How Does Ginseng Reproduce?

Seeds

• Ginseng typically reproduces from seeds. Ginseng is self-pollinating, meaning a flower or plant that can fertilize its own pollen. The ginseng seeds form after the flowers bloom in the summer. The flowers produce a bright red berry that contains two seeds. The seeds remain dormant for 18 to 22 months after dropping from the plant and need certain conditions during their dormancy period to germinate. The seeds must remain moist, but without getting soggy, for example.

Stratification

• Commercial growers attempt to mimic the conditions ginseng needs to germinate. This process, called stratification, involves reproducing the alternating cold and warm temperatures required by seeds in the wild. Over a period of 12 to 16 months, the seed undergoes exposure to alternating warm and cold conditions while kept in a moist environment. Allowing the seed to dry before the stratification process has completed reduces the chance of germination.

Stages

• Ginseng goes through a series of developmental stages and produces seeds only after reaching a certain point in its life cycle. The ginseng seedling first appears as a plant with one leaf consisting of three leaflets. In its next stage of development, called the one-prong stage, ginseng has one leaf consisting of five leaflets. The plant cannot produce seeds at this point. Only when the plant reaches the two-prong stage and has two leaves that have five leaflets each is it ready to start the reproductive process.

Age

• As the ginseng plant gets older, it typically adds more prongs and bears more fruit. For example, a ginseng with three prongs produces more berries than a plant with two prongs. Since it bears more fruit, it also produces more seeds. This has important implications for commercial growers, who should make sure they leave a good number of older plants with more prongs unharvested. This ensures greater seed production for the future.