Calculating how many seeds/plants you need to start for the season 

Good points! There is no one size that fits all. Unfortunately, people often take a "ready, shoot, aim approach". While variables are different, I think that there is a basis for planning -- people just need to adjust based on their own circumstance!

@@bareflowerfarm And, In the beginning years, the farm "shows" us the holes in our planning 😅. Let's hope we all improve with time!

Aww I’m glad this is helpful!! Good luck to you, you are gonna have so much fun and learn a lot!

Glad to hear!

I’m so glad this is helpful! I’ve come to realize there’s a reason why there’s not great info out there on stems per plant. It can vary within a season and within climate. A range would be nice though!

Glad it was helpful! Is this your first year? :)

Haha aww thank you! I appreciate that! I actually recently had a 2 part series interview with Lennie and I mentioned how validated I felt when I saw that the way I project out sales/crop plan was aligned to what she had in her book! I love that you have the patience for a Year 0. I think you learn so much in year 0. I would just encourage you to actually start doing marketing in year 0. While you wont have any flowers to sell, future you will be thankful that you worked on this so that you have a market to sell to when the flowers come!

@@bareflowerfarm I watched your interviews with Lennie before this. You have every reason to feel validated. Lennie's book has been a goldmine for me. I have a pretty good network in San Diego having grown up, worked and graduated from UCSD's Rady School of Management in 2017. I'm trying to figure out how not to do farmers markets. My local one wants 9% gross revenue. That's a lot given our already tight profit margins. I'm considering a flower trailer but trying to figure out those logistics. I need to watch you video about pop-ups.

Best of luck to you! In some ways, figuring this stuff out is the fun part. You are going to learn alot and be so much better at estimating in year 2. It's all about getting the experience in year 1. I hope you make it to your farmer's market. I was able to push out bouquets on Marketplace in weeks I didnt have markets, and I know you will too- whether it's via a high traffic business or some other venue!

Are you giving the bouquets to the business or will you be selling them? How will that work?

Thank you! :)

Haha glad to hear this was timely! Great choices for annuals! I personally dont like branching sunflowers. I've seen others have success but it's hard to know if you're going to get a bouquet length stem for any given branch. When I grew a branching variety for fun, I would say I got maybe 2-3 bouquet stem length stems off of each sunflower. That being said, I've read that if you "pinch" them, they may grow more usable stems. From a forecasting perspective, I'd rather just know for certain- I planted 100 seeds, and I expect to get ~80 from that especially since I rely on them as a focal!

Thanks a bunch. I'll add some Pro Cuts to my soil blocking supply order with Johnny's (and maybe some cinnamon and Mrs. Burns basil, more snaps, and ...)

Yes!! I listened to this podcast and have been growing 2-3 snaps in a single hortonova net square. They produce big, sturdy stems and then once you cut, if you have the luxury of space, you can keep them in and they will produce quality stems in their second flush when the weather cools. I've found that straight bunches of snaps sell well and that they're a versatile flower overall. They currently have quite a bit of real estate in my field relative to other varieties. I think the only variety that has them beat is feverfew!! You can't have enough feverfew!

@@bareflowerfarm Totally agree. I've sold lots of straight bunches of feverfew. White gypsophila is also a great "dainty" for bouquets..

Very interesting! I think I may have passed by wild borage in the fields because it looks familiar! It's good to know that it makes for a good filler. Cool flowers is totally the way to go in our climate! It also seems to be when people are most yearning for flowers!

@@bareflowerfarm Agree! I also think - borage self seeds - I hope so- it’s so easy to grow . Throw seeds in the ground early spring and it goes all summer. Gigantic hardy plants. My customers loved it when I told them to eat the pretty blue flowers. Lol. Good luck.

Glad to hear this and even more glad to hear that you are making some strategic decisions. To answer your questions: 1. about how many stems of just Procut Sunflowers would make a $20 BQ? -- I put in anywhere from 4-5 stems. Some people may argue that 5 is too many. But sunflowers are cheap and easy to grow and their main advantage is that they have an incredible vase life! So even if everything else in your bouquet dies, if 5 sunflowers (your biggest flowers in a bouquet) last for 10-14 days, your customer will perceive that it was great value and that the overall bouquet had a great vase life! 2. I am trying to "balance" my growing plans in the 5 different categories for several different BQ recipes. It is making me nuts 😵‍💫! I will grow all 5 categories. But for planning, do you think it would be OK to use Focal, Spikes & lump Disk, Filler & Air into one category called "Filler"? -- Yes, this is what I do because I think that the 5 categories are nuts to keep track of. I'll go as far to say that "air" is a nice to have. Are you creating market bouquets or more high end bouquets? If you're looking to create a more expensive, high end bouquet, then "air" brings in a floral design quality that market bouquets don't have. If your main sales outlet is like a grocery store or a farmer's market, I wouldn't even bother growing "air". I would focus on bushy bushy filler!

@@bareflowerfarm Thanks for the quick reply! 1. I should have been more specific, I was asking how many sunflowers it would take to make a $20 bouquet of nothing but sunflowers? 20 seems like it would be too big. Last year, your video showed you holding a big stunning bouquet of nothing but White Nites. I tried counting them and could see about 13 but it's hard to tell. You mentioned on this video or last year's that a florist said bouquets of only sunflowers were very popular and I figured I should be able to do that! 2. I am starting super slow & low cost, aiming for eventual CSA subscriptions. Last season I did my beta test and delivered 3 bouquets per week to the same 3 "customers". I did not charge since these were "my crash test dummies". I didn't want to be pressured for performance so I can focus on building skill in growing cut flowers & BQ making. Good thing, because I made every possible mistake! By August, I was scraping flowers & foliage from anywhere on my property. This coming year, I am bumping up to 10 BQ/week, 5 will be to the same "customers" and 5 to other assorted people. Again, no charge. However, I do accept gift cards! I am aiming for higher end bouquets and you are so right about "air" making a difference! Bushy, bushy filler too! Now I know why cerinthe is being mentioned more. It seems dumb to grow successions of other bushy one-cut fillers but it's probably just as smart as growing ProCut Sunflowers every week, which IS VERY SMART! I hope to be ready for Prime Time for my 3rd season. Kudos on your first season of flower farming and producing great RU-vids!

Totally. I tried to take notes and gave up bc it was logistically so difficult. But every season is also so different between the climate, your luck in terms of disease/pest where at a certain point, it's nice to get a high level idea but we'll never get the accurate #s ;-)

It's basically the way they branch that makes it a pain. And because they're relatively small, you have to harvest quite a bit to make it feel like you have alot!

That's good to know! Thanks for sharing!