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These did root well and will be read for sale next spring. Generally we have to grow a plant for 18 months. If you don’t sell them all they will keep growing and you may be able to raise the price.

Hi, No need to do anything different. Hardwood cuttings are completely dormant once Fall arrives. The cuttings will callous over once they sit in the totes for several weeks. They likely wont root until the temperatures come back up in the spring. The totes keep the snow off and the moisture in. One warning, the totes can get pretty brittle in the cold. Just let them be until Spring has arrived.

Hi, Thanks for the comments. We actually do grow a lot of native plants. We can’t tell you everything we do in 1-2 videos. Perhaps we should do a video on the topic and share our experiences. There is a falsity that circulates that non-native plants don’t have a benefit to the environment. A tree like a Norway Spruce offers many benefits. It offers beauty, wind protection, converts C02 into oxygen, and eventually dies and improves the soil. Compare that to a tree that will never grow because the deer will munch it to the ground. Another point of confusion is invasive vs non-invasive. Obviously you risk your natives surviving if you introduce aggressively invasive plants. Not a good idea! Much of this also depends on where you live. The deer are so over populated in much of New Jersey that it is nearly impossible to grow some native plants. The deer will kill them all unless you install significant fencing. Good topic, appreciate your thoughts.

Yes! That’s great. A backyard nursery is an excellent way for a stay at home parent to make some extra money. In some cases a lot of extra money. The work flow is flexible, start with a small investment, as the children grow, they can even help. Love it 🌲🌲🌲

Yes, an excellent tip! For years we have blown all our leaves out of the beds, off the driveway, etc and mulched them back into the lawn. Some too get blown back into the woods. A couple years ago we started collecting some of these and topping of pots of the trees and shrubs we are growing. Helps hold moisture and slows the weeds down. As you mentioned it’s time consuming but 100% agree we should do more of this!

Great you are doing so well as to sell out! This is an issue for sure! You just have to hold back some plants for cutting stock. For this reason we have a separate area for growing and selling. We don’t want people trying to buy small plants or plants we use mostly for cuttings. You may have to create at least a small separate area. As you said, a good problem to have. Thanks! Keep in touch, Larry 🌲🌲🌲

Hi, Thanks for watching. We are limited to 110 volts so the pump we use is about 1,290 gallons per hour. We push to some areas that are uphill too so that reduces the volume. We can push 4-6 of the wiz head sprinkler heads at a time with this set up. It’s a little more work when you do your layout but adding heads doesn’t greatly reduce your flow. If you use more heads at say on 25 foot spacing you can run more heads and get good coverage. We have a page up showing the pump and more details on our website. It is here: growingourretirement.com/backyard-nursery-irrigation-diy/ We try to write a page with links and details for each video. We also have a resources page with almost everything we use around the nursery. We make a small affiliate fee on some links. Helps to keep us making more videos and webpages. Thanks! Larry 🌲🌲🌲

Thanks for watching. We have series on starting a nursery from scratch on a low budget. There is a video on getting plants for free. Yes, you might keep some large plants to take cuttings from. We have also asked friends, family and even our Church if we can take cuttings from their plants. Once you have rooted plants they will require some pruning so the plants branch out and be fuller. you can also root these cuttings. Once you get started you will never run out of cutting material.

@@Growing-Our-Retirement thanks very much. I’ll take a look. I watched bits of those earlier today. And while I was cycling home I was thinking would it be a good idea to call into a house if I like what I see and ask for a cutting 🤣 so that’s another question answered. And, I forgot that I actually have a house height pine tree in my garden. Couldn’t get good enough pictures (because it’s dark) so I can’t identify it yet. I found it in a forest 20 years ago (it was lying on the trail) and was definitely among a large batch of the same. So I assume it is some bit valuable. It has pine cones, and did for many years (but I have not seen any of them germinate, the ground is full of branches and small plants so it may not be easy for them to grow). That might be a good start for me, and it’s definitely in need of a good pruning. I also have some other medium size trees with purple leaves (possibly plumb trees, but I don’t recall ever seeing any plumbs worth getting excited about, but nice trees nonetheless.

