GINSENG SEED AND ROOT PRODUCTION
IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

    Spring in the Pacific Northwest is a very exciting time of year, especially if you grow Ginseng....

    After months of cold weather and seemingly non-stop rain, a sign of spring is seen--Ginseng--slowly emerging from the earth.  Four-year old Ginseng has four leaves and a seed head.  From this seed head a beautiful white flower will blossom. 

    After the blossom has faded a green berry cluster will develop.  Typically it is in the month of August when the cluster ripens to vibrant red.  

Each red berry contains 2 ginseng seeds.
 

When early fall arrives, the ginseng seeds have reached their ripe stage.  It's then time to get to work.
 

Each berry cluster is hand picked to insure a nice seed.
 

We make one pass through the beds and pick only the fully ripened berries.  If a cluster is not fully red it will be passed over and picked at a later day.  Once the berries have been hand picked they are then placed in a burlap bag to ferment.  The bags must be kept in the shade and turned on a regular basis.  Care is taken to keep the berries moist during this process and this process usually takes about 7 days.
 

After the fermentation process the pulp and juice are separated from the seed by placing the berries on a screen where they are washed.  This process guarantees a nice clean green seed.  The ginseng seed is now ready to stratify.  After cleaning, the seeds are placed in a wooden box with a 50/50 seed to clean sand ratio.
 

The box is buried in the sand for one year....Fall to Fall.  After one year we remove the stratified seed from the sand box and float the seeds by placing the ginseng seeds in a drum of water.  All seeds that float to the top are removed and discarded as they are "dead".  This process is widely accepted to ensure live, quality Ginseng seed.  The seeds are then ready to plant.
 

We hand seed our beds. We don't dig any holes, the ginseng seeds are simply spread as evenly as possible over the prepared beds.  It's been found that covering the seeds with 1-2 inches of fir chips helps to hold the ginseng seed in place during the cold winter days.  The fir chips also help to reduce the number of weeds in the spring.
 

A few important tips to remember:

• Ginseng requires shade, 78% works well in the Northwest.  Hotter climates may require a higher percentage of shade.

• Good drainage--ginseng does not like its feet wet.  Poor drainage is an invitation to disease problems.

• Weeds--the lack of them is good.  All uninvited vegetation in your ginseng garden is competing with your ginseng for the nutrients in the soil.

Happy ginseng makes for a happy gardener.

This process is quite a time consuming one but ever so rewarding when spring comes around and the seedlings emerge.

Unfortunately, we don't have any seed this season, but expect us back in 2009.

Pacific Rim Ginseng, Inc.
20004 NW 10th Ave.
Ridgefield, WA 98642 U.S.A.
360-887-3128
email:

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