Owning a plant nursery is very liberating. Being able to work outdoors and profit from growing your own plants is extremely satisfying. Thanks for your tips and insight. 👍
Having my own nursery would be a dream come true!! Personally, I don't think it gets any better than being outside all day, playing with dirt and grow things. Thanks so much for your video!!
I had to stop and say that I love your presence. I have watched a lot of videos like this and the way you very directly speak with the facts instead of “blah blah blah”- got my attention right away, made me pay attention to what you were saying, and very helpful. Thank you!
This is a great video! The most important aspect of producing anything and selling it, whether its plants or widgets, is the ability to suffer humility, in the face of terrible customers and or your product just isn't up too snuff, by comparison to other competitors. Use your humbleness to make yourself better than the others. Don't give up! You can be better!
I’m setting up my own plant business selling uncommon house plants online and I’m building up my stock over the winter ready for spring and summer but all my plants are my own personal collection and all of my stock are cutting I just take from when I prune my personal collection so the only thing I’m losing if it flops is my free time
That's a great approach - it keeps the risk down while you figure out the market. I did the same with my roses and perennials (by division) at first, and at that small scale, it's tempting to think of the plants as "free". As I scaled up a bit, even the small inputs of time, soil, pots, space, pruning, watering & fertilizing began to multiply until it became clear that they weren't so "free" anymore - which is okay, and totally expected as a transition from hobby to small business. Best luck with your specialty plants - houseplants are a good business to be in right now, with the market so hot!
A man in the Philipines grew his own food. The extra produce he did not eat he sold at a local farmers market. He always sold out because his garden was delicious and healthy. How much do we really need? This man’s example is what I hope to achieve. This way you can have time to live, laugh, and love.
Thanks so much. BTW, I grow just a few succulents but I'm a huge fan of philodendrons, so I'll have to check out your videos for some tips (with translations on!)
What your doing is exactly what I’ve been wanting to get into. This video was 100% on point. Going to start small from the backyard, with goals of my next home being a good location to grow it more. Really appreciate the info, this was like a spark to the fire.
5 years since you made this video and it's still good. I'm just starting out growing geraniums in New South Wales Australia, so I really appreciate your advice and experience. Thanks!!!
Goodness you’re right! I’m thinking of starting up my own orchid nursery, they grow slow some do not reach blooming size for 4-6 years. You’ve given me some good points to think about and jot down. Thank you.
This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you for all the free advice. My father started a nursery hobby many years ago, he’s incredibly passionate about his plants and his hobby has now grown into what I consider a full blown nursery. He has thousands of plants, so much variety To chose from but we aren’t selling because we just didn’t know where to start. This was perfect advice and I appreciate the “No clickbait” approach because that’s exactly what we wanted to hear.
Thanks Jo Jo. We're having reasonably good success now using Facebook marketplace to drive traffic to the farm. I wish you and your father the best of success - it sounds like you have the growing part down just fine!
Hey Jo Jo. My dad was the same many years ago when he grew beautiful Fuchsias, so many colours, varieties and species. Unfortunately it all ended up a waste of time and he shut it down coz he didn't know how to sell. How's your dad going with sales now?
Although I don’t comment on every video that you make, I do watch them all. As usual, thanks for your efforts! I’m so glad to see that your subscriber count is finally picking up pace, too.
This is a great video. I started growing native plants in my backyard this year. We do the appointments and farmers markets. I’ve gotten a bad chest cold about a week ago and missed a couple planned markets. It’s starting to be the end of the season here and I have plants to sell, waste, or possibly overwinter. So this is a really good point.
This goes for any business. The key to making money is you have to sell something. Be it a product or service, something has to be sold if you want to make money. You can be the best at everything else in the business, but if you can't sell anything, the business will go under.
Great video! Last year I sold my excess vegetable starts very quickly. This coming spring I’m planning to grow veggie starts just to sell. I’ve invested lots in seeds, media and container. I’m planning my sales strategy now.
