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market-farming - RE: [Market-farming] cultivated ginseng

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  • From: "Paul A. Bock" <bockpa AT plesh.com>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Market-farming] cultivated ginseng
  • Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 07:35:04 -0400

True American Ginseng that Asian people pay lots of money for is Panax Quinquefolium (five leaf).  Another species Panax Ginseng is worthless and is used in MANY "ginseng" products while not providing much of the benefits of the true american ginseng.   
 
Don't waste your time with something other than Panax Quinquefolium.  Check out the info at www.catskillginseng.com.  Also there is a book called "green gold" that talks a lot about the history as well as the cultivation techniques of this plant. 
 
I don't know if the original poster was thinking of planting these things in pots and selling them to customers.  The plants are very finicky.  You do not want to fertilize them.  In fact the more you try to do to stimulate growth the worse off the plant will be.  The best place to plant them and grow them is in a sugar maple grove on a slightly graded north or east facing slope.  The leaf fall of sugar maples provides a high calcium soil for the ginseng to grow in.  People grow these things also in fields, very dense plantings in  fields that are covered with  shade cloth.  They have to spray these things with repeated treatments of fungicides to combat fungal attacks.  Mostly because they try to cram so many in the field.  The best way is to openly plant ginseng in the woods where it will get a 60-80% natural shade.  I plant mine only about 1-2 feet away from each other.  If one gets a bit of a fungal blight, there is less chance the others will get it.  I haven't seen any blight yet.  I don't fertilize or anything.  I simply plant the seeds in the duff layer.   "Wild simulated" is the technique I use.  Others use "woods cultivated".  As an idea of prices field grown gets about $15 or so a pound of dry roots.  Wild roots get about $350-500.  The age of the roots has a lot to go with price.  I remember hearing of a story of a single 100 year old root bringing close to $5,000.  And it wasn't because of the size of the root at all.  
 
Paul Bock   
-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Del Williams
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 4:28 PM
To: Market Farming
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] cultivated ginseng

Ginseng as a controlled substance.
 
Thinking, thinking.
 
We're not talking poinsettias...
 
Nope, don't know of any reason why you can't cultivate it and worry about trademarks.
 
There are several types of ginseng.  Which are you thinking about growing?
 
Del Williams
Clifton, IL
 



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