Q. I live in Upper New York state and I was wondering if ginseng will grow here?
A. Yes ginseng will grow just fine in New York state. In fact New York produces some of the best wild ginseng found in the US.
Q. I planted some ginseng seed last fall and this spring I noticed I had a bunch of little plants with 3 leaves . Is this what ginseng is supposed to look like?
A. Yes. One year ginseng is short with 3 leaves somewhat like a strawberry plant. Over the next few years it will gradually go from three leaves to 2 prongs with 5 leaves on each prong to 3 prong with 5 leaves on each prong and so on.
Q. How deep should I plant my bloodroot rhizomes?
A. Bloodroot rhizomes should be planted about one inch deep with the bud pointing up.
Q. I have some goldenseal rhizomes. Should I cut these into pieces or just plant them whole?
A. If you are going to cut them in pieces you will want to make them about 3/4 of an inch long preferably with a bud on each piece. Many times if they do not have a bud they will go ahead and form a new one on the cut piece but a bud already there will give them a quicker start. If your rhizome is only about an inch just plant it as is.
Q. I have alot of moles in my beds. Is this going to cause me any problems?
A. Moles themselves will not bother your ginseng roots. The only thing is that voles can use the mole tunnels and they will eat your roots. It seems that they really like to wait until the roots get a little bigger before they go through and crush your dreams by eating the roots.
Q. If I spray my ginseng with a fungicide will that keep it from being real wild simulated ginseng ?
A. Alot of people have different ideas about what true wild simulated ginseng is. In the strict definition of the term wild simulated ginseng is to be seeded and then left alone until harvest time. If you spray it with a chemical fungicide then technically it is no longer wild simulated.
Q. I was walking through my woods the other day and I came upon some goldenseal and bloodroot growing there. Are these plants a good indicator that ginseng will grow there?
A. Both plants are indicator plants for ginseng but both will also tolerate more sunlight than ginseng. If your woods have good shade (75 percent) and are facing east to northeast then I would say it probably is good enough for ginseng. I would rather see something like black orblue cohosh or maybe wild ginger or trilliums.
Q. I don't know what it is but everytime I plant my ginseng and then go back to look at it after it comes up I never have any plants. I will sometimes find lots of seed shells but almost no plants.
A. If it is early in the season and the seed shells are broken into 2 pieces then I would think that the seeds are not deep enough in the soil and that mice have found them and broken them in half and eaten the kernel. If the seeds are split open and there is nothing inside then they may have sprouted and something ate the small plant and root. Turkey will somrtimes do this but you will usually see scratch areas in your beds. Another thing is the kernels may simply have rotted in the shells or after sprouting they may have become diseased and died.
Q. What kind of spacing should I have on my ginseng seeds?
A. A good spacing would be about six inches apart but if you want to play it safer still you can do twelve inch spacing. The only thing with twelve inch spacing is that it takes up a good bit of space.