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How much do you spend on your gardening?

W

wordwiz

Thankfully, I've been keeping a log of what I have spent on everything connected with gardening - from building a germination box that would hold 234 3" plant containers through my GH expenses so far. I am surprised to see the total - over $1650.

Granted, the vast majority of that is for one-time items: lumber, lights, buckets, Mylar, environmental control items - but still, it's a nice bit of change.

It's offset by plant and produce sales so far of $750 so my hobby has cost about $900 this year. That makes for some expensive tomato juice, green beans, potatoes, peppers, etc., but it has been worth every cent.

And no doubt, in six months I will be in the black, at least if I can grow plants in my GH.

Mike
 
I havent kept count this year, but I will next year. Everything that will be multi year use(more than 2) will not be counted.
 
Over the years I've spent a tonne of money on gardening, but this year was quite cheap as I mainly only had to buy "soil" and some gas for the roto-tiller and woodspitter(heating greenhouse)
Oh, and then there's electicity costs for my lights and processing(dehydrator, grinder)
 
I usually buy a couple new lights each year. $50

This year I will spend some on seeds. $25

Soil.$30

Electricity and H20. $50

A thread without a cheezy american express joke? Priceless.

Say $150 or so per year.

The tons of fresh pods really are priceless.
 
I try to spend as little as possible. Instead of paying like $4.50 for a pot i just bought buckets at $1.20 and my potting mix is put onto the company account (ha ha). I made a very simple germ box that gives me around 75% germ rates and that cost about 50cents to make :P
All up this year i have spent probably under $50 and i have around 100 plants going atm.

I actually spend more money sending seeds out!
 
probably spent $200 this year on soil/fertilizer, $50 on seeds and $50 or so on containers.

For next year I've already spent $100 on lights and a bunch of pro-mix BXs for $30 each. With containers, fertilizers and seeds I'm looking at the $300 range for next year as well. That's for about 50 plants.

after next year I'm hoping to cut it back to around $100 per season once I get the core needs taken care of.
 
Novacastrian said:
I try to spend as little as possible. Instead of paying like $4.50 for a pot i just bought buckets at $1.20 and my potting mix is put onto the company account (ha ha). I made a very simple germ box that gives me around 75% germ rates and that cost about 50cents to make :P
All up this year i have spent probably under $50 and i have around 100 plants going atm.

I actually spend more money sending seeds out!
Click to expand...

I use styrophoam egg cartons to germinate...FREE!! since we buy the eggs anyways.

Cut holes in the bottom and set on a tray of water.

Plastic cups to pot up. $3.50 at the grocery.
 
I am planning next year already. I am hoping to spend less than 100 dollars although it will probably be around 200 by the time the season is up.
 
I have spent suprisingly little this year because everything was recycled and cleaned very well. I had to buy some new peat and compost at the beginning of the year and my 25 lb. bag of Espoma that is now used up. I hear ya Nova, I too have spent more on postage mailing seeds than on my actual garden! I'd say 100 bucks on the garden and another 100 at the post office. Not bad for all the pleasure I receive from my plants, and my food actually taste great now.
 
Ah, yes, thinking about next year! I've already picked out which plants I want to grow and how many seedlings of each to raise. I'll probably aim for a little over 500 seedlings but will lower my price this year, from $2.50 to $2.00 per plant. A bit more pricey than some places charge, but my plants are in 3" containers and 10-12 inches tall.

Already scouted out a good source for tomato stakes - this lumber company sells them (6', 1x2") for 40¢ each, far cheaper than any stores.

But I will more than likely not spend more than about $200, and a big chunk of that will be for trays, containers and potting soil. Plus, if I can force myself to sit on my hands until the middle of March before starting tomato seeds, I'll actually have enough to really try to aggressively sell, i.e., taking orders from the 350 businesses I see each week and then delivering them.

Thankfully, the dear wife doesn't complain about what I spend, she appreciates the nice new metal shed, the green tomatoes I fry for her, eating a baked potato dug a few hours earlier from the garden!

Mike
 
I've spent waaayyyy more than you could justify. This year (aside from seeds) I've bought a truck load of compost for the garden, set up some rain barrels, several pots (middle and final sizes), a tiller, lots of stakes, built a trellis, shop lights, a stand for the lights, nutes, electricity, etc.... On the up side, most of that will not be a recurring cost. at least the big items. :-)
 
Just like with the guns and the hot rod parts my standard answer is 'No honey, I've had that old thing for a LOOONG time...'
:hell:
 
wordwiz said:
But I will more than likely not spend more than about $200...
Click to expand...

heck Mike, I spent that much on seeds last year and using Botanicare nutrients is not cheap either...about 50 a gallon...an I use about 4-6 gallons a year

I figure when it is all said and done...I spend about 2000 a year...

the potting soil I use went up to 8.95 a bag (40 qts) and I buy about 30-50 bags a year....

I spent about 150 on 5 gallon containers this spring (used)...

just the total of what I listed is about 1000
 
In the past eleven months just over $1600 this includes my heat mat and grow light.

All gets offset as a business cost on my tax.
 
Bingo on the business expense....
 
Probably sitting at around $1500-$2000 or so in the last year ... but a bit of that was for tools that should theoretically last me the rest of my life.

The way I look at it though, is it is a small price to pay to keep me occupied and to give me something to do everyday. Even if everyone else thinks its a waste of money, better that I do something constructive than sit around all day bored ...
 
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