I hate seeing new growers spend more money on materials than they have to, so I thought I'd post some friendly advice gleaned from working in the plant industry that will hopefully be helpful.
Whether your grow is ten plants or a thousand, try to think like the big guys. You don't think they pay retail prices, right? There's no reason you should, either. There seems to be a common misconception that you have to buy pallets of a given product if you want a wholesale price, which simply isn't true. A little internet research should turn up wholesale agriculture supply houses in your area. Shop around. you may be shocked at just how much you're overpaying. To give you an example, I pay roughly ten bucks for a 4 cubic foot bag of perlite from Diamond-R. Home Depot charges $17 for 2 cubic feet of the same stuff. That's roughly $2.50 per cubic foot, versus $8.50. I get that price whether I buy a palette or a single bag. Granted, many wholesalers will either have a minimum or will give you a progressively better price per unit the more units you're buying. Like I said, shop around.
Familiarize yourself with your local plant nurseries. Take a Saturday morning to go tour whatever is in the area, and ask to speak to their horticulturist and tell them what you're doing. Take some peppers or hot sauce with you. Cultivating relationships with people who grow for a living can benefit you in ways you might not foresee.
The ornamental plant business is not unlike the chile head community. If you've been around more than a hot minute, everyone knows who you are. If you're a reasonable person and you've cultivated relationships, people will help you out.
That horticulturist you brought some hot sauce to may be happy to swap you a stack of pots or some fertilizer he got cheaply for some of your extra plants. He may know a guy down the road that's looking to buy liners of material from someone else. He knows when all the plant shows are, and may be interested in splitting a booth with you (in fact, that's exactly how I got started). He almost certainly can help diagnose pests, pathogens, and nutritional issues. Give as good as you get and don't take up too much of his time, and you'll probably find yourself with an invaluable asset.
Overall, what I'm getting at is that the world of large-scale growing isn't as inaccessible to the little guy as one might think, and having that access can mean the difference between an incredibly expensive hobby that frustrates the missus and one that possibly makes a little extra cash on the side.
Whether your grow is ten plants or a thousand, try to think like the big guys. You don't think they pay retail prices, right? There's no reason you should, either. There seems to be a common misconception that you have to buy pallets of a given product if you want a wholesale price, which simply isn't true. A little internet research should turn up wholesale agriculture supply houses in your area. Shop around. you may be shocked at just how much you're overpaying. To give you an example, I pay roughly ten bucks for a 4 cubic foot bag of perlite from Diamond-R. Home Depot charges $17 for 2 cubic feet of the same stuff. That's roughly $2.50 per cubic foot, versus $8.50. I get that price whether I buy a palette or a single bag. Granted, many wholesalers will either have a minimum or will give you a progressively better price per unit the more units you're buying. Like I said, shop around.
Familiarize yourself with your local plant nurseries. Take a Saturday morning to go tour whatever is in the area, and ask to speak to their horticulturist and tell them what you're doing. Take some peppers or hot sauce with you. Cultivating relationships with people who grow for a living can benefit you in ways you might not foresee.
The ornamental plant business is not unlike the chile head community. If you've been around more than a hot minute, everyone knows who you are. If you're a reasonable person and you've cultivated relationships, people will help you out.
That horticulturist you brought some hot sauce to may be happy to swap you a stack of pots or some fertilizer he got cheaply for some of your extra plants. He may know a guy down the road that's looking to buy liners of material from someone else. He knows when all the plant shows are, and may be interested in splitting a booth with you (in fact, that's exactly how I got started). He almost certainly can help diagnose pests, pathogens, and nutritional issues. Give as good as you get and don't take up too much of his time, and you'll probably find yourself with an invaluable asset.
Overall, what I'm getting at is that the world of large-scale growing isn't as inaccessible to the little guy as one might think, and having that access can mean the difference between an incredibly expensive hobby that frustrates the missus and one that possibly makes a little extra cash on the side.
