Category Archives: At home Business

Starting A Small Nursery part 4

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This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series Starting A Small Nursery

More places to sell your product. Contract growing is a market I haven’t chased after. Contract growing can come in many sizes. You can dedicate your whole nursery top one or two buyers or you can just contract grow as a sideline. The problem for growing for one or two or even three retailers is that if you are into production and say that store or retailer goes out of business or sells out to someone new you may be stuck with all of their product and no market for it. You should ask for some deposit when you enter into the agreement. I would ask for at least the cost of the product you are going to have to buy in to fulfill your end of the deal. That way if they do quit business at least you aren’t out the whole amount. Don’t think it won’t happen to you, even the biggest stores can get bought out or go under, it happens more often than you think.

I once had a chance to grow fuchsia and petunia baskets for a large retailer in our area called Fred Meyer (now owned by Kroger) I couldn’t have asked for a sweeter deal,lots of baskets close to home and a good price. I started to figure out the space I would need to grow for them and it looked like I would need most of my greenhouse space. Then while in the planning process I realized that they had a supplier before me, what happened to them? Then I started thinking of just how easily they could cancel our agreement and realized that if they did my income would drop by about 80%. I considered this for a couple of days and believe me it was hard to call them and tell them I wasn’t interested.

What I consider to be small contract growing is growing for local landscapers or local motels or  restaurants. Also think about hospitals churches, office complexes, school districts your parks departments, city county and state, and florists.

Every town has a florist that wants nice baskets the week before Mothers day. I had one such florist in our area that never wanted to have us grow for them but they would show up the weekend before Mothers day and want to buy our best baskets, at a discount of course. I would tell them the price was already on the basket and I would not have a problem selling all of my best baskets retail by the next weekend. They were offended (every year) why couldn’t they buy my baskets at 60% of retail so they could double the price after holding the basket for maybe 5 days.  You have to consider every angle before selling at a discount. Once you have a good reputation you should never have to sell at a discount to your retail prices. Keep your prices reasonable and your quality up and you can turn away the folks looking to cash in on your considerable efforts.

Fund raisers is another type of market. If it’s a fund raiser aimed at a specific holiday or season you can plan well in advance. Schools all over the country used to use fund raisers to buy uniforms and sports equipment. I am seeing a comeback in this idea for hard up fund raisers. If you can plant the seed at the schools churches and other service organizations  and show them how to best plan for their function it could pay some good dividends. Gift certificates and silent auctions comes to mind too.

Okay I’m starting to run out of gas here. I  don’t have a book to turn to about starting a nursery this is all coming off of the top of my head each day so I’m just filling pages with my experiences if you have suggestions or questions please leave them in the comments.

Starting A Small Nursery part 2

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This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series Starting A Small Nursery

Already had some interest in this subject so here we go. We had about two months before the layoff so we decided to pursue the nursery idea. Got lucky and sold our house within ten days, cash and get out in 30 days. That meant find a house for the property, find a contractor to put in runners for a mobile and get it moved and livable within that 30 days. In the mean time I started doing my research for the nursery plan. Back then (1988) there was no internet, at least not for us yet. This meant that research was done by actually getting off my butt and going to nurseries, big and small. I remember walking into a bunch of nurseries and politely asking the owner or manager how to plan for a nursery. This was the only way I could think of to get information at the time, ask someone who was in the business how you could compete with them. I would always tell them I was going to be 200 miles away and a few of them opened up. Folks in this industry seem to almost always be ready to help someone else in the business or at least willing to share some horror stories to prepare you for what you are going to experience. I will do a series on horror stories some time.

I finally ran across a fuchsia grower in Marysville Wa. (that’s where we lived too) who kind of felt sorry for us and started giving us tips on what we could expect and basically telling us how the industry worked.  The first thing he did was give me the name of a plant broker, WEHOP. That one thing alone launched our nursery. Sure we could have moved down to the beach and planted some marigold seeds and some carnations but we would have been out of business in a year or two. With the name of a broker though we opened ourselves up to a business that had years of experience in the industry and was able to help keep us from making some of the costlier mistakes. They do make money from each plug you buy through them but you still pay them only what the grower would charge you. The broker makes most of their profit by getting volume discounts from the growers.

