If you wait until July of the following summer you will discover that the seeds are completely clean of all pulp and ready for the autumn seeding. You are now ready to replant the seeds you have saved. Because ginseng seeds shouldn't be planted until a few months into the fall before the ground is damp enough to sow seed, you should store the seed in a cool, moist place until ready to plant. Put the seed in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel in the bag and then place the package is in the butter section of the refrigerator. Check weekly to see whether the paper towel is still damp. Remember, if the ginseng seed dries, it dies.



The primary focus of most ginseng harvest is the root, the traditional cornerstone of Chinese medicine. Once this root is judged mature enough by the grower it may be "thinned," that is, removed in order to allow surrounding plants to have more room to grow. Thus harvesting may depend in some degree on the ginseng plant ages, as well as plant population in a given area. You can wait as long as you want to dig up your mature roots. In the ginseng market, the value of roots almost always increases with the age of the plant.

While ginseng plants live to more than 100 years old, today, even relatively mature ginseng plants nine or ten years old are becoming increasingly rare and roots 15 to 20 years old are rarer still. A good rule of thumb is to wait until after about nine or ten years to dig up the roots, but your situation may dictate otherwise. You should remember that, as your plants mature, you should take care to reevaluate and increase your security measures, too, in order to protect your investment.

The best time to harvest is usually in the autumn after the seeds have matured, but before the leaves have died off and you can no longer see the plant easily. Because damaged roots will bring far lower prices, take extra care as you dig the roots. The best tool for digging the root is a sharp needle-nosed spade.

Ginseng roots are dried at a temperature between 70 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit (90 degrees is an ideal temperature). At the recommended temperature range, roots do not take long to dry - only about three weeks. Select a place where there is an ample flow of air and no direct sunlight or other light, like an attic. Place each root on a wooden lath tray, rather than a metal or plastic screen because the roots should never be allowed to come in contact with anything but a cellulose fiber material.