How to make money growing and selling seedlings
Miscellaneous / / April 05, 2023
Lifehacker has prepared detailed instructions that will help you get additional income, even if you have never dealt with plants.
If you live in a private house and there is a greenhouse on the site or your dacha is very close, you can count on large volumes of growing seedlings and try to plant many crops. However, this method will require significant costs for special lighting, arrangement of heating and irrigation systems, as well as the cost of electricity and water supply. It will be quite difficult for an inexperienced gardener and gardener to quickly reach self-sufficiency in such conditions.
It is better to try your hand at a new business at home. To grow seedlings indoors, you will need much less money, effort and devices. If everything is done correctly, it will turn out to be a plus in the first year.
What seedlings can be grown for sale
Of course, you can make a name for yourself by selling some rare plant species, but in this case it will be difficult to immediately find many customers. Better take a closer look at the crops that are in great demand every year. You can concentrate only on selling vegetable seedlings, grow flowers exclusively, or both. The larger the assortment of seedlings, the more you earn.
vegetable crops
Pay attention to zoned varieties - those that are intended for growing in the conditions of your region. Or do some research and find out which ones are popular in your area. And also take a closer look at hybrids - such plants, as a rule, have better characteristics than varietal ones and are resistant to various diseases.
Try to grow both indoor and outdoor crops, because not all potential buyers have greenhouses. And also choose vegetables with different ripening periods - early, mid-season and late.
1. tomatoes
Grow several types of different sizes - tall, medium and short. Well, if in a line seedlings there will be tomatoes with different colors and sizes of fruits - from cherry to "bull's heart". Choose crops with medium to high yield per bush or 1 m2 (this figure is usually indicated on the seed package).
2. cucumbers
They sprout well and quickly, quite easy to cultivation. Choose tall and bush varieties of early and medium ripening. True, at the seedling stage, cucumbers can often be affected by diseases, so give preference to hybrids that are resistant to many fungi.
3. Pepper
To grow high-quality seedlings of pepper, ready for transplanting into the garden, it takes more time than for the same tomatoes and cucumbers. Therefore, often summer residents prefer to buy ready-made plants. Try growing vegetables of different colors and shapes. Take a closer look not only at sweet, but also at hot peppers.
4. eggplant
They are not in the same high demand as cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers, so you can stop growing one variety or hybrid so as not to take up valuable space on the seedling racks. It is better to choose greenhouse eggplants, as they are grown in open ground mainly in the southern regions.
5. Cabbage
Try growing seedlings of the most common type of cabbage - white cabbage. True, this business will be a little troublesome and will require skill, because at home the sprouts can stretch out. But a little effort and regular illumination of plants with fitolamps will help to cope with this problem. You can also grow cauliflower or rarer species - broccoli, Beijing and Brussels.
6. Zucchini, patissons and pumpkins
Pumpkin seeds germinate very quickly. Ready seedlings of these crops can be obtained on average in 3 weeks. Plants are easy to care for, so they can do it grow even for inexperienced gardeners. True, the demand for seedlings of these vegetables is inferior to tomatoes and cucumbers.
flower crops
Most often, annual flowers are grown for seedlings. In order for your seedlings to find their customers exactly, choose the most popular plant species.
1. Petunia
Perhaps this plant occupies the first lines in popularity with gardeners due to its truly luxurious flowering. And grow petunia seedlings can be not only from seeds, but also from cuttings. The second method helps to save a lot, because many seedlings can be obtained from one plant. And yet, unlike varietal, hybrid petunias, as a rule, are more expensive and propagate exclusively by cuttings.
2. Lobelia
A beautiful and unpretentious flower is also often used for landscaping. Lobelia has very small dust-like seeds, which allows you to grow a lot of seedlings from just one bag.
3. Aster
A popular autumn flower is far from always possible to grow by direct sowing in the ground. Therefore, gardeners often prefer to plant ready-made seedlings in flower beds. Grow several varieties that will differ in color, bush height and double flowers.
4. Alyssum
This flower looks like a lobelia and is just as unpretentious in cultivation, but it gives out a rich honey aroma. Alyssum has many colors, but white is considered the most odorous. It is he who is more popular.
5. Viola
Pansies delight with excellent germination, disease resistance and confident growth. More often meet bush varieties and hybrids with large flowers. Ampelous forms are rarer and, as a rule, are more expensive.
Even for the seedling business, marigolds, coleus, bacopa, annual dahlias, snapdragons, levkoy and gazania are often used. In order not to make a mistake with the choice of flower crops for growing seedlings, analyze which plants are in demand in your area.
When to sow vegetables and flowers for seedlings
The exact dates are best found on the package with seeds. They may vary depending on the producer, as well as the type of plant and the time from germination to fruit ripening or flowering.
From vegetables, peppers and eggplants are the first to be planted - usually from mid-February to mid-March. In March - early April, tomatoes are sown. Early varieties of cabbage are sown in March, mid-season and late - in April. Cucumbers, zucchini, squash and pumpkins have been prepared for growing in greenhouses since April, and for open ground - since May.
