Growth of Eight-Year-Old American Ginseng in a Red Maple Forest as Influenced by Lime and Organic Fertilizer Applicatio

1. Growth of Eight-Year-Old American Ginseng in a Red Maple Forest as Influenced by Lime and Organic Fertilizer Application Alain Olivier Isabelle Nadeau Hakim Ouzennou Justin P. Dzaringa Guy-Régis Bibang

2. American ginseng(Panax quinquefolius L.) • Native species from deciduous forests in the Eastern half of North America • Medicinal plant • Related to Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer)

3. Wild populations • Have been intensively harvested • Endangered in Canada • Over-harvesting • Destruction and degradation of their natural habitat (White 1988) • Less than 20 000 plants left in Canada (Nault et al. 1998)

4. Field-cultivation • Since the end of the 19th century • Intensive field-cultivation under artificial shade structures • Tens of millions of dollars in income every year in Canada only (Statistics Canada)

5. Forest farming • Lower yield than field-grown roots • Roots of higher quality • Higher retail value • No cost associated with shade structures Source : John Proctor

6. Where does wild ginseng grow ? • In Québec, wild populations stand : • In the Southern part of the province • In mature sugar maple forests • On rich, slightly acidic (pH 5.9), deep and well drained soils, with abundant litter rapidly decomposed (Nault 1997)

7. Where can we grow ginseng in Québec ? • Most forests available for farming do not correspond to the natural environment of ginseng • Short growing season • Very acidic soils • Nutrient-depleted soils

8. Soil pH • Affects ginseng growth • Affects shape, size, and biomass of the roots (Pritts, 1995) • pH 5.5 doubled yield as compared to pH 4.4(Konsler and Shelton, 1990) Source : John Proctor

9. Calcium content of the soil • Wild ginseng in New York state grows on soils with high calcium content (Beyfuss, 2000) • Calcium deficiency restricts root biomass (Stoltz, 1982) Source : John Proctor

10. Can we use very acidic forests to produce wild-simulated ginseng ?

11. Material and Methods • When ? • Fall 1995 - Fall 2003 • Where ? • Experimental Farm of Université Laval (46° 39' N, 72° 06' W) • Red maple forest • Very acidic Tilly silty clay (gleyed humo-ferric Podzol) • Mor humus of low nutrient status

12. Initial soil characteristics of the experimental site (October 1995) Mehlich III extractable P, K and Ca

13. Treatments

14. Cultural operations • A very low level of management was chosen • Only a few trees and shrubs providing excessive shade were removed prior to sowing

15. Cultural operations • Leaf litter removed • Seeds broadcast at a rate of 40 kg/ha, then incorporated (October 30-31, 1995) • Lime, organic fertilizer and fungicide applied the same day • Leaf litter put back above the soil

16. Cultural operationsRaking leaves and liming

17. Maintenance Treatments (Spring 1997)

18. Maintenance Treatments (Spring 1998) N.B. No maintenance treatment was applied after 1998

19. Measures • Soil pH • Soil Ca • Ginseng population counts • Leaf area • Root biomass

20. Experimental design • Randomized complete block design • Five replicates • Plot size : 10 m X 2 m • Data submitted to standard ANOVA • Contrasts T1 vs T2 : effect of liming T1 vs T3 : effect of organic fertilization T2 vs T4 : effect of adding organic fertilizer to lime T4 vs T5 : effect of the fungicide

21. Results

22. Soil pH

23. Soil calcium content (mg/kg)

24. Ginseng density (plant / m2)

25. Ginseng leaf area (cm2)

26. Ginseng fresh root biomass (g / plant)

27. Discussion

28. Discussion • Very acidic, nutrient-depleted soils of red maple forests in Québec are not suited for ginseng cultivation • Not even one plant left in all of the control plots

29. Liming • Improved : • Ginseng plant density • Ginseng leaf and root growth • Improvement could be due to : • Increased soil calcium availability • Lower aluminum toxicity(Nadeau et al. 2003)

30. Calcium : a key element? • Wild populations grow on a wide range of soil pH, but always on calcium-rich soils (Beyfuss 2000) • Calcium deficiency restricts N, P and K accumulation in leaves (Khwaja et al. 1984) • Calcium alleviates aluminum toxicity (Brunet 1994)

31. Organic fertilization • Positive impact on ginseng growth, although lower than that of liming • Phosphorus and nitrogen in soil are correlated to root biomass of ginseng (Konsler and Shelton 1990 ; Stoltz 1981) • Lower ginseng winter survival than with lime • A result of calcium deficiency and/or aluminum toxicity bringing higher ginseng susceptibility to biotic and abiotic stresses?

32. Fungicide application • Did not result in better emergence, survival rate, leaf area, nor root biomass of ginseng

33. Conclusion • Soil nutrient management is essential to produce healthy marketable ginseng roots • Soil calcium content may be critical • Sufficient quantities of lime have to be added in this very acidic soil in order to make wild-cultivation of ginseng a valuable alternative

34. Acknowledgments • Nutrite Hydro-Agri Canada • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada • Jean Coulombe and the team of the Joseph-Rhéaume Experimental Farm • Jean Collin