Collecting & stratifying your own ginseng seeds

One of the best things about growing a crop of ginseng is the fact that you can collect the ripe red berries from your plants every fall and stratify your own seeds, reducing or even eliminating the need to buy seeds for planting your next crop.

Here are the steps to follow in order to stratify your own ginseng seeds:

1 - Collect the mature berries from your ginseng plants (after they turn a bright red).

2 - Drill 1/16 inch holes on the sides and bottom of a standard five-gallon plastic bucket.

3 - Dig a hole in a shaded, well-drained area and bury the bucket so that the top is three inches below the surface of the ground.

4 - Place a 1 inch layer of damp sand in the bottom of the bucket and then place a 1 inch layer of ripe berries on top of the layer of sand.

5 - Next, place another 1 inch layer of damp sand on top of the berries.

6 - Cover the top of the bucket with a sturdy piece of plywood.

7 - Repeat this process every time you harvest more ripe berries, alternating a layer of berries with a layer of sand until there are no more berries left to "pick" and stratify.

8 - After the last layer of berries has been placed in the bucket, place a final 2 inch layer of damp sand on top.

9 - Place the plywood cover on top of the bucket once again and cover everything with 3 inches of soil followed by a layer of leaves or mulch.

10 - Leave the bucket and its contents undisturbed until the following July, then dig up the bucket and retrieve the stratified ginseng seeds for fall planting.