By Jin Huang
Ginseng is widely used in the United States to improve overall energy and vitality, particularly during times of fatigue or stress.
Not all land can grow ginseng. The simplest way to determine if any portions of your site will grow ginseng is to seek out areas that are growing ginseng or recall whether any areas on the land grew ginseng in the past.
It should be noted that there are exceptions to the rules. Ginseng is a rather hearty plant that can grow where one or more minor factors are missing. Landholders who attempt to grow ginseng in areas where natural conditions will not support the plant often attempt to compensate by creating dense beds of expensive, prepared soil, often with the assistance of heavy doses of fungicides. Some growers have only partial conditions and compensate by growing woods grown or simulated ginseng in rather dense beds of prepared soil and often with the assistance of fungicides.
Even when ginseng is not found, your property may still be capable of growing it. A careful examination of topographic maps, water drainage maps and soil maps in a manual overlay fashion is a good gauge of where ginseng is likely to grow. Syl Yunker, a long-term ginseng grower, claims success nine out of ten times using this method. The more one knows about the necessary conditions for ginseng growth (as well as the minor, more subtle requirements for ginseng), the more readily one can locate a place for growing the crop. Modern computer technology can also help you locate a good site. The last part of this section explains an ASPI service that will help growers locate better sites via computer technology.
The best kind of soil is well-drained, rich dark soil, with sufficient humus content. Look for loamy soil that is high in wood content ("blocky" soil). Soils with heavy clay composition should be avoided. While most ginseng growing soils are slightly on the acidic side, the pH ranges permissible for ginseng growing are quite wide. It is believed that ginseng does best in soils between pH 5.5 and pH 6.0, although a recent study found ginseng doing well under highly acidic (low pH) conditions when there were very high levels of calcium
About the Author: Chinese herbs and Chinese medicines have been used for thousands of years to help people feel better, more vital and live longer. Find out How Ginseng Can Benefit You at http://ChineseMedicine.smartreviewguide.com
Source: www.isnare.com
