My sales thread

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wordwiz

I'll probably end up with egg on my face for starting this, but if I'm going to put in 10 hours a week (with more to come) taking care of my 1,000 plants, I might as well share my experiences - good or bad.

Last week in my paper I advertised some tomato plants for sale. Remember, this is southern OH and frost free is two months away. But I took the angle that these are cool weather plants that mature in less than 70 days and can be grown in a container, meaning it can be brought inside if the weather gets frigid (averages are High: 58°F, Low: 37°F) or covered if only a killing frost is forecast. I call them (Siletz is their real name) Flag Day tomatoes as they should be ripe by then.

I had 18 plants that are nice size (a foot or so tall, four or more sets of leaves) that I wanted to sell this week. As of today, only 12 have been taken which is a little disappointing, except: the dodo birds at the post office didn't deliver my paper until at least today. I really believe had everyone received the paper Wednesday or Thursday, I would have sold out this week. I have another 50 or so in the pipeline - should have about 17 per week.

Mike
 
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The last two weeks were rather dead, except for today. I had only sold $40 more in plants but they let me sell plants at the Arts & Crafts / Car & Bike Show. There was no crowd at all and it is still two weeks until Frost Free Day. But I sold $232 worth of plants, two flowers @ $10 each, four basil plants, about a dozen peppers (two Bhuts!) and the rest toms.

In a related story, I found a 10x12' shed for $136 less than the 10x14' and that's still more room than I really need. This leaves me only $24 short of being able to buy it and about $200 short of being able to purchase the lumber, insulation and plastic I need for the Greenhouse!!!

Haven't had time to inventory the plants I have left but I'm guesstimating between 500-600. The next big sales day is May 14, the Opening of my Farmers Market.

Next year, I will have far fewer hot peppers (blasphemy!) but more types of herbs, especially Rosemary, Chives, Oregano and Parsley.

Mike
 
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Hey WordWiz, great to hear your getting close to your goal! I too lust for the day when I can have a greenhouse of my own. Glad to see you're selling your wares.

Do you keep Angel's Trumpets youreself? I just bought a "double white" Brugmansia today, and was wondering if you had any suggestions on keeping them happy. I've potted up to a 7 gallon pot, and put her in some promix with a little organic Plant-Tone fertilizer mixed in. However, the tag reccomended fertilizing once a week with 20-20-20! Seems a bit nuts, but I've read they like nitrogen...

Any suggestions?
 
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FiveStar,

This is the first year I have grown them. Mine is in a huge pot but so far we've only watered it once - the rest of the time it has rained. I'll probably feed it some compost tea and maybe a little bit of Tomato-tone or 10-10-10 once warmer weather gets here. I also planted two Kenaf Hibiscus this year. I really hope they grow as advertised: 15-18 feet in one year!

Mike
 
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wordwiz said:
Next year, I will have far fewer hot peppers (blasphemy!) but more types of herbs, especially Rosemary, Chives, Oregano and Parsley.
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Yeah, I found out that people around here will buy bell peppers about 4-5 times more than anything "hot" like a wax pepper. I could have sold a lot more cayennes though - popular for some reason?? And tomatoes will be a must for selling if I do that again next year.
 
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I sold another $35 worth of plants the last two days - four Beefsteaks, an Angel Trumpet, two Siletz (early tom) and a Basil. Planning on a Yard Sale this weekend which hopefully will put me over the top.

Stopped by a couple of places that are selling plants - a lot of the prices are $14 for a flat of 36 plants (very small) and $1.39 for medium size plants. Did see some in a gallon bucket, held up with a stake that looked real good and with flowers on them - $5.99 each.

I'm not sure how the other stores are selling the plants so cheap. For your consideration - if a store is selling something for $14, then they more than likely didn't pay more than $8, since they are perishable. Such stores do not buy directly from a nursery, but from a supplier who is making some money, say $4.00 per flat (to cover delivery charges, labor, storage, etc.) for 60 flats.

So the grower is raising toms for $4 per flat at best. That's good - less than I can do if I factor in any labor or electricity charges. But it must be possible!

Mike
 
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The weather here has been (apparently like most of the county!) rainy - almost every day. Except for yesterday/this morning, we didn't get much in my backyard, but that seems to be normal - I either get a downpour when everyone else gets sprinkles or the neighborhood doesn't get enough to water a small container while the rest of the city gets a half-inch.