⁠ We have not successfully propagated pine or spruce trees but in theory it can be done. We go after what we like but also what we think we can sell. Arborvitae’s, Azalea, Holly, Andromeda, Hydrangeas, Rhododendrons, Dogwoods are all no brainers. Beyond a basic 20 or so plants it’s all experiment and see how it goes. Give some plants a try and ask around! Good luck!

@@Growing-Our-Retirement thanks very much for that list. I know of most of them, and there’s a very nice man living nearby who loves anything gardening related. He’s the one who got me excited about this. So I’d say he’ll be happy to share some more knowledge. But yeah, lots of experimenting will be ahead id say

​​⁠Great! The experimenting is fun! Good to start with some easy ones like arborvitae and hydrangea. These root easily and it will encourage you to more and more

Thanks for watching! Yes all deciduous. We have great success using the clear totes and highly recommend a similar set up for softwood and hardwood Azalea cuttings.

Hi, Thanks for the question. We use about a teaspoon for a one gallon pot and a tablespoon for a 3 gallon pot. A little goes a long way. We don’t mix it in but sprinkle it on top. We rub it in a little so it doesn’t get washed away. It’s best to let it slowly dissolve and work downward into the roots. We buy larger bags and it’s fairly economical. Smaller bags might be less economical but you only use a little bit on each plant. Going without would not be recommended, plants need a good balanced but slowly released bit of fertilizer. Don’t substitute anything that is a faster release. You just want slow fertilization to enhance already good soil. Hope that helps. 🌲🌲🌲

Glad you joined us. We up north are jealous of you down south who can propagate all year long. Thanks, Larry 🌲🌲🌲

Yes, the plants we grow are all dormant in the winter so they are not growing and don’t need much water. They do get natural rain which tends to be plenty to keep them from completely drying out. Thanks!

@@Growing-Our-Retirement awesome thanks

@@Growing-Our-Retirement just one more question comes to mind. I know you have a pond with lots of suply but for the area bere in the video what amount of water a day could go for watering 2 000 l or maybe 4 ? I am going to Dig a pond or a well aswell

⁠@@KusiuEDithard to estimate the amount of gallons we use. The pump we use is rated at around 1,500 gallons per hour. We run the irrigation in the area shown in two sections, each with 4 sprinkler heads. The heads restrict the flow so I am guessing only 1,000 gallons per hour. To water this entire area takes 1 1/2 to 2 hours per section. So, 2 sections x 2 hours is 4 hours x 1,000 gallons would be around 4,000 gallons total. We use the same pump to also water 2 other areas so it could be we use up to 8,000 gallons for a full watering. Hope that helps.

@@Growing-Our-Retirement its very helpfull , thanks alot

Thanks for watching! Maybe too much for some but we like to make sure we cover anything anyone would need to know. 13 1/2 minutes isn’t a big investment to learn to propagate possibly thousands of plants.

@@Growing-Our-Retirement 6 minutes would have been ample leaving 6 minutes to learn something else. That's what I would call a sensible investment.

Thanks again, we will try and speed it up a bit. Thank you for watching!

@@Growing-Our-Retirement Thank you. I took 9 cuttings yesterday as shown by you. Fingers crossed.

⁠Wish you well!

Thank you so much! So great you started your own plant side hustle! It’s an excellent business! More to come, Larry 🌲🌲🌲

Hi and welcome! Jason has an excellent channel and we learn from him all the time. Glad you found us, lots more videos to come! Larry and Martha 🌲🌲🌲

Hi Paul, thanks for asking. We prefer that the lids be clear or opaque. We have also used ones with a white top, they work just fine. Can’t recommend totes with a darker color, might absorb heat and cook the plants. That should not happen if you are keeping the totes in a mostly shaded spot but clear or white is best. Thank you! Larry 🌲🌲🌲

Thank you! More to come, Larry 🌲🌲🌲

We use fabric for a few reasons. We use a lot of # 3 and 5 trade gallon size which are a little heavy thus we like the handles. We also like the cost, less expensive than plastic pots. Finally we like the look, customers like them and we like to present a professional looking finished product. Thanks! 🌲🌲🌲

Thanks for watching! Many more videos to come!

