High potted veg, plant prices

[kyJeeper]

Just to let all know I start my own veg plants. Anyway I was getting ready to check out at the garden registers at Wal-mart walked over to tomato and pepper plants $3.50 each for 6" pot "ouch". Have they always been that high?

[IndyGardenGal]

I'm not sure if they've always been that high or not. We start from seeds, but we went to a local nursery to talk to the manager about selling some of our pine trees to them. I walked around and looked at prices on some things. $25 for grapes!!! $8 for a raspberry cane (6 inches tall), and the fruit trees were ridiculous too.

[Backfourty,MI.]

I usually buy some of my veggies in plants & some by seeds & NO they have not always been that high. It seems like a couple years ago some stores got the idea to sell single veggies for that kind of money. Must be there are alot of gardners that only one 1 of each veggie plant or something!

Thank Goodness my local farm markets & fruit stands still all sell Flats of veggies & last year I think they were $10.99 for a flat of 48 plants I think?

[clovis]

Prices haven't always been that high, but they have been creeping up dramatically over the years.

It hasn't been that long ago that 6 tomato plants were $3. Now it seems like you can't buy one plant for that price.

I have had severe sticker shock over plant prices in the past few years. I decided that I wanted daisy plants, and they were 5.99 for very SMALL plants!!!

Clove

[chicky momma]

Prices have probably not been that high in the past but gas prices haven't either. And most seedlings are trucked in from far away.
I grow my own seedlings and sell the tomato plants for $2.50 each. They are heirlooms. Was thinking of raising them to $3 but think I'll stick w/$2.50 this year. Lisa

[mnn2501]

They are up drastically this year. In fact the cheapest place is a local nursery chain (thats usually high priced) and not Home Depot/Lowes.
Luckily we started a lot of seeds this year so what we had to buy is down drastically

[LovPRQueen]

I didn't harden off my seed tomatoes properly so I had to buy some. I paid $3.50 for a nine pack that actually had 14 in it!

[Windy in Kansas]

Singles in that large of pot has always been high, if even available. For a better comparison six packs or small singles might work better.

Last week I paid $1.89 for Super Sweet 100 tomato plants in 4 inch square pots and $1.29 for Juliets in 3 inch pots. Six packs were $3.49 with 2 inch pots. Size matters :-) and costs accordingly. The Juliets and Super Sweet 100s were not available in six packs or I would have bought and shared with others.

[Marcia in MT]

Of course, prices are going to vary by region -- but marketing has tried very hard (and mostly succeeded!) to convince us that big box stores have the best prices. Certainly NOT TRUE! Check out any local independents for plants, especially those who grow their own rather than buying them in. Prices will almost always be better.

The M & P greenhouse industry is totally different from a storefront M & P, who have to buy in everything they sell. Because an independent in essence "manufactures" what they sell, they can set a lower price.

Of course, there will always be exceptions but on the whole, independent M & P greenhouses and garden centers will have better prices, more and different kinds of plants, and higher quality than a big box store, no matter what their advertising says!

[Old_Grey_Mare]

Our local community garden group was planning to sell seedlings but we just found out there is a law on the books here in Montana that to do that we have to get a $90 nursery license plus $25 application fee! Each person who grows needs one and each place where you sell them has to have one!

[Marcia in MT]

Old Grey Mare, please double check the nursery license requirement. Depending on how much you sell, you may not need a license as there is a cut-off point; below this amount, you will not need a license.

I know they require Hutterite colonies to have the license, but I've never heard of community groups being required to. Please contact the Montana Dept. of Agriculture as I'd hate to think that your great fundraiser idea wouldn't work!

[kruizeag]

I sell my 4 packs of vegetable seedlings for $3. Walmart and Lowes are a bit cheaper, but not as good quality. Yes, when you invest time and material to put them into bigger pots, you need to get more for them. I have seen them go for as much as $10 for a single tomato plant in a 10 inch pot at area farmers markets.

I did find fruit trees at a local grocery store (Food Lion). They were about 1.5 inches round and 6-8 feet tall. They only wanted $14 each for them. I wish I had a place to put them at that price. I would have bought a bunch! I thought that was a great price. We had bought some bare root fruit trees not much bigger than a twig a month prior for $10 each.

The bigger the pot the bigger the price. It has always been like that. The per plant price is much lower for the six and nine packs, but of course you get a much smaller plant. Many gardeners want big plants so are willing to pay big prices.

The annoying thing about this is that at some stores the three, four, six inch pots are ALL they have. No six or nine packs at all. At least here in North Florida this isn't limited to the big box stores. Bonnies Plants holds an enormous part of the market so whether you buy from Wally World, the local hardware store, feed & seed dealer, whatever chances are it's going to be Bonnie who grew the plants. There are a few places you can go to find non-Bonnie plants but their six and nine pack plants aren't all the much different in price.

