## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Soil Chemistry of Wild-Simulated Ginseng Cultivation Sites  
Soil chemical properties of 7- and 13-year-old WSG plantations were analyzed (Figure 1). Soil pH ranged from 3.96 to 4.02, electrical conductivity (EC) from 0.56 to 0.76 dS/m, organic matter content (OM) from 5.04 to 6.42%, total nitrogen content (TN) from 0.21 to 0.29%, available phosphorus content (Avail. P) from 92.69 to 143.51 mg/kg, exchangeable potassium (Ex. K) from 0.2 to 0.23 cmol\({}^{+}\)/kg, exchangeable calcium (Ex. Ca) from 0.50 to 2.13 cmol\({}^{+}\)/kg, exchangeable magnesium (Ex. Mg) from 0.39 to 0.56 cmol\({}^{+}\)/kg, exchangeable sodium (Ex. Na) from 0.02 to 0.03 cmol\({}^{+}\)/kg, and cation exchange capacity (CEC) from 16.91 to 18.88 cmol\({}^{+}\)/kg. Ex. K and Mg contents were significantly higher in the soil of the 7-year-old WSG plantations compared to that of the 13-year-old WSG plantations. Conversely, EC and levels of OM, TN, Avail. P, Ex. Ca, and Ex. Na were significantly higher in the 13-year-old WSG plantations than in the 7-year-old WSG plantations. The soil pH of Korean WSG plantations is typically acidic or slightly acidic, ranging from 4.0 to 6.0 [32], and the 7- and 13-year-old WSG plantations in this study also presented acidic soils around pH 4. Soil acidity directly and indirectly affects the solubility, mobility, and bioavailability of nutrients and toxic components in plants [33; 34]. Unlike cultivated ginseng, which is grown in controlled environments and regularly receives pesticide treatments, WSG is grown in forests, where its growth rate is slower than that of cultivated ginseng, likely due to nutrient scarcity compared to soil in controlled environments, thus limiting growth [35; 36]. _P. ginseng_ requires substantial soil nutrients during its long growth season, with soil organic matter and total nitrogen playing critical roles during the flowering stage, as well as being essential components of the plant body [37]. As the cultivation period increases, the soil in WSG plantations becomes more acidic, thereby enhancing the adsorption of nitrogen and phosphorus onto soil particles and further reducing the concentration of soluble phosphorus available to plants [38; 39]. In this context, the higher content of total nitrogen and available phosphorus in 13-year-old WSG plantations compared to 7-year-old plantations is notable, potentially due to the presence of phosphate-s solubilizing bacteria in the older plantations, which convert phosphorus made insoluble by soil acidification into soluble phosphorus available for plant uptake [40; 41]. Therefore, the 13-year-old WSG plantations are likely to exhibit better growth than their 7-year-old counterparts due to higher levels of total nitrogen and available phosphoric acid in the soil.  
Figure 1: Soil chemical properties of 7- and 13-year-old wild-simulated ginseng plantations. EC, electrical conductivity; OM, organic matter; TN, total nitrogen; Avail. P, available phosphate; Ex. K, exchangeable potassium; Ex. Ca, exchangeable calcium; Ex. Mg, exchangeable magnesium; Ex. Na, exchangeable sodium; CEC, cation exchange capacity. * _p_\(<\) 0.05, **_p_\(<\) 0.01.