How much is a pound of ginseng roots? - FindAnyAnswer.com

One of the more common questions I get is how much seed to buy for a given area.

Over the years, I have answered this question many times.Since most of my customers and friends are growing wild ginseng, I will lean this article in that direction.

What type of final product you want depends on how much seed you need.What amount of space do you have?How many seeds are in a pound?How long do you want to grow?Rocks and trees can be found in wild sim setting, but how much of your area is useless?

If viability tests come out low, ginseng farmers can increase the amount they plant to 80 pounds per acre.80 pounds of seed will not be planted by most of us.Let's look at them one at a time.

If you are looking for big fast roots, you can plant a lot of them and fertilize them for a similar product.If you are looking for wild roots with some age, you won't need to plant as many seeds in the same area.The plant density is very variable.A good rule of thumb is 5 plants per square foot.Traditional wisdom says that the plants will thin out on their own over time.This is less than 6 inches between the plants if you break it down on a diagram.2 inch spacing is used by commercial farmers.

The more space you have, the more seeds you will need.Basic math is needed to estimate this.Several examples will be worked on.Some people might not understand basic geometry to arrive at a square foot figure.Simply divide the width by the length of the area you want to plant.40 square feet is the width of a bed that is 2 feet wide by 20 feet long.A square foot is 43,560.

Depending on seed size, region of origin, and the particular growing season, this will vary to some degree.The rule of thumb is 7,000 seeds per pound.

It's not the same as planting woods in a tilled bed anticipating a harvest in 6 years.If you disturb the soil, you won't be able to grow ginseng there again.In order to promote natural propagation of the patch which can be sustainable for many years, I highly recommend wild simulation planting.I plant 2 or 3 seeds in each hole in an arch in front of me using the ECF Seeder.I repeat this process after taking a small step forward.After two years, I recommend going back into a wild sim patch.Without damaging the young ginseng you planted before, you cannot rake and scatter.With my seeder, you can seed the same area without damaging the plants that are already there.This allows you to fill in sparse spots and it also mixes the age classes of the ginseng down the road.I planted woods thickly in tilled beds when they were grown for rootlet harvest.

You have to make an estimation.I don't want to do anything with the area for at least five years.I cut out deadwood, small trees and low branches.In the area, I pull all the multiflora rose bushes.The usable space in northern Ohio is usually 80%.

When drawing examples, some things make more sense.Seed spacing is one of those things.There are diagrams of seed spacing per square foot.

If you want to know how many seeds per square foot, you need to draw out a foot and put it in a grid.The above graphic shows a square foot divided by a grid.We can see how many seeds it takes for each square foot by counting the intersection.I put a green dot where the seeds would be in the graphics.I didn't place seeds at the top and left side of the square.The intersection on the bottom of the square foot are the same as the ones on top.The principle applies to both sides.36 seeds per square foot are the result of counting the intersection in the diagram.You will most likely seed more than these estimates if you think you will get 70% to 80% germination.

The same principle applies to any spacing as depicted in the diagram below.9 plants per square foot is given by this spacing.

The 4'x16' raised bed is intended to produce roots for personal consumption.This bed can be treated like a commercial application.Predation of seed and seed that doesn't germinate will lower the plant density from our estimate.I would plant the bed with 2x2 spacing and expect a harvest in 3 years.If you want to keep the bed going longer, you might consider wider spacing.

64 square feet is 4'x16'.36 seeds per square foot are the result of the 2x2 spacing.If we divide 2 304 by the number of seeds per pound we get 1/3 of a pound.

The tilled woodsgrown bed is used for seed production.The bed is 30' long and 2' wide.We'll go with a spacing of 9 seeds per sq ft because we're planning to grow the plants for some time.

2x30 is 60 x9 seeds.You will get plenty if you buy 2 ounces of seed.There are 7000 seeds in one pound, divided by 16 ounces.

A 1/2 acre of wild simulation will allow the plants to grow indefinately and start a sustainable patch.There are 43,560 sq ft in one acre, so we divide it in half.We have to estimate the amount of usable space since we can't plant ginseng seed in every square foot.The rule of thumb here in Ohio is 80%.These will be planted with 6x6 spacing.

The usable square feet is at 80%.It works the same as the other examples.Over 10 pounds of seed.