Seasonal Soil Temperature and Moisture Regimes in a Ginseng Garden

A field experiment was conducted in the arid interior of British Columbia, Canada to assess the seasonal soil temperature and moisture regimes in an American ginseng garden. As a consequence of the man-modified microclimate (elevated shade canopy and surface covering of mulch), the growing environment of the crop was fundamentally altered when compared to adjacent agricultural growing environments. In the ginseng garden, soil temperatures were found to remain low throughout the growing season whereas soil moisture remained high when compared with the outside garden environment. These results indicate that even in the hot, arid environment of the interior of British Columbia, the growing of ginseng is undertaken in sub-optimal conditions for the major part of the growing season. This poses challenges for the producers of the crop to modify the architecture of the gardens to enhance the soil regime without creating a deleterious aerial environment.