Hi James, thanks for your comment. We did a video on making soil mixes and covered CoCo Coir. We also did a considerable amount of research on CoCo Coir. A lot of misinformation floating around the web. We can’t cover it all here but it’s well worth researching. We continue to use Canadian Sphagnum Peat as it is a growing, self regenerating plant material that is very responsibly and sustainably produced. That may be different in places like Europe but in Canada the peat replenishes itself far faster than it is being used. The Coconut Choir works well but has issues. One is it is shipped across the world and requires a lot of fuel to transport. It’s a waste product which is great but the transportation costs and environmental impact are high. Peat is grown much closer. The Coir is fine for a lower volume application. Would be difficult and very expensive to use in a larger nursery. That said we use locally produced humus as of 45% of our main potting mix. Another 45% is ground hardwood bark that is also produced locally. Thank you! Larry

Hi,That is excellent! We wish you the best! We only take cuttings from known plants. We have many on our property that have been here for decades. Some we have purchased so we know what they are. Cuttings take on other people properties have been limited to known plants such as Arborvitae’s, Holly, Dogwood, etc. There are hundreds of cultivars that have not been hybridized and thus not patented. We have gone after some plants that have come off patent once the patent expires. For example the Limelight Hydrangia. We bought 4 at 50% a couple weeks ago. Those will get cut up for maximum cutting material. We can propagate and sell them. Let us know how you are doing with your nursery! Thanks Larry 🌲🌲🌲

Thanks and good for you! It is definitely a marathon not a sprint. It took us a good 5 years to get our larger nursery really going well.

Great question. The softwood cutting root in about 6-8 weeks. Hardwood cuttings do very well but take longer. Up to 6 months depending on how early you start. We live PJM’s!

Hi Again, Thanks! We just filmed part 7 which is the 0ne year mark for the start of the Low Cost Plant Nursery start up. Coming out soon! A lot has happened in a year. Thanks, Larry

Hi Paul, Hard to say what to do. Hydrangeas grow pretty fast. If they sprout quickly it is likely you can get them potted this Fall. Or leave them in the totes is fine too. If you pot them up you may want to try and protect them from wind over the winter or cut them way back. They will come back quickly in the spring. Thanks, Larry 🌲🌲🌲

Hi thanks for the comment. We are always able to identify plants before we sell them. And we tag or put signs up explaining the plant and care. We have a video about that worth watching. Thanks! Best to you, Larry 🌲🌲🌲

Yes! Thank you!

For cuttings that are rooting lots of shade is fine. A little filtered sunlight is ok. Be sure you have the small holes in the sides. You should be fine where you described. Thanks, Larry 🌲🌲🌲

Thanks again! We have a 6 part and ongoing series on how to get started. Step by step. Starting a nursery is not for everyone but you can start small and see how you do and if you like it. We started with just 100 plants. We would encourage you to give it a try. Thanks, Larry 🌲🌲🌲

@@Growing-Our-Retirement Larry: I like the idea of a backyard nursery, and growing plants is a great hobby that could potentially be a good retirement job for sure. However, my concern is that I'm not a very good salesperson (I'd be a terrible used car salesman) so being able to sell what is grown in the nursery would be the big issue. Lots to consider without question. I grow mainly woody plants that are native to my area.

⁠This is a great topic and we are working on a video for this. There are 2 sides to selling plants, growing plants people want to buy and getting the word out. You can look at what others are selling and probably do well selling similar. If you are growing native plants, this is in demand and you could specialize. Getting the word out can be as easy placing some good ads on Marketplace. People are always looking for plants at reasonable prices. No used car sales techniques required. Being helpful and knowledgeable is far more important than anything else. We do find having some nice signs, tags, availability sheets, etc are helpful. It also takes some time to build up repeat customers. Treat people fairly and they will come back.

