When to Plant Goldenseal Seeds

Natural Life Cycle

• In autumn the fruit of goldenseal matures, resembling a large red raspberry when ripe. Each fruit holds between 10 and 20 small black seeds. When fruits fall and rot or foraging animals and birds eat them, goldenseal seeds filter to the bottom of the forest leaf litter. Any seeds that dry out will die, but in a moist shady forest some survive. Some seeds sprout the following spring, but many seeds lie dormant through two winters and sprout the second spring. Growers protect the dormant seed and plant goldenseal in harmony with the natural cycle.

Stratification

• Goldenseal seeds must experience a long period of winter cold before the plant embryo matures and sprouts. Without artificial stratification, germination rates fall between 0 and 90 percent, according to North Carolina State University Extension. When growers add cold stratification to the system, seeds germinate more reliably. Summer storage and fall planting yields an average germination rate of 37 percent. Storing seed for one month at 70 degrees F, followed by storage at 40 degrees F until spring planting, improves germination rates to an average of 45 percent. With either method, much of the seed sprouts the second spring.

Planting Problems

• Most growers plant goldenseal seed the first fall after harvest. Planting in the fall, after the ground cools and before the ground freezes, allows growers to work with dormant seed. After winter storage, some seed sprouts before planting time. Mechanical planters handle dormant seed only, so any sprouted seed needs careful hand planting. Planting in the spring, as soon as ground thaws, improves germination rates.

Nursery Beds

• Recommended planting methods vary from a plant spacing of 3 to 4 inches and a seed depth of 1/2 inch, with rows set 6 inches apart, to plantings more than twice as dense. A nursery bed with 12 seeds per foot and rows 3 inches apart requires transplanting sooner than a widely spaced bed. When the foliage of the goldenseal plants fills the available space, plant growth slows. Dense plantings provide early transplant stock in a small space. Wider spacings give growers more time to prepare permanent beds for the new goldenseal plants.