.....Alan.

[Windy in Kansas]

One must remember that part of the increase in cost is do to higher energy costs to heat the greenhouses.

A news story the other day told that natural gas supplies are way up while usage is way down and most storage facilities are full. The story told that natural gas prices for the coming year may be down by as much as 75%. That means home heating will be down and also that it will be time to stock up on fertilizer as the price for it should come down dramatically for 2010. Doubt we see much reduction in cost of fertilizer this year. Trickle down should mean farmers can pay less for it so we might see food prices ease a little too. Either that or the stores will simply make more profit.

[edcopp]

I have a few large cherry tomato plants in 10" pots that are about 4 feet tall, complete with some tomatoes (still green) and lots of blooms. I only have a few. How much should I sell them for?

[ChristieAcres]

I had planted too many Egyptian Walking Onions before I completed my Garden Plan. We grow in Raised Beds, so I plan them each year carefully to utilize the space most efficiently. Here I am completing the plan realizing the BEST place to plant the Squash varieties is the 20 foot row that is completely Egyptian Walking Onions (8+ inches tall). Since I had even more than that, in another area, and found that I literally had 30 feet of them too many?

I offered them on Craigslist 6/$12.00 Now, I offered them potted w/dirt and actual plants, not bulbs. There were 6 to a pot. For a comparison? Territorial Seeds sells the clump of Bulblettes, that grows at the top of the Onions, for $16.95 AN OUNCE! I looked up these onions online and found almost all suppliers SOLD OUT. My price, being $2/plant, is actually quite reasonable in comparison. I was not trying to over-charge, on the contrary, but to pay myself something to dig them up, pot them, and include the dirt. No one has told me my price was too high, so I think I priced them correctly. I have had orders from out of town, too.

Since that went over well, I thought about my Chocolate Mint, which went ballistic, and took over an entire raised bed (ooops, thought it would be okay to leave it there just one season...). I literally dug up runners stretching over twelve feet. So, plopped the whole mess in a pile, but potted up a nice bunch of them next to that pile. I figured later I would decide what to do with it. Now, I had it figured out!

I went out there and gathered up runners, covered with emerging mint sprouts, and brought the big bowl in the house. I cut sections of the runners, with good sprouts, and potted up (16) of them. Then, I listed them 2/$5.00. I am in Seabeck WA, and have received orders from out of my area, including one from Idaho! I had a farmer tell me I wasn't making enough for the mint, so he was trading me some beef.

Earlier today, a fellow homesteader stopped by, bought (1) dozen Egyptian Walking Onions, and offered me a great 1lb bag of high quality black tea w/$12 in cash for them.

edcopp, I think you should check with your local stores/nurseries and see what they are charging and charge less. I researched Chocolate Mint and found $4.50 was the going rate for a 4 inch pot. So, my price of $2.50 per pot, is reasonable.

I think selling plants is very similar to selling chickens...

When you buy a chick, they cost the least. But as the chick grows older, there is more time invested, and of course the expense of food. At a certain point, a chicken is most highly sought for. I just paid $5 each for 7 week old Cuckoo Maran Hens, just this morning. Three weeks ago, I paid $20 each for Buff Orpington 21 week old hens (who just began laying). I chose not to buy baby chicks due to not being set up for them, not wanting to go through the experience (not yet), and their increased care needs.

There are people who don't want to plant the seeds, have to worry about keeping the soil moist, and simply "don't have or want to spend the time." Others, experiencing failures, choose to buy established plants. Others don't think they have the right place to start their own seedlings. Regardless of the reasons, the fact remains that more care is required, pots, soil, and time effects the value of the plants (older bearing plants are worth more). I'd be willing to pay double the price for a tree, if it was already bearing fruit over one that was not (even it would only take one year).

On growing your own vegetables or being part of a CSA? The US is no longer producing enough produce to feed the Citizens. Either because it is being exported or simply not being produced at quantities to supply; the needs are fulfilled by importing. I absolutely do NOT any of my food imported from another Country. We locally had Tarantulas in the grapes! Sold at Costco?! Seed suppliers are selling record numbers, and local nurseries are selling out of certain varieties (anything edible). More people are having vegetable gardens the first time here than ever before!

So, if you can start extra seedlings, share, trade, or sell them? Good for you! Utilizing propagation techniques to do the same- go for it!

When I told anyone I would have chickens, they asked to buy the eggs. When I told them I was an organic veggie gardener, they asked to buy the extra produce... Share the news about what you do, locally! Craigslist can be a great resource, too.

Happy Gardening!