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

Great question and we didn’t get into what happens over the winter in this video. We drain everything and have an air compressor to blow it all out. Last winter even after draining we had one section of pipe that didn’t get drained. It did freeze and a small section and a fitting did crack. Cut it out and replaced in. Shouldn’t have happened but it did, easy fix. Thanks, Larry.

Agree about the brass water manifolds, they really do restrict water flow. We replaced all our hoses with full 3/4” id hoses, much better water flow and volume. Collecting water would be ideal. Would love to do the same. 2 large IBC totes, or rain barrels, some hose, and a way to collect would be ideal. We haven’t fully explored collecting water but our house and thus the roofs are uphill from our nursery areas. Might be something we look in to as time allows. Of course the pond is a giant rainwater collector and so we pump that water. Keep at it, wish you the best, Larry 🌲🌲🌲

Hi Dick, Hope all is well! Yes the pond is an amazing resource. I think we would also be ok if we had city water with lots of pressure. We went about 3 years using our house well pump but it really wasn’t up to the task.

Hi Charles, Great idea, a check valve on the supply/pond side would probably do the trick. I was using the log you see in the video to trap a little supply of water against the pump. It worked OK but not great. Have to pick up a 1” check valve and see how that works. I am pleased how it came out and glad to not be changing hoses and hand priming. I am sure in a year or two I will want to do some upgrades again. Thanks, Larry 🌲🌲🌲

We are not big fans of the coir peat. It’s OK but just a by product being pushed, that we find to be so - so. We haven’t really seen any ill effects of harvesting spagnum peat moss. Don’t want to go down a rabbit hole on this. Best thing is find a component for your mix that holds some moisture. Lots of options, shredded bark, peat moss, both work great.

Hi Paul, This series is about getting started. Once you have plants to sell Marketplace is a good way to sell some of them. Depending on how far you want to go there are many other ways to find customers and make sales. Some are start a website, build a mailing list, advertise in your local area, attract some landscaper type customers, sell wholesale etc. We are working on some video for selling, increasing sales, and growing your business. Hydrangeas are great sellers. You can use the Internet to try and identify what you have. There is some good information available on this topic. If you have had the plants for 20+ years they are not likely patented but there are many patented plants and trade marked names. We grow the older traditional Snowball and the now off patent Lime Light. If you want to add some Hydrangea varieties by buying some plants to propagate from that is a good strategy. Just be sure they are not patented and don’t use any trademarked names. Hope that helps.

@@Growing-Our-Retirement thx

⁠Best to you! Go for it!

Hi and Thanks. We use the hardwood bark mulch as we can’t find pine or fir bark locally at a reasonable price. It’s 3-5 times more expensive. Fortunately we can get get humus at around $20 per yard. We put about 8, 4 cubic foot bags in about 20 yards of humus and bark. We like this mix and the cost, if you buy in bulk is reasonable. With the perlite we must be right around $30 a yard for a really nice mix. I think we mentioned pea gravel. It’s a good substitute for the perlite as would be the chicken grit. We do prefer the perlite for a few reasons. We order it and it gets delivered to our door in 2-3 days. It’s light and helps lighten up the overall mix. Also looks processional, the little white specs look great. But this is what we do and work for us. Try different mixes of what is available in your area. We would jump right to fir bark if we could. Best to you!!!

@@Growing-Our-Retirement Thank you very much for the reply. Your soil mixes are well thought out and assembled. I agree, you need to use what you can find locally, and what makes financial sense. A local big box store sells finely ground pine bark fines for about $2.50 for a 1 CF bag, and it makes excellent soil mix. Regarding perlite, I agree it makes an excellent addition to soil mixes. The only thing I don't care for is that perlite eventually floats to the top of the container, whereas chicken grit or pea gravel remain in place. Also I've found that perlite quality varies greatly. Coarse perlite is somewhat expensive in my area, while the cheaper perlite tends to be mostly fine material and quite dusty. At least that is my experience. Continued success on your nursery and here on YT.

