Growing American Ginseng For Profit

By W. Scott Persons
Updated on March 28, 2023
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by Adobestock/Valeriy Kirsanov

Learn how to grow American ginseng and earn money by growing ginseng on your very own ginseng farm.

While it’s not exactly a get-rich-quick scheme like those touted on matchbook covers, growing ginseng promises financial rewards that do sound almost too good to be true. But the fact is that, if you live where the climate is right, in five years (and with little capital investment) you can grow as much of the prized botanical on only half an acre of woodland!

But where, you may ask, do you have to reside in order to be a prime candidate for growing this green gold? Well, the hardwood forests of the eastern United States and Canada are ginseng’s natural habitat, but it can be cultivated almost anywhere north of central Alabama . . . if the area receives between 20 and 40 inches of rainfall annually. No sophisticated techniques are needed to raise the precious crop, either . . . only a goodly portion of patience and a willingness to get your hands dirty. I grow ginseng quite successfully, though I’ve had only a few years’ previous experience in vegetable gardening.

The Life Cycle of American Ginseng

American ginseng, Panax quinquefolium, is a rather ordinary-looking little plant about 20 inches high-which grows inconspicuously on the forest floor. It is a deciduous perennial that produces a new top each year and has a slow growing tuberous rootstock.

Ginseng seeds sprout in April or early May, approximately 18 months after they drop from the plant–within bright red berries–during early autumn. Throughout its first summer of growth, the plant develops a small, skinny root and atop that consists of three leaflets. It stands only a few inches high and greatly resembles the wild strawberry. After the first fall frost, the top turns a rich ocher yellow and soon dies . . . but below ground level, the root survives the winter, freezing as the ground freezes.

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