Ginseng

[melbee]

I am replanting some small ginseng roots this week .Does anyone know if there is an ultimate compost mix .I lost a few roots to rot this year it may have been poor drainage .
Also do you think a slug could hollow out a ginseng root .slugs grerrrrrrrrr 

[Paddy Tobin]

Mel,

I grew a lot of the American ginseng last year and planted them out in spring - very small plants. As they are a woodland plant I added a good amount of leafmould to the planting sites and live in hope that they do well in that. My friend in Maryland who sent the seed remarked that he had found them slow-growing so I may have to wait a while before trying them.

Paddy

[melbee]

Yes ,leaf mould is good I used a lot last year but the ginseng did not do that well .When you see them growing in the wild they aways seem to be growing on a slope under high branches .
They also recommend planting the root 3inches deep which I feel is too deep .I think that the woods grown roots tend to grow slowly because the surrounding trees use all the water and nutrients .
The stuff that the roots  grows in in the wild just seems to be dry wood pieces like twig fragments .

[Paddy Tobin]

Mel,

Three inches deep does not strike me as particularly deep. I had plants two years old from seed, pot grown in ordinary potting compost, and found them slow growing.

Best of luck with them. It is an interesting plant and a nice one to have in the garden.

Paddy

[Rodger Whitlock]

American ginseng is considered a very difficult crop to grow, being extremely prone to disease, probably fungal in nature.

At one time there was an attempt to cultivate ginseng in using shade cloth over the beds, in the belief that the low humidity of the area would keep the fungi at bay. I haven't heard anything about this effort in many years, however, so presume it failed. However, failure for business reasons rather than fungal ones seems likely.

Ginseng is very much a plant of deep deciduous forest and being found in moderately mountainous areas such as , probably insists on good drainage.