⁠Absolutely agree, best to find materials you can purchase locally in bulk. I was at a supply yard this weekend and noticed they do have Hemlock much and it was fairly finely ground. It costs twice as much as the hardwood bark we buy but a lot less than Perlite. I might try some. I try to cost out to the yard price. I know I pay $20 per yard for humus and $25 for hardwood bark mulch. With the perlite, I still come in at less than $30 per yard. With there being 27 cu ft in a yard you can do the math from there. I think most people can order Perlite the same way we do, from Amazon in 4 cubic foot bags. Works out to about $10 a cubic foot so we only use about 5% in our mix. Used sparingly we have not had a problem with it floating to the top or blowing away. We do also use it for propagating. This is the perlite we buy. www.amazon.com/PVP-Industries-PVP105408-120-Quarts/dp/B07S4FTPYB/ref=sr_1_12?crid=2YYP4SHEXPSKL&keywords=Perlite&qid=1688952307&sprefix=perlite%252Caps%252C206&sr=8-12&th=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=growingourret-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=e4af1aa985443e74158d7d55c0a071e6&camp=1789&creative=9325 Thanks for the good conversation! Larry

Thanks for the detailed reply. We are mostly starting with larger plants, but do plan to start with Arborvitae, Dogwood, Norway Spruce, Red Cedar, Forsythia and Holly (native to our site). Great idea to use silt fabric, as a general contractor I even have a bit hanging around and may still consider the simple hoop houses if ambitious enough. Will continue to follow your progress and look forward to a successful first season as a backyard nursery operator!

Link to the Erosion Control / Silt Fence. 100 feet with posts for $48.00 is pretty reasonable. 3 feet high. www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-Contractor-Grade-Assembled-3-ft-x-100-ft-Silt-Temporary-Fencing-14987-0-3610/202521468

Hi, Sorry to hear that your plants are rotting. We are far from experts for zone 9 but some possible tips. Best time to water is early in the morning. This gives plants a good drink but any excess water will evaporate or seep into the soil. Watering at night can cause rot over night. Watering during the day doesn’t give water time to reach deep roots as it evaporates off. So a really good watering in the early morning is best. You might also be watering too much. Try cutting back along with only watering in the morning. Assuming your soil is sandy and drains well. If not this could also be a problem. If you suspect your soil isn’t draining add some sand or perlite next time you plant. This may help, hope so!

Hi, Great question. We have an article about plant patents you can read to learn more about plant patents. We include some resources to look plants up as well. growingourretirement.com/patented-plants-and-trademarked-plants/ We also have a video on the same topic. Thanks, Larry 🌲🌲🌲

Good for you! It really is hard to know when to transplant. Too soon and the roots aren’t established enough. Too late and then you might have a still small plant that could have been growing better in a pot. We try to do all our softwood cuttings in June and July. Some may stay in the totes until the next Spring. Some like Arborvitae can come out in Sept or so and be fine through the winter. We certainly mix varieties in the totes. Not a problem. Yes, fertilizing with a slow release fertilizer is OK once roots have formed. But we generally just fertilize when potting plants up. A 2-4 weeks before you pot up the plants you can start opening the lids for part of the day. This gets the plants more light and acclimates them to less humidity. A good time to possibly fertilize as well. Then out they all come and into pots. Once potted water as needed. We also mist a little from the hose 1-2 times a day for a couple weeks. Best to you and your nursery 🌲🌲🌲

Yes, perfect! You could certainly sell some and then keep some to grow out and propagate even more from. Keeping just 10-15 will eventually keep you in cuttings forever. Thanks for watching 🌲🌲🌲