That same fuchsia grower mentioned a local nursery supply outfit. We went up to see what they had as far as pots and soil and chemicals and ended up leaving after buying a 20′x100′ greenhouse for delivery to the beach the day we were to move down there. The nursery supply house is another great resource. They have knowledge ranging from greenhouse structures and greenhouse coverings to potting soils  and even the chemicals you will need for your everyday operation. If you think about it they sell everything needed to start and run a nursery. You can’t find a better resource than that.  If you are serious about starting a nursery make the time to go and meet with one of the sales reps at your closest nursery supply place , even if it means a drive of a few hours. If you have a large supply house in your are they will send out a rep. Let this rep. know that you are in contact with another supply house,  he or she may not be so quick to just sell sell sell you stuff. If they think you will turn into a long term customer they will treat you right. Do however check pricing with other supply houses from time to time just to keep your rep honest. I have dealt with a couple of different medium sized nursery suppliers and find that over time they keep nudging up prices on you, sometimes the bump up is not warranted but  they feel they have you on a short leash. If you can form a good relationship though you will never have a better ally. They only make money if you make money, so you’re success is one of their goals.

Okay you have a broker and a nursery supplier now what?

Research  Your broker has sent you 25 pounds catalogs from every grower they represent. Read them. Cover to cover. Look at what they have to offer,in what amounts and at what price. The quality of a grower kind of takes care of itself. If a grower has constant complaints a broker will drop them in a heartbeat.The better growers grow bigger and what you end up with is what we have today. There are probably 10 big nationwide growers that grow mostly the patented plants,like Proven Winners for example. Google proven winners, you will find 1,440,000 sites with information on them. If you deal with one of these growers through your broker you already have an established product line. One that almost every gardener already knows. This helps to move product. (yes even flowers and veggies are product, sorry to say)

After the big growers come the hundreds of  local and regional wholesale and wholesale/retail growers. You probably have one or two around you. Ask your broker then go meet them. These folks grow stuff that is more  suitable for your area. These folks sell to the public and local nurseries both so they really have their finger on the pulse of the local needs and requirements.

The greenhouse supplier also sent you some catalogs. Study them. Even the stuff you know you will never need. You just might.

Okay my typing finger is getting tired, more in a couple of days.

It’s Like Waiting For Christmas

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Here we are a three weeks into the new year. Lots of tomato starts up as well as a newer pansy variety (plentifall mix, trailing pansy) already seeded and sprouting. We’re waiting for our first plug delivery only 6 days away. Waiting for plugs to a nursery person is like Christmas to an 8 year old. All of the plans, orders and dreams made back in September of last year will begin coming to light this week. It’s like the nurseryman/nurserywoman experiences a rebirth every year at this time. A new chance to repopulate our local environment  with another batch of amazing flowers.

First I need to make room for my flats and baskets in a clean greenhouse (the clean part took 2 days). Then start filling the flats for the incoming plugs. 25 pots to a flat 4 flats equal 100 plants. First shipment is 932 plants of trailing petunias. Also the same day an order of Begonias, Fuchsias and Lewisia. That’s 37 flats for the petunias alone.

Above are the first flats for the Calibrachoa’s. This is where an old dog learns a new trick. After filling this many flats with soil so that I can get the Cali’s off to a good start I realize that I am going to use 3 bales of $30 soil. That’s .096 cents per pot worth of soil.These bales are costing more and shrinking every year. It used to cost right around 5 cents to fill a pot. This is where the new trick part comes in.( I’m the old dog by the way)

Screw it, I’m going to plant directly into the baskets this year. I used to do it this way years ago but fell into the habit of starting in 3 1/2″ pots over the years and like a crappy bank I have stuck with it. Well I now have a nice local bank that I can put the money that I save on soil into. I emptied all of those pots into baskets and will plug directly into them.

This method will save some money but has some of it’s own problems. When you have a larger mass of soil it stays wet longer thereby giving those tender rooted cuttings more of a chance to rot. I will water in the baskets this week so that they will have a chance to settle in and let the top dry slightly. Then when I plant the plugs I can water in each basket lightly. This will help me control the dampness (I thinks that’s a word) in the top couple of inches of soil. I will incorporate a fungicide into the first watering to help stave off any fungal disease. Then it’s a matter of keeping the air moving constantly in the greenhouses. I use a box fan at each end blowing in opposite directions.

