ECF Seeder Planting Guide

Thank you for your purchase of an ECF Seeder from Emerald Castle Farms! I have come to the point that I will not plant wild simulated ginseng without this tool. I am certain you will feel the same way after you get used to using it.

Originally, I developed this tool for my own use. I have tried to buy other seeders that were on the market and they were always backordered or otherwise not available. The tool that you have is the one I came up with. Having used this tool for over two years now, I am convinced it is the most practical way to plant truly wild simulated ginseng. In the woods, I average about 1/2 pound of seed planted per hour. That is not being in a hurry either.

The principle is simple...push in the rod to make the hole, and drop the seeds in the funnel. No bending or raking required. I asked my 9 year old son to help demonstrate the seeder. He had never used it before, and it was a little tall for him to use easily, but he was planting like a champ in no time.

In normal woods dirt, just a simple push will work for making the hole.

After making the hole, drop a seed or two into the funnel and give them a second to travel all the way down the tube and be deposited into the hole you just made. Be careful to not move the seeder after making the hole as that will cause the seeds to fall outside on the surface of the ground.

I use a shotgun shell pouch to hold my seed when using the ECF Seeder. This allows you to securely hold the seeds in a manner that allows you to get to them quickly. I find this method much easier than keeping them in your pocket, and the pouch can be picked up at Walmart for about $5.

After the seeds drop, just move over to a new location and repeat the process. If you want to measure the spacing of the seeds, you can do so easily with this tool. the base plate is four inches wide, and eight inches long. The distance from the hole to the end of the base plate is six inches. So, if you want to space seeds six inches apart, just put the back of the baseplate at the last hole you made. The new hole will be six inches further ahead.

Realistically, I don't worry too much about spacing when I am planting wild simulated ginseng. I normally pick a path of travel, then plant seeds in a small arc in front of me as I move slowly forward. This allows me to cover area a little better I think. No doubt however, the spacing is much more than say four by six inches.

I built the seeder with the angle so that covering the seeds would not be necessary. They will be hidden from above, and the first rain will fill in the hole.As you can see from the picture, the hole is basically not visible.

Here is a better view showing the freshly planted hole. As you can imagine, if there were any leaves in place, the hole would be completely obscured from view.

Below is a close up of the hole after I dug out one side to reveal the ginseng seeds at the bottom.

This last picture is a small area that I seeded with the seeder just prior to the pictures being taken. Before I seeded this area, I removed many smaller saplings to make room to walk through. As you see, there is no evidence what so ever that the area contains about 2/3 pound of ginseng seeds just waiting to come up this next spring. This space is approximately 25' by 50' in size.