Hi Cindy, Thanks for the question. Yes, most everything goes into a #1 trade gallon pot initially. Some may eventually go in to #3 and even #5 as appropriate. Example Kousa Dogwoods. For this series the assumption to grow and sell smaller plants. For our larger nursery, we generally grow larger plants in #3 and #5 pots. We should mention if your propagation is going really well do plant some plants in larger pots and let them grow. You will be very happy in 2-5 years to have the larger plants to sell. Thanks, hope that helps 🌲🌲🌲

We love the Eastern Red Buds! We do grow some native plants. The difficulty is that the deer love them. Unless you are very diligent with sprays and fencing the deer will devour them. Consequently many customers aren’t as likely to buy them. So, we do love the native plants but it is nearly twice as difficult to grow and sell them. Likely we need to learn more about this topic, as you mentioned there are native only nurseries that do seem to do well. 🌲🌲🌲

@@Growing-Our-Retirement At least in CA, Texas & Florida, the native growers are literally not being able to keep up with demand. Here in Orlando FL I have 5 growers within an 1 1/2 hour drive of me. None of them have larger shrub material anymore. And the herbaceous plants are tiny little things that I keep in pots for at least two more weeks. Sometimes a month. Otherwise they’re so tiny they just get lost in my garden. Plus, they have weak root systems. But it’s just how it is right now.

That’s interesting! Different parts of the country really present different problems and opportunities. We really struggle with the natives and the deer. Sounds like you have an opportunity before you. Get a good stock of native plants and start growing and propagating. If you can wait and grow larger plants you can probably charge a premium price. Sounds like you would do very well!

@@Growing-Our-Retirement I’ve been thinking about starting a SMALL growing nursery & sell to retailers. My real desire is garden design which has taken me several years to build up confidence to do. But I’ve completed 3 projects so far ☺️. And have a fourth customer now. So that’s exciting. But I also think I’m finally going to get the required license to propagate for sale. My plan is to try to sell shoppers on the idea of planting 4 inch pots instead of gallons - at least for the herbaceous plants. It’s really the way to go with most native flowers. In 4 weeks you don’t see a difference. Plus 4 inch pots are way easier to plant. And most gardeners are older women. So, if they can get over their expectation of a gallon pot, they’ll have way more fun and success.

Hi thanks excellent! If you are doing the design you could also be the plant supplier. This something we may also do. Earlier in life I did a lot of landscape design, planting and construction. Might have to get back into that on a small scale. What you are doing is great and can certainly be profitable! Wish you the best! Larry

That’s a great question. We are able to use almost everything. Plants that die, we reuse the pots and soil. Overgrown plants are up-potted, pruned and grown out to sell. Some plants are heavily pruned so we can propagate from them. The biggest category is small plants that don’t sell as say a one gallon size. We then up pot them to a 3 or 5 gallon size, grow them out and sell them. We always say if a plant doesn’t sell, it just becomes more valuable. Thanks for the question 🌲🌲🌲

@@Growing-Our-Retirement thanks for the answer! I will have to keep it in mind if I can ever get my own little thing going.

One thing we have found is to just try things. There isn’t much to lose. You can start small and take your time but the sooner the better because as we know, plants take time to grow. Another tip, we have a growing area and a selling area. Customers don’t need to see things like tiny plants in huge pots or plants trimmed way back for the cuttings.

Hi that’s a great activity. We don’t grow much from seed but the same ideas should be the same. If hardy for your area, seedlings should be mostly OK over winter. The stronger they can be before winter the better. Your big enemy is dehydration from the winds. We use the plastic totes mostly to protect from the wind in the winter. If you have everything in pots, a low tunnel using pipes or wire fencing covered with white plastic is a good option. Or putting up some burlap perimeters and or rows will really help reduce the effects of the wind. If the plants have dropped their leaves and you don’t have too many, an unheated garage or shed can work. Mostly we just leave things out and do just fine. Thanks 🌲🌲🌲

What a great story! If you have a little extra room, 500 plants isn’t a big problem. We wish you the best! Let us know how you do 🌲🌲🌲

Thanks for watching 🌲🌲🌲

Thank you! We have another one filmed and almost edited. More to come 🌲🌲🌲