I have been guilty of saving money on heat and over the last couple of years I have paid for it by having my production slowed greatly. I am used to running the greenhouse temps at night between 50 and 55 degrees. After talking to the begonia expert at my supplier I plan to hold 60 to 65 this year. He says the begonias will jump out of the pots at 65. We’ll See.

Echeveria and Sedum Ogon Starts

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I hadn’t planned to use this blog for selling my wares but have had a few emails asking about some of my plant starts. I have quite a few Echeveria Snow White starts in 4″ pots available. These starts will have pups by this summer so if you have patience you can have a whole grove of these to sell by this late summer and every year after. I am selling sell these starts here for $5 plus shipping . The 6″, some with pups already are $10 plus shipping.

I started with one of these years ago and now sell  60 to 75 a year for $3.50 and $7.00 at the market. These Echeveria get beautiful yellow flowers on 6″ stems several times in the summer and into the fall. These plants are frost tolerant but I recommend to my customers that they take them indoors for the winter.

Echeveria 4" and 6"Below are the Sedun Ogon. Same pricing. with these 4 inch you will be able to start around 25 plants this year. You simply break off a few short branches and stick them on top of some 4″ pots and let them go. When they get leggy you cut them back to the pot and plant up all of your cuttings. Very easy plant. The color of the foliage is covered with tiny yellow flowers in the late spring summer and fall.  This Sedum is hardy to zone 7. Even when it freezes to the ground it comes back in zones 7, 8 and 9.Another really easy seller. Great rock garden plant or used in a Sedum combo bowl. I drop a couple of branches of this into my Zonal Geranium patio planters. By summer they are trailing a few inches.

The 6″ pots here were shifted up from 4″ pots in September. They are very compact right now due to the cold greenhouse they are in. When they start to take off over the sides you will have about a dozen starts for 4″ pots. It’s a vicious cycle and just continues to pay off.

Like I said I hadn’t planned to sell anything here but if you want some of these I can take paypal. Who knows, if these sell maybe I will sell some plain greenhouse pots like I use. I’m pretty sure I can sell them for about half of what some of the greenhouse supply places sell them for and still make a little profit.  thanks  Steve.

 

Building a Greenhouse part 4

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This entry is part 4 of 7 in the series Building a Greenhouse

Display House 10'x10'

Above is a greenhouse I used for a display at the Portland Home and Garden show last year. This is what the end wall should look like before you put the transom piece above the door. The opening in the center for the door should be 49″ wide so that you can put a full sheet of plywood in for the door and still have some room on the sides of the door.The plywood is sitting on top of the end wall footer. I happened to build this house inside of a 20′ wide house so I could keep dry.

Here is another example with the transom in place. Note the 2x4s along the sides of the door frame. I usually build them a little different. I will turn those flat 2x4s on edge and not use a separate frame as shown here. My frame is incorporated into the door itself. I will usually measure the opening of the door opening after installing the transom board. The width will be  49″ to fit the 48″ door and whatever the height of your opening is less about an inch and a half. So the door ends up one inch narrower and  one and a half inch shorter than your rough opening. When you install the door set it on a piece of scrap 1/2″ plywood that is sitting on the end wall footer 2×4. After you attach the hinges remove the scrap plywood and you will have a half inch of gap at the bottom of the door. This leaves room for some sag. There is also an inch of open air above the door. I will sometimes staple a strip of plastic over that opening, that way the greenhouse can still breathe but the cold air won’t blast in above the door.

I don’t believe in a very tight greenhouse. I think it leads to more moisture problems that can help cause diseases among your plants. As stated before you should have at least one fan and preferably 2 running all of the time in a heated greenhouse that you are growing in.

Below is how I attach my doors. Note that this greenhouse has a foundation frame that allows me to use sand bags to keep the house in place because it’s sitting on asphalt.

One more pic below to show you the base of the greenhouse not attached to the ground. This was a display house that sat alongside Interstate 5 in Washington for several months. This is the method I suggest to folks that are using their greenhouse for a chicken tractor.

More on greenhouse building tomorrow. If you have questions please ask. PLEASE