Preparing the Site
If you have read this far, you are probably interested in trying ginseng cultivation for yourself. Plant wild-simulated ginseng in patches of 50 seeds or seedlings. Producers can plant twice as many seeds as they need, both to insure success and to provide transplants at the end of the first year. Site preparation consists of removing all course organic matter from the site, removing weeds and small saplings, planting the seeds or seedlings and then replacing the organic matter. the organic matter serves as a native mulch, retaining moisture and reducing weed growth. Either spread or plant seeds at a spacing of six inches apart. This spacing may seen large but unless your plan to thin them in the future, this provides enough growing space for each of the plants. Planting at a spacing of one or two inches yield many new seedlings for transplant in fall and a stronger assurance of success even with poor germination.
If you use seedlings (roots), plant them six to twelve inches apart. The roots should be planted horizontally in the bed instead of vertically. These plants will more likely develop the appearance of natural roots if grown in this manner (this tip provided by Bob Beyfuss, Cornell Cooperative Extension). Do not plant roots closer than six inches apart. A wider spacing is probably better.
As with seeds, exercise care not to allow roots to dry out.
