Planning your next ginseng crop

If you're like most ginseng growers, you'll likely want to grow another crop after your current one has been harvested and sold. In actuality, the best time to begin planning and preparing for your next crop is while your current one is growing!

The first thing you should be doing is collecting and stratifying the ginseng seeds from your plants after they mature every fall (see the page entitled Collecting & stratifying your own ginseng seeds for step-by step instructions).

You should also be thinking about where you will plant your next ginseng crop. For whatever reason, 'seng doesn't do all that well when you plant a new crop in the same spot as a just-harvested one.

You might also want to consider planting your next crop while the current one is growing. In fact, some ginseng growers plant a new crop every year which ensures that they will have a crop to harvest and sell every year (after their first crop has matured and been harvested of course).

Growing ginseng can easily turn into a full-time job if you want it to, but it will take a lot of work, patience and perseverance to deal with and overcome the inevitable setbacks that will occur from time to time. And never forget that you must be ever vigilant in preventing poachers from stealing your livelihood if you allow your ginseng business to evolve into your sole means of support.