Quote:
Originally Posted by Hastings
I'm curious seedling sellers, where do you purchase your pots to sell your seedlings in? I did my first Farmer's Market season this year and I'm wanting to reach out to customers earlier in the season and thought of selling seedlings. Approximately how old are your seedlings when you sell them for the $3 price? Also, I'm in a town of 25,000, so our Farmer's Market season doesn't start until June, obviously way too late to sell seedlings. Do you have any suggestions of what kind of places would be good to try to get some attention and sales? Thank you for any and all help/suggestions!
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We have a greenhouse supply store in the area that sells boxes of 504 3.5" pots for around $63. I estimate that all costs (excluding my time) for producing one seedling is about 70˘.
My seedlings are 5-8 weeks old when I sell them. Hardening off is extremely important (and a lot of work when hauling them up and down stairs from a basement room). Sunscald of leaves has been a major problem.
For me it worked very well to advertise and sell out of my driveway. I would estimate that 80% of my customers came by word of mouth from those who responded directly to the advertisement and saw what I had to offer.
Zoning ordinances in some areas may prohibit selling from one's home, particularly in high volume. But for me, selling the plants from home was very convenient and allowed me (or a family member) to tend to them 24-7. There are some drawbacks, of course.