Could buying plugs be cheaper than growing from seed? Why you should consider also buying plugs
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- Опубликовано: 25 июл 2024
- Plugs- they look more expensive on paper but when you crunch the numbers, you may be surprised. They may actually be cheaper for the beginner, small scale cut flower farmer! For someone growing on a quarter to half an acre, they may actually be a great option for:
People who want “insurance” to ensure they have blooms, especially beginner grower
People who are nervous about succession planting and want to have blooms all throughout the season. Let’s face it, when the growing season starts, things get crazy busy and who has time to start seed?
If you’re having issues germinating certain types of seed (lisianthus, I’m looking at you!)
Video’s referenced:
How to calculate how much it costs to run grow lights: • Calculating Grow Room ...
How to obtain an EIN number: • Do I need a LLC and EI... 
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Love all of your deep analysis of costs in all of your videos. This was an awesome comparison.
Glad someone likes to nerd 🤓 out with me!
Incredible insight and true brave honesty, good job on the video too, I'm rooting for you. Shout out to Ocean City,NJ!
Yes to fellow NJ'er! Thanks for the encouraging feedback, figured this will be one giant learning opportunity regardless of what happens! ;-)
Just fyi, I tend to have that issue (the roots not penetrating the soil) with almost all of my seeds that require surfce sowing, even with not letting them dry out & keeping them moist the entire time. I almost always have to go in, after they sprouted, & purch their roots deeper into the seed starting medium and/or place seed starting mix at the bottom to cover the roots.
I work it a bit different. No more than 1hr on seedlings a day, no more trays than the number of grow lights I currently have can support. That number will increase slowly each year, this year's number is eight 2ft strips. The 1hr per day gives me a magic labour number at the end of the month which is based on my wage, not minimum wage and that number then tells me what I need to sell to break even on cost and labour before I make a profit. Then I project the minimum profit I would like based on the month and work backwards from there. This made me realize that for this year, no vegie seedlings, I can buy the starts at the garden centres and save my space and time for the profit plants. Oh, and yay, my local garden centre posted this morning that their ranunculous had arrived and I zipped over at lunch and bought what I wanted, now just waiting for the early March shipment.
I love your style of video, totally suits my thought process, which all too often is out loud to myself while I number crunch and drives my husband nuts.
I love the thought you put into this. I think at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you arrive at your number, as long as you are arriving at A number for the number of stems you need to grow in order to make it a viable business. Without going through this exercise, you would never realize what is worth your time to start and not. And yay to the ranuncs!!
I'm in a similar boat as you. At this point my husband is tired of me rambling on about this but there's tons of us out there and youtube feels like it's giving me a platform to ramble productively LOL!
Ramble on, music to my ears!
Great video! So informative!
Glad you think so! Thx for watching
You are a valuable addition to the messages about flower farming. I have a degree in Business and ran my own jewelry store for decades. Now I live on 3 acres and Have hundreds of bearded iris among other things. I bought Lizzy plugs from Farmer Bailey today just before I saw this. Reassures me I was right. The seeds are expensive and hard to grow. Thankyou.
Thank you for your kind words. That sounds like a dream. I'm about to move to 3 acres and absolutely cannot wait. I was so close to buying lizzy plugs from Farmer Bailey too - they seem like a steal with his prices but figured I would stick to my original plan and try to get more experience growing snaps and stock!
Thank you for your videos. I am learning a lot. I just watched a video from Northlawn Flower Farm where she doubles her snaps by rooting the cuttings after she pinches them. Might work for you to double yours! Also a 1st year farmer here. Good luck!
Yes! It works wonders! I find that when I start my seedlings early and grow them “slow” (ie in less ideal growing environment), they end up growing offshoots and therefore I don’t need to pinch 🙂. But will def be pinching the seedlings I grow in late summer for fall!
I really appreciate your economic view of this business. I’ve got some plugs coming and I’m pretty sure I will do more next year. I enjoy growing from seed but I just can’t start everything I want to grow.
I totally hear you and am glad to hear you are making rational decisions based on your situation 🤓
Great video! However, buying plugs are not 100% insurance. Have seen some cut flower growers having their plug orders canceled or damaged in shipping. It's good to have a back up plan but I love your number crunching approach 😄 New sub here!
Super valid point!!! I just figure that if my seedlings fail AND farmer bailey cancels on me, that would be terrible luck all around LOL!! But this definitely makes me think about diversifying the places where I buy plugs from :)
I have lots of snapdragons,not sure about the bloom time because big box store purchased and my Lisianthus are growing well. Better than I thought! They are so small but if I can grow them they are perrennial here in north central Florida! Zone 8b
Best of luck to you! Were you able to find cut flower length snapdragons at the big box? I can only find the dwarf ones here :(
Its easy to design a border with plugs bought on line
That's a great point!
Hey there, Jessie. I'm thinking of just doing (~$500 worth of) plugs next year. (Although I might have to try some of your ranunculus corms just for fun). I'm in the same zone as you. What varieties would you recommend?
Hi! At this point, I have just the Aviv varieties left. These are the same ones that I'm growing again this year because they are so affordable that if I don't get a good crop, I don't feel like I spent a fortune :)
I think $500 plugs will get you very far too!!
Gonna watch the video, but I would guess that there is a magic number where if you get a good wholesale price for the plugs cause you are buying a lot, it's cheaper than the time, space and supplies to grow your own.
Absolutely, I just didn’t think that magic number would be at basically 3 trays which is just 1 box!! Basically I feel like if you’re doing anything over 20 bouquets a week or u-pick, it should be a consideration!
3:25 Biology is a sloppy science 😂Soap making is chemistry, so you can always get the exact same result if you use the same ingredients and same conditions. Living thingies like plants? Not so much! It's part of the challenge and fun of growing flowers and veggies, but it's also very frustrating!
Very true! You'll laugh because even though soap making is chemistry, I manage to mess it up once in awhile 🙈. I do love how the challenge of growing flowers and veggies makes you alot more in tune with weather, nature, and actually taking time to observe what is happening versus just being a "participant" if you know what I mean!
I am in a crunch also, where are you finding snapdragon plugs?
I ordered mine from farmer baileys in late feb and they are coming in 2 weeks. You do need to order about 6-8 weeks in advance 🙂
Do plugs flower more in the first year than seeds?
No, but the draw to them is that you don’t have to spend the time to grow from seed!
Do you have clients lined up, like florists, restaurants etc? I am struggling to keep seedlings at the same growth stages in the same place as light space is limited. I’m putting things where there is room. This disorganization is driving me crazy and is causing watering issues. 😱😱😱. I’m legally blind, so plugs might make my life so much easier. Thank you!🌸💗🌸
Hi there! No florists or restaurants lined up yet but we are signed up for a farmers market. I almost wish that I exclusively planned to buy plugs for my spring/early summer flowers especially given our move. Hopefully you can still order plugs and get them in a reasonable amount of time now!
Hi Sarah, consider adding a seed station into your set up for more consistent results:
ruclips.net/video/hAQy363d8QA/видео.html
Will you be buying plugs these year?
Yes! In fact I bought 3 trays and they’re already in. I may be buying more 😁
@@bareflowerfarm i havent been as stress because i also purchased two boxes plus some from jolly farmer .