Watching videos like this and growing stuff has helped a ton with my mental health, many thanks! Ive got almost 20 roses now, a bunch of dead cutting and a few live ones, will probably rewatch your cutting videos about 20x haha
I feel kinda dumb that I started running a tiny plant stall on a whim after having sold trees on a small scale for almost 10 years now. I did no research & went full rip on propagating & spending a month building my wee plant stall in my willow wood & building a Substack subscriber's list 😂 I'm only here now after launching my little plant stall but, I felt a little better after you mentioned your friend Mark. That's exactly what I do. I'm into photography & I've seen for myself what a well presented ad on social media can do. I sell local provenance trees, fruit shrubs, & obscure perennial vegetable plants & herbs plus mushroom grow kits & some very quirky tree "arrangements" & ready to fruit oyster mushroom buckets by appointment only. I had plans to open for FRI-SUN noon-5 sort of deal but, your video made me rethink that now. Because my products are quirky & specialised, I attract a different type of customer than a normal plant nursery & I think they appreciate the "come into my secret garden & chat about plants" type of appointments. Hmmm.. so much to contemplate on that.. will check out more of your videos! Thanks for the tips!
Thanks. We're still figuring it out as we go - but it seems clear that more hours doesn't equal more customers! Mark does a great business with his specialty edible plants, and it sounds like you have some unique offerings! Best of luck this season.
Hi Jason, I loved this video you made. I am in Massachusetts in the U.S. and have been propagating plants and have been looking at starting my own small business. This was so helpful. Along with selling plants, I am looking at taking 4 or 5 people in a group of their choosing, and teaching them how to propagate for a small fee. Didn't know if that would be something you might want to try. But thank you once again, your videos are great and well put together, that is the one thing I'm trying to learn right now, so that I can start uploading videos to youtube.
I am starting a greenhouse operation for cacti dish gardens and aloe vera sales Have spent 2 years building inventory, in the paperwork stages now. I have spent the past six months actively building a customer base as I am going with "supply chain" as opposed to selling direct to public. Using flea/farmer's markets and street festivals to make public sales for left over stock. Will be a four season biz as I do custom garden art/ signage in the off season. Lots to do, but am sure I can make it with 17 yrs field experience. A dream coming to fruition for me and my family--
I grow for myself but lately been getting request for seedling this year and ppl asking for plants instead of going to box store so I got a lot to think about
Thank you for taking the time to do this. I am hopeful that I can help the human race to love plants and maybe make some extra money in the process. I will be sure to follow the wise man’s wisdom as I do it, “pride makes us do things well, but love makes us do things to perfection.”
I am a subscriber, like all the info you shared. I am a newbie house plant collector and just started a new channel and I am get a lot of inspiration from your videos. Thankyou.
Great video, thank you 🙏🏽 Just the sort of information I’m after. I have 3 acres, I’m looking to retire and I’m wanting a way to make a few $ to supplement my retirement income, and so thought plants! I’ve studied horticulture and have worked in the industry for the last 3 years, and learned a lot. It’s my passion and I’d love to turn it into a small business. I was thinking of approaching landscapers in my area and asking what plants would be beneficial for me to grow for them, so this video has helped me see that that is a good idea, but there’s other options too. I have small markets in my area that I could try, or maybe mail order 🤔
Thanks Sharon. And I like your "All of the above..." approach - it's difficult to see the gaps or opportunities in the market until you start actively poking around and connecting with potential buyers.
Thanks for the practical perspective. I got the fever for backyard nursery and now am having reality issues - just getting plants to be ready for a late spring sale is a challenge. I will have to buy wholesale and sell retail. It is now almost mid-October and I am in USDA Zone 7a, where there is not much growing time left. I am a bit stymied.
