How to Plant American Ginseng
The editor answers how to plant American ginseng and shares small experiences in green plant maintenance, including American ginseng cultivation techniques and management. Next, the editor will introduce to netizens.
American ginseng is the dried root of the Panax quinquefolius plant, which is native to the forest areas of northern United States and southern Canada. Currently, it is cultivated in provinces and cities such as Jilin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Shandong, Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Yunnan, and Sichuan in China.
I. Biological Characteristics
American ginseng is a shade-loving plant that prefers cool and moist, semi-shady and semi-sunny environments. It can sprout only when the air temperature reaches above 10℃ in spring and the soil temperature (10cm deep) is above 7℃. The optimal growing temperature is between 20-25℃, and the soil temperature should be 18-20℃. When the temperature drops to 12-14℃ in autumn and the soil temperature is 10℃, it enters the withering period. The growth period of American ginseng is 130-150 days per year, requiring about 2700℃ of accumulated temperature above 10℃. It has strict soil requirements, preferring moist, loose, granular, humus-rich, slightly acidic soil. The soil surface and subsoil should have good permeability to achieve loose, fertile, and well-drained conditions. The slope should be gentle, within 20°. It requires sufficient water, with annual rainfall of 800-1100mm, relative humidity of 75%-85%, and soil moisture content of 40%-55%. American ginseng is a long-day plant but cannot tolerate strong or direct sunlight. It prefers shade, scattered light, and diffused light. Direct sunlight can burn the leaves, leading to plant withering and death. Artificial cultivation requires shading, and forest clearings need to adjust light transmission, generally around 20%.
American ginseng seeds weigh 55-60g per 1000 seeds. The seeds have a post-embryonic dormancy characteristic, divided into morphological and physiological dormancy. The best temperature for embryo development before seed cracking is 15℃, while temperatures below 10℃ and above 25℃ inhibit embryo development. After seed cracking, under conditions of 10-20℃, it takes 40-50 days for the embryo to grow to about 4mm, completing morphological maturation. Then, the seeds need to be in an environment of 0-5℃ for 60 days to break physiological dormancy. Therefore, stratification treatment is necessary before planting American ginseng, otherwise the seeds will not germinate or will germinate unevenly.
II. Cultivation Techniques
(一) Site Selection and Preparation
American ginseng prefers a mild and humid climate and has strong cold resistance, generally not suffering frost damage below -12℃. It starts growing at soil temperatures of 5-7℃, emerges at 12℃, blooms at 20-21℃, and withers at 10℃. The temperature range of 15-18℃ is most favorable for plant growth. Soil moisture levels that are too high or too low are not conducive to the growth and development of American ginseng, with 60% field capacity being optimal. Choose fertile farmland, avoiding areas exposed to strong winds and direct sunlight. The previous crops should be legumes or grass crops, not tobacco, solanaceous, cruciferous vegetables like cabbage and radish. Plant early-maturing legumes or green manure plants as predecessors. Apply a large amount of organic fertilizers such as compost, manure, peat, and soybean cake fertilizers, and cultivate the soil multiple times to increase soil organic matter content and improve soil physical and chemical properties. The depth of tillage depends on the thickness of the soil layer and the amount of soil needed for bed preparation, generally 25-30cm. American ginseng is a shade-loving plant and needs to grow under a shade house. Farm cultivation of American ginseng often uses a connected high flat shed, different from ordinary ginseng sheds. The entire field is connected as one shed, surrounded by straw curtains, covered with straw curtains, reed curtains, or shading nets, but not plastic film. The specifications of the shed are: height from the ground is 1.8-2.3m, bed width is 150cm, bed height is 25cm, with operations under the shed, and light transmission rate controlled at around 20%. The construction of the shed is usually synchronized with bed preparation.
(二) Propagation Methods
Mainly seed propagation is used.
1. Seed Treatment
American ginseng seeds have a dormancy period. Generally, after harvesting the fruits (late August to early September), the fruit skin and flesh are timely rubbed off, mature and full seeds are selected, and then mixed evenly with sieved fine sand or soil with adjusted moisture. The temperature conditions during the treatment period are: before seed cracking, the temperature is controlled at 14-17℃, and after seed cracking, at around 12℃. The seeds are turned every 15 days before cracking, adjusting the moisture during the turning process, and then packed or placed in a bed as before. After cracking, the seeds are turned every 7 days, and the moisture of the sand can be slightly lower. Under these conditions, generally after 120 days, the seed embryo can reach 4mm, which is about 4/5 of the seed kernel length, indicating that the seed treatment is qualified. If this standard is not met, the treatment should continue. The treated seeds should be gradually lowered in temperature, kept at 0-5℃ for more than 60 days, and then further cooled to complete freezing. Place them in a pre-prepared cold storage pit, cover tightly, and keep them until the following spring when they can be taken out for sowing after thawing.
How to Plant American Ginseng
2. Sowing
American ginseng can be sown in both spring and autumn, but spring sowing should not be too late, and autumn sowing should not be too early. Currently, there are two common sowing methods for American ginseng: one is direct seeding, where American ginseng grows continuously on the same plot of land for 4 years; the other is to raise seedlings for 1-2 years before transplanting. The bed surface should be sprayed or watered before sowing. The sowing method usually uses hole sowing, with a few using broadcast sowing. The amount of seeds sown depends on seed quality and management level. For direct hole sowing, the row spacing can be 7cm×7cm or 5cm×10cm; for seedling transplanting, 5cm×5cm or 7cm×5cm are used. The sowing depth is 3cm, and the bed surface should be covered with grass after sowing, with a seeding rate of 5-6kg per mu. Currently, seeders with hole punches are used in the producing areas for hole opening, manual sowing, and covering soil after sowing.
(三) Field Management
1. Building Sheds
Currently, fixed single-row arch-shaped translucent sheds are commonly used, a few are fixed multi-row translucent greenhouses, or fixed multi-row double-layer flat sheds, mostly using arch-shaped and bow-shaped sheds. The shed construction method refers to that of ginseng.
2. Shading and Mulching
Mulching the bed surface is crucial in field cultivation of American ginseng. It can be covered with 4-5cm of leaves or 3cm of sawdust; or directly covered with reed curtains to maintain moisture and prevent weed growth. When American ginseng just breaks through the soil and sprouts, shading management should be carried out.
3. Loosening Soil and Weeding
For autumn planting and American ginseng that has grown for more than one year, after the spring soil thaws and the bud spikes are about to germinate, remove the anti-cold materials, loosen the surface soil, level the ridge surface, and adjust the depth to avoid injuring the buds or roots. During the growing period, it is necessary to frequently loosen the soil and remove weeds, with the timing and frequency depending on the specific situation, aiming to keep the field free of weeds and the soil not compacted, usually 3-5 times.
4. Topdressing
After sowing, American ginseng generally needs to grow continuously on the same plot of land for 4 years. Relying solely on base fertilization cannot ensure its normal growth and development, so topdressing is necessary. Especially for fields that are 3-4 years old, if topdressing is not done in time, it will affect the yield and quality of American ginseng. After removing the anti-cold materials, apply 50g of cooked and ground soybeans, 100g of soybean cake powder, and 40g of defatted bone meal per square meter. High-efficiency compound fertilizers can also be used, at 100-150g per square meter. Additionally, 1-2 foliar applications can be performed during the green fruit period.