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trust me
08-23-2005, 08:19 PM
Ok team, I finally found what I'd been looking for. Check out these babies:

http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/254/254371/pages/732747/seng1.JPG

Found the first plants with ripe berries tonight. These 3-4 prongs are each 14 or 16 inches tall, and could be dug. It's fun to look for ginseng. It's funner to find it!

I posted several more photos on my website. I left them big, and I'm afraid of posting them here because it might eat up all the bandwidth, or something like that. You can go to www.home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-grousedog (http://www.home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-grousedog) and see the ginseng page for more pictures.
trader rob
08-23-2005, 09:35 PM
thats a nice pic. where'd ya say ya found it. haaaaaa
GSP
08-23-2005, 09:52 PM
Trustme, great pixs of the 'seng, I liked the one with the hickory sprout, you should have thrown a little Virginia Creeper in there and one would have thought they were in flat-top heaven!

Enjoyed your site a bunch!:cool:
GSP
lymanl3
08-23-2005, 10:54 PM
thanks for the pics!! I can definitey say thats now what I have been observing!!


Lyman
trust me
08-24-2005, 08:18 AM
you should have thrown a little Virginia Creeper in there...
GSP, that bottom left photo was slap full of Creeper; that's why I posted it. Didja think that was 20 square feet of sang?:eek: There's some small 2 and 3 prongs in there. I wondered if anybody would spot it.
GSP
08-24-2005, 08:52 AM
GSP, that bottom left photo was slap full of Creeper; that's why I posted it. Didja think that was 20 square feet of sang?:eek: There's some small 2 and 3 prongs in there. I wondered if anybody would spot it.


I just went back and looked at the pix. Didn't pay that one much attention last night.:D
Valley Station
08-24-2005, 10:50 AM
Saw a two and a three prong bunch of 'seng in other photo. Also, one bunch of Blood Root.
Seng was pretty in picture, but, nothing like a big 4 prong later in the season, about waist high, spread out like an umbrella, turning yellow and a cluster of red berries the size of a walnut.
trust me
08-25-2005, 09:16 AM
nothing like a big 4 prong later in the season, about waist high...

Waist high? I'll admit I ain't an experienced ginseng digger, but "waist high"? That would depend on the waist, wouldn't it? Certainly not waist high on me, and if my legs were any shorter they wouldn't touch the ground!:D
tmayn031
08-26-2005, 12:10 PM
Might be a really dumb question, but what exactly do you do with the plant after you find it?
trust me
08-26-2005, 12:32 PM
The dried root is sold for $400+ a pound. Most is exported to Asia, where it is believed to cure everything from warts to E.D.
WildmanWilson
08-26-2005, 12:35 PM
I was only getting 250 a pound last year
trust me
08-26-2005, 01:00 PM
Wilson,

I'm sure you are correct. I was relying on hearsay. If the 10 year thing is true, the price will surely go up.
tmayn031
08-26-2005, 01:13 PM
So if you find it, the main idea is to get all of the roots out of the ground?

Is that the only part of the plant that is used?
WildmanWilson
08-26-2005, 02:26 PM
If you find some dig with your hands and be careful not to break the root. As it stands now it looks like the plant must be ten years old to sell. So what I would do is very carefully dig down around the base of the plant to reveal the bud scars at the top of the root and count how old it is. If you don't see at least 10 bud scars don't go any further. Replace the dirt around the plant and try another. If you do dig it you must plant any seeds you find around that spot. It will take a heaping shoebox full of dried root to make a pound. When dry its like popcorn...very light. Good luck.
trust me
08-26-2005, 09:59 PM
Wilson,
What's the best way to plant the seeds? I've seen them just cast out on the ground, and it works, but I think pushing them an inch or so down is better. Keeps the birds and chipmunks off of them. Any suggestions?
WildmanWilson
08-27-2005, 02:19 AM
I do like you...just push them in the ground just enough to cover with dirt. In nature I guess they just fall to the ground but I like to cover them just a little to give them a head start. It takes two years for the seed to sprout and then the plant will not come up each year. A ten year old plant may very well be 15 years old but will only have a bud scar the years it comes up.
HornHunter
08-30-2005, 11:06 AM
I bought A permit for the Pisgah Forest District here in NC a few years back. With the permit they gave out a sheet that told how to replant seeds. I wish I would have kept it. As I recollect, they reccomended raking back the leaves to expose fresh soil, smash the berry (which usually has two seeds) into the bare soil, and then cover it back with the leaf litter. Thats generally what I do.
kyfanatic
08-31-2005, 05:30 PM
I bought A permit for the Pisgah Forest District here in NC a few years back. With the permit they gave out a sheet that told how to replant seeds. I wish I would have kept it. As I recollect, they reccomended raking back the leaves to expose fresh soil, smash the berry (which usually has two seeds) into the bare soil, and then cover it back with the leaf litter. Thats generally what I do.

I agree HornHunter,that's what I was taught years ago and still do today,the leaves act as a natural mulch and protective cover.
trust me
09-11-2005, 03:51 PM
I found this nice 4 prong beside an ATV trail today. I'm going to try to transplant it to a more protected location. I've been told that ginseng is a hardy plant that tolerates transplantation well. We'll see the results next year:

http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/254/254371/pages/660367/4prongdug.JPG
kyfanatic
09-11-2005, 05:13 PM
[QUOTE=trust me]I found this nice 4 prong beside an ATV trail today. I'm going to try to transplant it to a more protected location. I've been told that ginseng is a hardy plant that tolerates transplantation well. We'll see the results next year:

You better water it regularly until it turns on it's own this fall Trustme.It transplants well provided you get plenty of rain which here in my area we are having a pretty good drought.
trust me
09-11-2005, 06:00 PM
Much obliged, Fanatic. I'll carry a jug up there tonight. What about later in Sept and Oct when the top is dying off? Is the root dormant, or does it still need water to transplant?
kyfanatic
09-12-2005, 02:14 PM
Much obliged, Fanatic. I'll carry a jug up there tonight. What about later in Sept and Oct when the top is dying off? Is the root dormant, or does it still need water to transplant?

Nope,as long as you keep it from wilting until it's dormant it'll be fine.
trust me
09-14-2005, 08:14 PM
Ky Fanatic,
Not only did the transplants wilt, but I found a couple new patches tonight, and they had all wilted as well. Sunday it was all green, today just yellow leaves laying on the ground. I'm going to go ahead and get the bed ready, and maybe I can move a few plants in a couple weeks. They'll be hard to find, but we'll see what happens.