Ginseng grows in partial to full shade, with good air circulation. If you can't find a natural tree canopy to plant under, you can create your own with artificial structures.

Prepare a bed with soil up to 8 inches deep underneath mature hardwood trees, preferably on a northeast-facing slope. Ginseng requires well-draining soil, rich in humus, with a slightly acidic pH level.

Before your plants reach maturity, water regularly only as much so that the soil does not dry out. Once your plants have reached maturity, to retain moisture you can cover your plants with leaf litter—the only soil supplement your plants will need.

During an extended drought, be sure to keep the bed watered—frequent applications of a moderate amount of moisture are better than infrequent deep soakings. American ginseng is a wide-ranging plant, with a native habitat from Louisiana to Quebec province, but it is best grown in a cooler climate that replicates the relatively constant humidity of its woodland environment.

An area subject to flooding or standing water will rot the valuable roots. Even the harvesting of commercially grown ginseng is limited to mature plants at least three years old and only in late summer and fall. So if you're considering growing ginseng, know that the first thing you'll need is patience before your plants are ready to harvest and market.

Ginseng can survive for a long time—it can even outlive humans—so there is no reason to hurry a harvest. Starting no earlier than the plant's fourth year, carefully dig up your crop with a shovel so as not to damage the roots.

Gently wash off the dirt, then dry your ginseng in a cool, dry, well-ventilated room. Larger roots can take multiple weeks to dry, so turning the roots daily will speed up the process and prevent mold. Store your dried ginseng in a wicker basket or other well-ventilated container.

You can sell your mature roots to wholesale buyers or directly to customers online. Supplement your income by harvesting and selling seeds or seedlings.

What you can't sell, follow an old American tradition and brew yourself a pot of ginseng tea twice daily. Benjamin Franklin wrote about the discovery of American ginseng in his Pennsylvania Gazette in Soon after, Americans were exporting the root to China, where the market had become depleted through over-harvesting.

It is legal to grow your own ginseng. Harvesting wild American ginseng in certain places, however, is illegal. Make sure to get proper permissions and harvest information before digging. While ginseng will grow best outdoors in a warm climate, you can also grow it in a pot and bring it indoors during cold weather.

Use slightly acidic potting soil mix, a pot with good drainage, and a location out of direct sunlight. Fish And Wildlife Service. Use limited data to select advertising.

Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Create profiles to personalise content. The most reliable way to get ginseng seeds is online or from a local grower. You should order these seeds in the summer so that you get the best-quality ones when fall arrives.

Soak the seeds for 10 minutes and discard any seeds that float to the top, then rinse the remaining seeds in clean water before planting. Fall is the best time to sow your ginseng seeds. Try to plant your seeds after it has rained so the soil is moist.

You should also remove any underbrush that may compete with your ginseng prior to planting. If you have fewer seeds or want to be more intentional with your placement, plant the seeds about 7 inches Just be sure not to use oak leaves, as these are too tough for your fragile ginseng sprouts to grow through.

For this reason, we recommend using a GPS app on your phone to note exactly where your ginseng is planted. Or, you can get licensed to sell the ginseng yourself.

If you have enough time and the appropriate growing conditions, ginseng can be a remarkably profitable crop to sell. Article Contents: show. What is Ginseng? Ginseng likes moist soil, and its preference for shady sites means it receives adequate moisture from its surroundings. It's essential when planting to choose a spot that mimics ginseng's preferred native locations.

Adding a bit of peat moss and leaf litter compost can help create good drainage and moisture retention. Ginseng will not usually require extra watering except in drought conditions. Ginseng doesn't like hot temperatures and should not be grown in zones higher than 7.

Humidity in woodland settings remains fairly consistent, and ginseng should not be planted in sites that stay too damp or are subject to standing water or flooding in the rainy season.

If you choose a site with good rich soil, fertilizer should not be necessary for ginseng plants, and it may overburden them and affect their healthy growth. Ginseng plants are cross-pollinating and self-pollinating. Ginseng flowers typically bloom from late June through mid-July and are pollinated by generalist pollinators, flies, and bees.

Ginseng grows wild in North America and Asia and is also cultivated. It can be processed to be red or white ginseng.

White ginseng is fresh ginseng peeled and dried without being heated. Red ginseng is steamed and dried and has a reddish color. Red ginseng is less vulnerable to decay. Following are the known types:. Korean ginseng plants grow slightly taller than American ginseng plants.

Most American ginseng leaves are serrated, while Korean ginseng leaves are smooth-edged. Korean ginseng plants originated in Asia, while American ginseng plants originated in northeastern North America.