Anyway, between last Saturday when I sold some $65 in plants at a semi-yard sale (no sign, table or anything), a sale to a place yesterday and the Farmer's Market today, I sold another $136 worth. Brings me up to $537 for the year. I still have about $150 in toms plus plenty of peppers and basil left. Peppers, except for the Bells, simply are not in demand.

The better news is I can now get my shed!!!! :onfire::):P The timing is great also, Lowe's is running a special where I get a free floor framing kit.

Looks like May and June is going to be busy, very busy. Plant the garden, tear down the barn, erect the shed, start building the greenhouse!

Mike
 
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Good job! I'm already planning in my head for next year's greenhouse etc. Something a bit bigger and sturdier than this year's - but still a DIY cheap project. Starting to gather used lumber...
 
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Carol,

Got any concrete plans yet? Size, type, what type of covering? At least with you, heating in winter shouldn't me a major cost.

I'm still experimenting with the type of media to use - dirt or hydro and should find out this week if I can use solar tubes to provide enough overhead light, allowing me to put a regular roof on.

Finding a market for vine-ripened tomatoes this winter should not be a problem. I calculate that on average, 50 plants would produce about 100 pounds per week, allowing time for some to grow to the stage they start producing. I've worked with enough restaurants so that selling that many should be a snap.

Mike
 
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I found a place that sells shed kits - just the corner brackets that you need to piece something together using 2x4's without cutting any angles etc. I figure cover that in plastic for a start... probably 8'x7'.
Still working on a better solution to my heating needs.

Northern Tool
 
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Carol,

Sounds like a good start! Mine will be a lean-to with the north side all wood and well insulated.

If you are looking for some inexpensive but good plastic, here's something I will probably use in winter if I get enough windows that I don't need to use plastic during the warm months.

Mike
 
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Final tally, as I doubt I'll sell more this year: $571. Somewhat disappointing as I really was expecting at least $750. But I knew I was in trouble when the plants got too large too soon. So many of what I tried to take cuttings from died that I didn't have enough plants to do all the marketing I had hoped.

I also discovered that even though people tell me how much they enjoy reading about gardening and such, they still shop for the least expensive plants, at least the ones who buy more than a plant or two at a time. With stores selling plants for $1.50 each, I think I lost some sales because mine were a buck higher.

It also is apparent I dedicated too much space, potting soil, time and electricity to hot peppers. I think I sold a grand total of 10 but probably less than that.

Mike
 
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Iggy,

I did. One is not to waste time growing more hot pepper seedlings than what I need for my own use, unless I have plenty of space. Although, I will have 18 each of cayenne, jalas, habs and Hot Wax.

Another is to sell them cheaper next year. I had a need this year, next year I won't. Not including fertilizer (I have more than 2/3 of a 5-pound bag that cost $7 left), water and electricity, which I hope I will need very little of next year as I want to raise the seedlings in a GH, my cost per (most) plants is 36¢. But that stuff is nine months or so away!

Today, I got my shed. An Arrow 10' x 12' High Point Metal Storage Building that cost $406 (tax included) plus I got a free flooring frame kit.

Now to get it up!

Mike
 
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AlabamaJack said:
A man's life is complete when he gets a shed Mike.....
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AJ,

I think (and hope!) you have it backwards. A man's life really starts once he gets a shed, and is enhanced when he adds a GH!

Shudder, shudder. My life is complete, over, done, finished, because I have a shed??? Tell me it ain't so!!!

Besides, I had one - but it was a wooden structure that was falling down.

Mike
 
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newhotstuff said:
How did you come up with your plant pricing?
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Wheel of Fortune? I dunno - I was going to sell two sizes, small pots for $2 and larger ones for $3. Instead, I opted for the one size and noticed several nurseries were selling toms for $3.00 so I decided to go with $2.50. I had only one person say anything about them being high but I don't know how many people never stopped by because of the cost. A couple of places were offering flats (18 plants) for $15 but there were puny (about 2" tall). Also saw some stores with decent size plants for $1.79.

Mike
 
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Huntsman,

So was I! Ended up selling about $580 worth of plants. So far, though I have sold $88 in basil and have orders for $34 in tomatoes. I plan on selling plants next year, but have found it wasn't worth raising peppers. I'll probably got with 18 Bell and Banana and maybe 9 each of habs and jalas. The one exception in flowers is the Tainung-2 cultivar of hibiscus. I have several people who saw my plant at the fair and want to grow it - just to mess with the law. However, a lot depends on how well my greenhouse produce sells.

Mike
 
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