Berries on!!

[hoosierheightsfarm]

I found my "store-bought" ginseng has put on berries (about 12) and most were ripe. Most of the plants that had ripe berries had no leaves (eaten, not yellowed and fallen off). I picked them and mashed and added water to ferment before putting them in the ground to "stratify" for the winter.
All the wild 'sang I've seen with berries have not had any ripe yet. State law says that those you have to plant "onsite" where they are found. I guess that means that you can't stratify the seeds then replant them back later.

I'm thinking about moving some of my other plants up towards the house, putting them in good soil and taking real good care of them. Which will make the roots pretty much worthless, but I'm hoping they will produce lots of berries. This will be my first experiment!

Patrick

[Alan]

Yes, wild ginseg berries in the state of Indiana are legally supposed to be planted on site, however if you know what you are doing with stratification, I believe that you can greatly decrease the risk of seed loss that occurs in the wild by taking a year off the amount of time the seed lies on the woods floor.

I have seen the local wild ginseng berries ripening up over the past week, Season starts September 1'st (correct me if I am wrong) but the leaves and tops of many of the wild plants are dying back due to the heat and lack of rain, needless to say finding wild 'sang is going to be a tough task this year, which can be a good thing.
-Alan

[plantsnobin]

Hi Patrick-you would be surprised at how attractive a ginseng plant is when planted in a shade garden and given a bit of water. They can get huge over the years, almost unrecognizable compared to what grows naturally. Funny thing about the laws-not just ginseng, but endangered plants everywhere- a commercial nursery can't sell the plants outside of the state they are in, even seed grown plants. If you can propagate them in large numbers, from seed or from cuttings, then you could distribute them to lots of gardeners who would give them better chances to live, then maybe the plants would no longer be endangered. Some cynics-me included- believe that it has more to do with funding being cut for those who 'study' endangered plants. If the plant is no longer endangered, their grants go away. Why else wouldn't they want to engourage propagation? Of course, it is also important to preserve the natural habitat, but people don't want to give up there new subdivisions, now do they? Sorry to rant.