Flower seedlings are sown on average in February - March. But if you are going to propagate flowers by cuttings, it is better to start work as early as February, so that by about March to get a well-developed plant from which it will be possible to cut cuttings for subsequent rooting.
What you need to grow seedlings
First, decide on the place in the house where you will grow seedlings. It is desirable that it be warm and protected from drafts, because young plants are extremely sensitive to external factors.
Also consider where you will place the pots. Please note that at first the seeds are sown in small containers that will not take up much space. In the process of growth, the plants will have to be transplanted into larger pots, which, accordingly, will require large areas. Consider this nuance when planning the number of seedlings. You can place the garden on the table, and it is even better and more convenient to use multi-tiered racks - more seedlings will fit on them. You can make such structures with your own hands or buy ready-made ones in hardware stores or garden centers.
In addition, for growing seedlings you need to stock up on everything you need:
- Cups or containers for sowing seeds. You can also use special seedling cassettes with cells or peat tablets.
- Universal soil for growing vegetable and flower crops. You can use ready-made soil or make a mixture yourself from soddy land, peat and humus (they are mixed in certain proportions depending on the crop).
- Seeds. It is better to buy them in stores or garden centers to be sure of the quality of planting material. You can also save a lot of money if you collect vegetable and flower seeds from your own plot. True, this can only be done with varietal crops. Hybrids, unfortunately, do not reproduce by seeds.
- Pots or cups with a volume of at least 200 ml for picks and transplanting plants as they grow.
- Fitolamps or conventional fluorescent lamps with a power of at least 36 W for additional illumination of plants. Daylight on the windowsill of seedlings is likely to be insufficient, and this will degrade its quality.
- organic or mineral fertilizer, which are selected depending on the type of seedlings.
- Medicines for diseases and pests.
- Cardboard boxes or plastic boxes for transporting seedlings to the point of sale.
When to sell seedlings
Depending on climatic conditions, the time for planting seedlings in open ground in different regions can vary greatly. On average, the hot season for seedling sellers starts in May and ends in July. At the same time, the peak of sales, as a rule, falls on the end of May - the beginning of June. And the best days for selling seedlings are Friday and Saturday, when most summer residents go to their plots after the working week.
How to make money growing seedlings
To make the business profitable, you need not only to grow seedlings, but also to properly organize sales.
Decide on an assortment
Don't get caught up in growing multiple crops, especially if you don't have much experience or room in the house for a new activity. Try to grow only flowers or only vegetables - it will be easier to care for them and you will have to spend less on fertilizers, because for those and for others they may differ.
Having decided on the type of seedlings, select several types of plants. If you are new to gardening, stop at three or four: for example, take on the cultivation of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers or petunias, violas and asters. So it will be easier to understand the intricacies of care and remember information.
Consider where you will sell seedlings
If this is a place on the market, you will have to spend extra money on transporting plants, and also take into account that during the sales season you will need to trade behind the counter yourself. You can also offer seedlings on bulletin boards or social networks - in this case, buyers are often ready to come for seedlings themselves. This reduces shipping costs and the risk of injury to plants during transport.
Perhaps you have friends or dacha neighbors who annually buy seedlings for their plot. Offer them your services and ask in advance what plants and in what quantity they want to receive. Do not forget to agree on the approximate cost.
You can also post ads in holiday villages, at public transport stops and in other places where potential buyers gather.
Calculate the costs
Get a separate notebook and write down all the expenses associated with the seedling business: buying seeds, soil, fertilizers, lighting fixtures, pots, and so on. This can also include the cost of electricity, which is used to illuminate plants. This will help in the future to determine the price of one seedling, which will allow you to make a profit.
Study Your Competitors
See what seedlings are sold in your area. Most likely, traders have been doing this for more than a year and have already managed to study the preferences of buyers. Try to grow the same crops, and to attract customers, lower the prices a little.
Try to save
This does not mean that you need to buy cheap and low-quality materials. Just use little tricks. For example, for sowing seeds, you can take food containers or cups from yogurt. Make your own soil or buy several packages at once in a wholesale store. Fertilizers are also more profitable to take in large bags than in small ones. Also, keep an eye out for promotions in stores and nurseries: you can often buy seeds and other consumables there at a good price.
What else you need to remember when growing seedlings for sale
- Be patient, because the plants will require a lot of your time. Care for them should be daily, because if you skip watering or planned feeding, the seedlings may die, and with them your efforts.
- Do not forget to sign the seedling containers in order to know exactly which plant lives in each of the pots.
- When selling seedlings on the market, try to place them on the counter so that the plants are clearly visible, and in if necessary, it was easy and quick to get a pot to show it to a potential the buyer. And make a bright sign to attract attention.
- Attach photos or seed labels to each plant species, as well as a brief description of the variety or hybrid. The buyer must understand what kind of culture is in front of him and what characteristics it has.
- Be sociable in both offline and online sales. Answer the questions of potential buyers, give as much information as possible about the plants, be friendly and polite.
- Make business cards and give them to customers. If they like the seedlings, it will be easy for them to find you next season.
- Don't be discouraged if your business isn't as profitable in the first year as expected. Take into account your mistakes, analyze the assortment, think about which plants sold better or worse. Remember that everything comes with experience.
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