How Much Sun Does My Chinese Ginseng Need? By Jin Huang At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Ginseng is widely used in the United States to improve overall energy and vitality, particularly during times of fatigue or stress.

On ideal ginseng growing sites, soil should be slightly on the acidic side but limestone-based with relatively high calcium and a preferred calcium/magnesium ratio of five to one. Soil maps, topographic maps and companion plants give the ginseng grower a good idea of where ginseng may grow best. You can augment this through a soil analysis done by your local county extension office or by state agricultural laboratories. These services are usually conducted for a nominal fee or free of charge.

Ginseng also grows remarkably well when surrounded by a healthy layer of leaf litter. Leaves accumulate behind these natural barriers and create the "beds" in which the wild ginseng will thrive in a few years. While one could discover through topographic and soil maps the approximate best locations for ginseng, a more thorough knowledge of the soil nutrient content will (as with most other crops) require a chemical analysis.

As mentioned below, it is possible to continue the organic certification which is preferred for virtually wild ginseng and yet add certain natural amendments to the soil such as gypsum (hydrated calcium sulfate) for enhancing the calcium content or Epsom salts (hydrated magnesium sulfate) for raising the magnesium content. While nutrient balance is highly important for growing healthy ginseng, the best approach is to locate the best sites first and carefully target your ginseng planting to those sites, rather than adjusting soil on sub-standard sites.

Ginseng grows best in a rich, shady forest with reasonably open lower layers. Thus a forest with a canopy of high trees and a rich ground cover of herbs and wildflowers is ideal, but not one with an under, or mid-story of densely growing plants like cedars and briars, which slow ginseng growth. The over-story should provide 70-80% shade, giving the forest a very obvious dappled effect.

Remember that the 70-80% shade rule is not a hard and fast rule across the forest. Small gaps in the canopy occur whenever trees fall, but ginseng survives in most cases: the excess sunlight merely retards ginseng growth for a few years while the canopy is open, then resumes at its normal growth rate as the canopy begins to fill in.

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