Hi Rebecca. Anything I suggest will vary by growing climate and your local market, but one "shortcut" can include spring flowering bulb and bare root suppliers. I have a local supplier who offers good prices on bare root hosts, lilies, peonies, astilbe, daylilies, etc. and they're all pretty straightforward to drop into an appropriate size pot and nudge out of dormancy - no real "sizing up". I do start some plants from seed in spring (indoors with supplemental heat and light) and you're right, it can be a challenge to finish them for spring sales. Fast growers like papaver, digitalis, salvia and monards for perennials or annuals like china asters or phlox drummondii are easy, but other perennials may not size up on time - giving you something to pot up in fall for the following spring. Depending on how much you want to depend on suppliers, there are growers who will start cuttings for you early to get that head start. But even if you start on a small scale with minimal risk, you can use the season to begin cuttings and division for the following year.
Thank you for your thoughtful and thorough reply, Jason. I will just have to make some decisions going forward based on available resources and learn as I go. So happy to have discovered your channel! 🙏🏻
Great topic! Like how you get to the root of the matter quickly-a successful nursery sells what it grows.🌹If you weren’t so far away, I’d invite you to come, present, and sell to my garden club in Greenville, South Carolina. When Mr. Maple 🍁 came to speak I purchased a dwarf Dawn Redwood. They just happened to mention how special they were in their talk.🌲
Fraser Valley Rose Farm, at the moment my dwarf dawn redwood is in a planter. I might have one more year before I have to move it. That’s fantastic that you grew some from seed. How was the germination?
I had planned 120 days of cold stratification, but as I recall, I had to take them out early because they sprouted in the fridge. 100% (of like 8 seeds, but still)
This video should be labelled *Secret to Success* Many people enjoy the creation of propagating new plants Yet are disgusted with Selling Don't know how to price plants and add shipping cost I suggests you ask yourself a few questions Do I like growing a few variety or I grow everything. This will guide you to your customers. Don't like B2C Business to Clients Hire a good well trained salesperson for that job Other wholesale avenues Sell a dozen at a time to mow-N-go Gardner's to up sale the plants installed in grown Sell a packaged deal of mixed shrubs & flower pack to Home Flippers Sell a group package of pots with assorted flowers to home owners or party rental houses Best advice, get help with the task you don't like to do Stay with what gives you Joy
Thank you. What are the rules you talked about for selling. Do I need a license in Ontario Canada. I will watch all of your Videos about growing. Thank you. Hey. I just noticed that your from Canada. Awesome
If it's small-scale production and sales, it's not too restrictive. Like any small business, you'd need to report income to the CRA if it's anything significant. You don't need to collect GST/PST (or is it HST in Ontario?) until you reach 30k in annual sales. Check your city or municipal bylaws about any structures, signage or roadside stands or the requirement to have a business license. I sell in a rural area, so that's not an issue for me. The one federal government agency you may have to watch for is the CFIA, because they make rules on the movement of plants. You can't ship plants into the US without dealing with them. Also, they restrict plant movement out of certain areas because of pests (anything coming out of the Niagara area for instance needs a certificate of movement). If you were to use pesticides, that's a Provincial license. In general, you can do a fair bit at a small scale without triggering regulations - but if you were to get larger, that's when they'd notice you.
I’d like to start growing and selling vegetable plants from seed from my home as a side business. I just read that you can’t grow and sell patented plants. I assume all the seed packets I buy are patented, but not sure. Am I out of luck?
Hi Peter - you're okay I think. The patented plants restriction is when you're propagating asexually (cuttings, division). I sell plenty of plants grown from seed, and have no concerns about it.
Yeah Im lucky because Im on the west coast of Australia so I can grow, propagate and sell rare and exotic tropical fruit plants and trees in a backyard nursery and its also a hobby I love. It does well. The demand for mature fruit trees is ridiculously high. Wish I had the capital to invest in a large stock that will pay off in 3 years but oh well.
Great and informative video! My dream is to sell rare and unusual plants but having a hard time finding wholesale where I can buy plants like variegated monstera in bulk maybe baby plants and growing them up and selling them. I’m here in the Tennessee do you know of any place I can buy these from online? Thanks for sharing.
Agreed…. I am an example of this. Geraniums and boxwood put me out of business. In Canada, many businesses are a waste of time. A very different customer base compared to the United States. Entrepreneurship is dead in Canada.
