Messages

1

General Ginseng Discussion / Re: Ginseng and Black Locust Trees

« on: August 19, 2013, 07:46:04 PM »

Yes that is true. Locust does do well on dry , too well drained sites. I've seen in grow on steep hardwood slopes as well. It does not like wet sites at all though.

Me neither....  I've found ginseng in a lot of places, but never under a black locust tree.  Believe it or not I found a few today under crabapples, but to be honest the crabapples were out of place..

2

Wild Ginseng / Re: Ever see one like this?

« on: May 12, 2013, 06:26:24 PM »

The same plant a year later.  A little larger top this year, but fewer leaves.  It is still a 2 prong, but has 6 leaves on one prong and the regular 5 on the other.

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General Ginseng Discussion / Re: May 2013 Emergence

« on: May 12, 2013, 06:16:09 PM »

I'm seeing pretty good germination from the seed I got from you.  These are all wild sim plantings.  I must admit that I had my doubts about that seed when plng last fall because of the small size and the fact that there were not any "grinning" seed in the mix.  In fact I had just about given up on them sprouting this spring as they were later coming up than all of my other plantings.  I just found them emerging early last week.  It seems that they are still coming up too.  In wild sim plantings I would consider the appearance of at least 35% of the number of seed planted a good germination rate.  I would say that I have at least that amount showing so far, and think that more will still appear....

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Wild Ginseng / Re: Dug a few.

« on: October 01, 2012, 06:39:06 PM »

I have got the same reports... from what I've seen personally,some of the drier areas the ginseng went down in July.  The ginseng in really good habitat has stood pretty good, but it will fade fast now with the rain and the falling leaves.  For the most part there is probably only about a week of digging left.

I have probably dug more than last year, but am digging different areas, so it isn't really a fair comparison.  I haven't spent nearly as much time in the woods this year though.

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Wild Ginseng / Re: Dug a few.

« on: September 30, 2012, 04:05:31 PM »

My daughter found and dug these ones today.

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Wild Ginseng / Re: Dug a few.

« on: September 27, 2012, 10:09:07 PM »

Found a pretty good one tonight after work.

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Wild Ginseng / Re: Dug a few.

« on: September 23, 2012, 06:34:25 PM »

The biggest one,  but had many others that weren't far behind.

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Wild Ginseng / Dug a few.

« on: September 23, 2012, 06:31:30 PM »

I haven't had the chance to get out much this year, but today I got out and dug 21 ounces

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Wild Ginseng / Re: Scouting

« on: August 26, 2012, 08:06:03 PM »

Brad, berry production is way down for wild plants in my area.   A lot of plants completely aborted berry production this year, and the ones that did set berries have fewer than normal.  Most of the plants around here are still green also.  Some of the ones in higher and drier areas went down in July, but for the most part they are still in pretty good shape.  I have seen a few starting to yellow, but 95% ore more are still green.  Less than a week to go now!  Good luck to all.

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Wild Ginseng / Re: Scouting

« on: July 15, 2012, 02:50:38 PM »

Well, I got out again for a couple of hours this morning.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this digging season will be completely nonproductive, but I saw quite a few plants yellowing and going down like it was the first part of september.   Some plants are still looking pretty good though .  These were all wild plants.  The ones that looked pretty good had some berries that were still growing, but not nearly as many as in a good year.  I would guess that the berries that make it will start ripeneng by early to mid august.  I don't know why, but it seems like they tend to ripen a little earlier in these dry years.  I did see several plants that had already aborted berry production though.  I've been seeing areas all around me get some rain over the last few weeks, but the only measurable rain in my local area in the last 6 weeks came with the big storm at the end of June that knocked everyone's power out.  It's looking like we may get a little in a couple of hours though....

11

Wild Simulated Ginseng / Checked my plantings today

« on: July 08, 2012, 08:24:28 PM »

I got out for a few hours this morning to check on a couple of my planting areas.  It's the first time I've had a chance to look at them for a while.  I was concerned after that big storm went through a week ago, but there was not a lot of damage in my planting areas.  There were a lot of tree tops blown out throughout the woods, but luckily nothing close to my planting sites. 

It's a pretty good walk through the woods to the second area I checked on.  Along the way there is an area with a good deal of wild plants growing.  In that area there were a couple of huge beach trees that went down landing on some of the ginseng and opening up the canopy way too much.  If the plants are still standing in September I'll probably move some of the ones that are getting too much sun to my seed producing area.

My plantings were holding up better than I thought they might be with all of this heat that we've had.  I've lost a few along the way since they sprouted this spring, but am pretty pleased with the amount that have survived to this point especially considering how hot and dry it has been.  The first area that I checked on this morning had some problems with slugs early this spring, but the ones that are still there look very healthy.  I planted this area using a homemade single seed planter.  I had a very good emergence this spring, but the slugs got probably 30-40 % of them.  I'll be planting more seed in that area this fall, and I'll be prepared to deal with the slugs next spring.

I'd love to hear how any else's plantings are doing.

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Wild Ginseng / Re: Scouting

« on: July 01, 2012, 06:45:34 PM »

Don't count them all out yet.  We got some decent rain Friday night, and it looks like we'll get another shower here in the next couple of hours.  I know that some are pretty stressed looking and a few have already gone down, but theres always some that hang on until september.

FTB - I've got a few small patches that I've been stewarding for several years.  I'll probably never dig the entire patch, but I'm sure I will dig some of them in the futures

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Wild Ginseng / Re: Scouting

« on: June 26, 2012, 08:54:12 PM »

I went to a nearby spot after work today just to chek things out.  I dug about a pound of root off of this N.W. facing hillside last fall.   I found quite a few plants today, but they are already looking pretty stressed.  I doubt that very many will still be standing come Sept. 1st.  I have no intention of digging this area again this fall, but just wanted to see how it looked.  From what I've seen in the last week or so things aren't looking good for a big harvest in S.E. Ohio this fall

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Wild Ginseng / Scouting

« on: June 25, 2012, 10:35:43 PM »

I was wondering if anyone has been out doing any pre-season scouting.  I got out today for a few hours.  My main goal was to thin out some patches of black cohosh and clear some small saplings in prepping a planting site for this fall.  After getting that done though, I ventured on up the hollow to look around some.  I found quite a few plants today.  I'm not sure how good berry production will be this year if we don't get some rain soon though.  Right now the largest berries are about the size of a pin head.  That isn't all that uncommon for this time of year, but it has been unusually dry for the past month.

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General Discussion / Re: Please Meet Obama

« on: May 01, 2012, 04:15:29 PM »

rotflol 

How much damage to your beds before more drastic measures become a consideration?