Both produce bright red berry clusters. Ginseng roots are used for medicinal and culinary purposes. In traditional Chinese medicine, Korean ginseng is considered the hotter version or "yang" side of ginseng, while American ginseng has more cooling effects and is the "yin" side.

Harvesting mature ginseng is relatively easy and done with a digging stick or trowel. In many places in the United States, plants cannot be legally harvested before five years of age.

Some states have a harvest season, usually September 1 through December 31; outside of that window, it is illegal to dig it up. A taproot should have three or four prongs before harvesting. Harvesting younger plants prevents them from producing seeds to reproduce. Ginseng usually cannot reproduce until it is 3 or 4 years old.

It's mature when it has a round cluster of pale green flowers in April or May and red berries that ripen by August. To promote more ginseng plants, plant seeds near where the roots have been dug, under leaf litter, and on the soil surface. Wash the roots as soon as possible after harvest by hand with water, gently rubbing not scrubbing to remove any loose soil.

Lay them out on a screen to air dry for a few hours, but do not expose the roots to direct sunlight. You can use a dehumidifier, heater, wood stove, fan, or drying room. Maintain a consistent air temperature between 70 F and F with adequate airflow around the roots while drying.

Roots can take one to two weeks to completely dry with an air temperature of 70 F. As ginseng roots dry, they will shrink but often remain spongy at least partway through the drying process. A root is ready when a dried root snaps easily into two pieces.

The root's interior should be entirely white inside it should not have a brown ring inside, which can indicate the presence of mold. Dried ginseng root or powder should be kept in a dry, dark place in an airtight container, like a plastic bag or glass jar; it should last five years.

Store fresh ginseng in the refrigerator for two to three weeks. Ginseng can grow in pots indoors or outdoors and is adaptable to frost and mild drought conditions.

Try to spread the seeds evenly over the plot by walking along the top of the plot and sprinkling the seeds by hand. Although it may take some getting used to, this should become a comfortable technique to use for seeding your ginseng. Remember you want to seed at a rate of four to five seeds per square foot.

The next step is to move upslope and begin the process over again. This time you will use the leaf litter that you are raking downhill off of the next area to be seeded to cover the previously seeded plot. Make sure to cover the seeded plot entirely with leaf litter, but do not exceed more than 3 inches of leaf litter over the seeded plot.

Once you've raked the leaf litter down onto the seeded plot, your next plot should be ready to seed. Repeat the process and continue until you have seeded your whole area.

Figure 4. Raking to remove leaf litter in preparation for planting of American ginseng seed. On sites where raking and other site preparation would be difficult, ginseng can also be planted by hand one seed at a time. Although this method will substantially increase the time spent planting, it will dramatically increase germination rates and will also allow you to plant areas that may be more difficult to plant with the technique described above.

Many growers like to use a variety of techniques to seed their wild-simulated ginseng. You should experiment and determine what works best for you on your sites.

Growing wild-simulated ginseng can be a relaxing and rewarding experience. You should take time to do research on growing ginseng and on the laws that govern ginseng harvesting and sales before ever planting a seed. Currently in Ohio it is illegal to market a ginseng root under five years of age.

This law also applies to wild-simulated ginseng growers because wild-simulated ginseng is typically not distinguished from wild ginseng in the marketplace.

In Ohio, ginseng is regulated under Ohio Revised Code Chapter Administrative Rules for The Ohio Ginseng Management Program are available through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife and should be obtained, read, and understood before taking up this pastime.

Contact the Rural Action Forestry Program for information about how to obtain seed and planting stock of ginseng and other medicinal herbs:. The Roots of Appalachia Growers Association RAGA is another resource for ginseng growers. They can be contacted through Rural Action Forestry.

Thanks to David Cooke, West Virginia University Cooperative Extension; Greg Duskey, Wild American Ginseng Company; and Deborah Hill, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension for reviewing this document and providing valuable suggestions for improvement.

CFAES provides research and related educational programs to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis. For more information, visit cfaesdiversity. For an accessible format of this publication, visit cfaes.

Skip to main content. Growing American Ginseng in Ohio: Site Preparation and Planting Using the Wild-Simulated Approach F Chip Carroll, Rural Action Sustainable Forestry and Appalachian Forest Resources Center. Dave Apsley, Natural Resources Specialist, Ohio State University Extension.

Site Preparation Before preparing any site one should consider many factors, foremost is security. Planting Wild-Simulated Ginseng The process of growing wild-simulated ginseng begins by planting seed in the autumn around the time the trees begin to shed their leaves, but before the ground freezes in Ohio this is usually done between October and November.

