grown on family land but I have also planted it on state land where conditions are right, yes someone else could come along and harvest it but that’s ok I just like having a wild population out there it’s getting scarce in the wild with so many looking to make some big easy money and not caring how and where they get it or what the laws say about when where and how they harvest it, my cousins in Wisconsin have a neighbor that had some people sneak onto their land on night and help themselves to what must have been several hundred pounds from his commercial operation

A ton of work like everything else ; the old guy that showed me what it was had a small bed in town with artificial shade he’d pull a bread sack full of dry root a year . Before I get beat up probably a few beds and always planted wild seed and I’m thinking back 50 years lol

I started a couple years ago planting a few seeds in my 5-acre woodlot. Last year I planted several small plots and had really good germination this spring with a few hundred little one prong plants. I plant where I have plenty of maple trees and good shade throughout the day. Moist but well drained soil where water doesn't stand. I plan on planting a couple pounds of seed this year also and over the next four years until I retire with the goal being to be able to gather my own seed at that point for planting. I am not really in it for profit as I would just like to see it come back in the wild in my area and birds are known to spread the seed.

In WV you're supposed to plant the seeds right where you dug the plant.

Same in Wisconsin

Plant a few where dug but some can always find a accidental home in your pocket, catch phrase is supposed to

Well,the phrase in regs don't say supposed to,it says you must plant at site of harvest.

MY Property makes it MY Ginseng. It gets planted where I SAY!!!

Biggest thing is not telling anyone you have seng on your property.

Thanks for the info. Very interest topic. Marty

We've caught more people trespassing in Sept looking for ginseng than we ever having during hunting seasons. If we've caught some I'm sure there's many more we haven't caught. I've babysat patches of it and then they've disappeared thanks to lowlife's.

The best wild ginseng here grows along wooded drains on the North facing hillside. Berries roll down hill. If I was going to try to cultivate it in the woods or at least encourage it to grow, I'd recommend planting it along the top 1/3rd of the hillside and over time it will self seed downhill.

Awesome

I have be thinking planting some in the woods at the farm. We don't get many trespassers but have has a few hunting mushrooms. What rh a bs story they gave the boys whom found them. I'm sure we have more. I have never hunted I picked it and would not know I I were standing right on top of it. To say I knew w not a thing about it and what it needs to grow well. If I find good resources and sees or root source it's something I would like to try would it be good to start seed like starting other garden seeds then planting them once up. Is it something that will need protection from deer.

Deer will eat it,,, and turkey will eat the berries,,,, you could probably fence it off,,,,, but for the most part,,,, booth critters won’t necessarily wipe out your patch.

Does it need hardwood overstory or will it grow with softwood overstory?