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How to Grow Ginseng in Your Backyard: Easy Techniques to Learn

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How to Grow Ginseng at Home to Earn Some Extra Cash: Ginseng is the most profitable cash crop nowadays for its growing popularity as an energy booster and miracle healer. The plant, and especially its root, is universally used as a tonic to maintain and support well-being and health.

Due to its massive profitability, people all over the world are researching and trying to plant Ginseng to sell it in the international market. Although it is a wise decision, before jumping into it, one needs to have a proper idea about the plant ginseng, growing ginseng, different types of ginseng, the life cycle of American ginseng, suitable weather for planting ginseng, what kind of supplies you’d need and everything about the legality of growing ginseng.

About Ginseng

Ginseng basically is a medicinal plant whose roots are famous for its exotic power of healing. The Chinese are using this herbal panacea for improving cognitive power, boosting energy, restoring vitality, reducing stress, and serving as an anti-inflammatory. For its immeasurable health benefits, the demand for it is rising day by day. On the other hand, the harvest of this crucial plan is highly regulated in most parts of the world. Due to the supply and demand gap, the price of this product has soared drastically. This herbal medicine is now growing commercially and available as a supplement in capsule forms and as herbal tea or energy drinks.

If you want to have authentic ginseng roots without spending lots of dollars, then the best option is to grow this lucrative plant in your backyard. Also, you could make it an income-generating pastime by planting large numbers and selling them in the market.

There are different natures of ginseng found till now. All of them are not as beneficial, though. Some of the essential ginseng types are:

  • American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius)
  • Asian Ginseng (Panax ginseng)
  • Brazilian Ginseng
  • Korean Ginseng
  • Siberian Ginseng
  • Indian Ginseng

All these different types of ginseng have different medicinal benefits. But Studies have found that American ginseng is somewhat less stimulating than Asian and Korean kids.

How to Grow Ginseng in Your Yard

 

 

Growing ginseng. surely sounds very lucrative for the financial rewards it promises. Though Ginseng is not a particularly hard plant to grow, unlike growing other plant species, it requires a little bit of resourcefulness to get this plant to flourish. You need to do proper research and follow step by step procedure to make this work. First of all, you need to make sure you bought the right seeds and supplies needed to start harvesting. Then find a suitable space and make the right environment for the seed to germinate.

There are three primary methods of cultivating ginseng plants.

  • Artificial Shade or Greenhouse
  • Wild-simulated
  • Woods-cultivated

The first method can be expensive for small growers, but if you are consistent and committed, you’ll be able the double the profit within just a year or two. The other two methods are “wild-simulated” and “woods-cultivated.” Among all three, the most popular one for small growers is the woods-cultivated method. In which the ginseng seed is implanted under a canopy of hardwood trees.

Generally, the best environment for the Ginseng plant is a warmer and moist area. But don’t just lose your hope yet if you live in a frigid area. There’s the artificial shade option, which is sometimes more successful than growing ginseng in the woods. Growing ginseng in a greenhouse is very common nowadays in the western regions. Just install a greenhouse anywhere around your place, and inside it, you can easily grow ginseng all year round. But before that, you need to have a proper idea about a greenhouse and how to grow plants with it. Maintaining the right temperature, light, and moisture levels is very crucial to create the ideal environment for the ginseng plants.

For American and Korean Ginseng, too much light leads to photoinhibition of photosynthesis, photobleaching, and leaf death. And if you provide too little light, it will reduce root yield. So ginseng requires optimal light to grow naturally in a greenhouse. The light also prevents root rot or fungus infections, ensuring a maximum yield when it’s time to harvest.

Suitable Soil structure:

you need to consider soil as the most important factor while sowing seeds. The soil itself can make or break your ginseng growing operation regardless of how much money and effort you are putting. For a start maintaining the pH balance is quite essential. Make sure the soil has a pH between 5.0 and 6.0 and be well-drained. With an accurate pH level, the growing plants can use the nutrients in the soil effectively, and it also discourages bacterial diseases. Consult a professional for this if you want to go by the books. You can in a soil test kit. If you are planning long term business.

Make sure you have healthy soil checks for disease and pest problems too. If you have this irritant problem, then try to use organic solutions, such as compost, leaf mold, and yellow sticky traps.

Preparing and Planting the Seeds:

Now for the seeds, as a newbie, you need to start small. Select your desired category of ginseng seed to plant and find a good dealer who provides quality seeds.  You can buy a few dozen quantities of seedlings or the smallest quantity of seeds available. In the early spring, you need to sow the seeds in the fall at a depth of about 1 ½ inch, and the roots should be implanted under 3 inches of soil. The spacing also affects the growth of roots and production of the seeds when the plants become older and larger. It is suggested to plant design the row keeping at least 6 inches gap.

Read more about What to feed squirrels in the backyard.

Security and legality of growing Ginseng:

Though there’s nothing much to think about security if you are growing ginseng in a greenhouse or in your own yard near your house. Just like other farms, keep an eye on it for pets or intruders. You can install picket fences around the yard for added security.

If you live in an area where the market is very competitive for the ginseng trade, you may want to invest in a security system to avoid any big risk.

Depending on where you live the legality of growing ginseng varies. In most places, you can grow ginseng for your own personal use without any permits but for commercial distribution, you need to proceed legally. Though ginseng is not an illegal herb to grow, it is better to check with your local laws before cultivating it to ensure further hassle in the future.

Selling Ginseng roots:

In general, there are three ways to sell your ginseng roots in the market.

  • Selling directly to wholesale buyers
  • Selling to out-of-state buyers
  • Selling to ginseng brokers

If you want the hassle-free option and get paid right away, then the best idea is to sell directly to wholesale buyers. For the best price, you can contact out-of-state buyers where ginseng is less available. For bulk selling, go for the ginseng brokers who will buy wholesale and resell it in small quantities. Whichever way you choose; you can make a lucrative profit if you have enough quantity of quality ginseng.

In this article, we’ve tried to gather all the information you need to know about growing ginseng at home for personal use as well as growing and selling it in the most profitable way. Though it is not an easy herb to grow, it doesn’t require a full-time commitment if you know the process and methods. Hopefully, we could give you some insight about growing ginseng which will help you get started with it.