Some novice growers have even mistakenly weeded out all of their first-year ginseng seedlings. Summary Growing wild-simulated ginseng can be a relaxing and rewarding experience. Acquiring Seed and Planting Stock Contact the Rural Action Forestry Program for information about how to obtain seed and planting stock of ginseng and other medicinal herbs: Hocking Hills Drive The Plains, OH ruralaction.

Acknowledgements Thanks to David Cooke, West Virginia University Cooperative Extension; Greg Duskey, Wild American Ginseng Company; and Deborah Hill, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension for reviewing this document and providing valuable suggestions for improvement. References Growing American Ginseng in Ohio: An Introduction.

Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet F Growing American Ginseng in Ohio: Selecting a Site. Producing and Marketing Wild-Simulated Ginseng in Forest and Agroforestry Systems.

Virginia Cooperative Extension Service Publication Persons, S. American Ginseng: Green Gold. At present, there is no established crop insurance program for ginseng. Agricorp currently has a pilot program in place with a limited number of growers to insure the first year of ginseng production, aimed at covering the cost of replacing a damaged seedling garden.

There is no way to recover losses to older gardens. Consequently, ginseng is a very high risk crop and there is no guarantee of a return on the initial investment. Many of the soil-borne diseases of ginseng are favoured by high soil moisture. Drainage is the most important factor in preventing disease.

As a result, ginseng production has only been successful on sandy to sandy loam soils, with high yields restricted to truly sandy soils. This is the reason that ginseng production is mainly located in Norfolk, Brant and Oxford counties, and small pockets of sandy soil elsewhere. Growers accustomed to clay or clay loam soil often refer to sandier areas of their farms as sandy soil, but true sands are rare outside of the traditional ginseng or tobacco growing areas.

Truly sandy soils are similar to beach sand with very low organic matter. A quick test to confirm a sandy soil would be to saturate a small amount of soil and try to form a ball with it.

A ball of sandy soil should fall apart easily and none of the particles should stick together. Furthermore, ginseng cannot be grown on the same land twice due to replant disease. Replant disease is a poorly understood issue that prevents ginseng cultivation on the same land even 40 or 50 years later because of significant soil-borne diseases in the second crop.

This has resulted in a shortage of suitable land for ginseng production and increased land lease prices for ginseng. In addition, many growers have to travel long distances from their home farms to their fields, resulting in higher fuel and labour costs. Ginseng prices fluctuate wildly from year to year.

Yields would be lower on sandy loam soils and much lower on heavier soil types. Collection and sale of seed could also supplement gross sales somewhat, but it is unlikely that a new grower would make a significant profit at average prices. Existing growers compete by planting large acreages, thereby reducing the cost of production, and achieving higher than average yields with their decades of experience growing the crop.

Current prices for ginseng have increased, but prices are likely to drop by the time a new crop is harvested in 4 or 5 years. When prices are high, the industry tends to plant more acres, but the increased production always results in a drop in price shortly after. It prefers to grow outdoors, either in beds or in pots.

If you have questions about growing ginseng in containers, read on. It may surprise you to learn that ginseng is native to North America as well as East Asia. It has dark, smooth leaves with toothed edges and tiny white flowers that develop into red berries. The Chinese have used ginseng root medicinally for millennium.

It is said to stop inflammation, improve cognitive power, lessen anxiety, and restore vitality. Ginseng is available in this county as a supplement and also in tea form.

Before you embark on growing potted ginseng, you should realize that it is a slow and long process. Whether you opt for container-grown ginseng or plant it in a garden bed, the plant roots do not mature until four to ten years have passed.

Ginseng in a pot can be cultivated outdoors in temperate regions. The plant prefers an outdoor location and adapts to both frost and mild drought conditions.

You can also grow potted ginseng indoors. Pick a container about 15 inches 40 cm. in diameter, and be sure it has drainage holes.

Use light, slightly acidic potting soil that drains well. You can grow ginseng from seed or from seedlings. Note that seeds can take up to a year and a half to germinate.

They require up to six months of stratification in the refrigerator in sand or peat , but you can also buy stratified seeds.

Plant them in the fall 1 ½ inches 4 cm. To start growing ginseng in containers, it is faster to buy seedlings. The prices will vary by age of the seedling.

Remember that it will take years for the plant to reach maturity. The plants require significant shade and only dappled sunlight. Sign up for the Gardening Know How newsletter today and receive a free download of our most popular eBook "How to Grow Delicious Tomatoes.

Teo Spengler has been gardening for 30 years. She is a docent at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Her passion is trees, of which she has planted on her land in France. We round up the most romantic houseplants for your loved one. By Amy Grant Published 12 February Surrounded by six neighbors on an awkwardly shaped flag lot, this California garden feels tranquil and private — thanks to a clever landscaping scheme of outdoor rooms that work in harmony with the newly built house.