I have been growing tomatoes from seeds ever since I was about 10 years old. I learned most what I know from my mother and a bit from books and videos on gardening .
Every year for the past 8 years our family prepares for this tradition of selling tomato seedlings in the spring time. It is a lot of work but we actually enjoy working together with plants.
This year we sold close to 400 plants in three days and I think we could of sold much more if the weather didn't turned bad.
The first step of your sale is having a ton of fresh healthy tomato plants of course . You can grow all of them from seed your self or you can buy the seedlings from a grower.
Growing them from seed your self is not that difficult but you must know a bit of starting seeds indoors and have the right tools to start.
Buying your seedlings from a grower is probably the easiest for any one that want's to sell tomato plants as an extra income on the weekends.
I grow the seedlings myself , this way I have more control of the process and varieties to grow. People love the cherry types and that's what I sell the most. Another good type that I sell a lot is the beef steak kinds.
Below is the poster banner that we use for advertising our products , this was done last year:
After the seedlings have their first set of leaves I transplant them into 16 oz beer cups ( about 3 to 4 plants per cup ) . Then later as the plants are hardened off and had grown to 8 inches tall they are ready to be transplanted back into the same 16 oz cups but this time one for each container.
The soil that I use is called " Pro Mix " and it comes in a 3.5 cuft bale, I usually use one and half bales for all my potting ups.
As you transplant make sure you also give the plants a good drink of " 10-52-10 plant starter fertilizer " at a rate of 5ml of powder fertilizer to 1 liter of water.
After all the plants have been transplanted and there is no sign of frost in the weather forecast , I set the tomato plants into boxes and leave them outside over night and all day as much as I can, always watching for danger of frost.
From this point on all you have to do is post a sign on you house some where that your costumers will see and know where to go and buy your plants.
There is nothing fancy here, your plants will do the selling for you , make sure you get yourself some extra money to make change , there is a lot of costumers that will give you big bills and just buy a few plants but that's ok.
My plants display is on a latter sitting on two plastic containers plus I place plants on my deck for easy pickings.
Don't let your plants go dry, keep them always looking fresh and healthy.
This is the basic profit formula that I use to calculate the price of my plants:
Cost of materials ( divided ) by plants ( times ) 2 = Price per plant.
So if it cost you $100 dollars for cups, seeds, growing media etc., and you have 100 plants , that's 1 dollars , ( times ) 2 = $2 dollars per plant to sell.
My experience with selling is that I will sell for $3 to $4 dollars per plant.
If you are interested in growing and selling your tomato plants next year let me know if I can help you with the growing your own seedlings.
Thanks for reading.
For any of you who feel pitty for my lil bro, DONT!! His life is probably a whole lot funner than yours...
Your garden is ok but i’ll be posting tips for pros on my channel soon. Here’s a preview
I don't do mariguana but my methods are better than the pros with chemicals. I used to run a greenhouse and I know a few thing or two. Just hope you don't get in trouble growing all these plants but I have to say they look healthy.
This is how sandusky’s butthole will sound in prison. Chemicals should be the least of your worries!
I too have sold tomato and herb plants at various farmer's markets and you give very good information here. And have beautiful plants to prove it!
Basil plants also sell very well when people are planting tomatoes! They are also easy to grow from seed and like the same conditions tomatoes do.
Yes, basil sells and it is easy to grow from seed, I also sell cilantro and a basil combination six pack for $5,00 dollars. I grow a plum type tomato called " Rio Grande " that is excellent for salsas. I have an e-book that I sell for $3,00 dollars and it is full of tomato recipes. So I try to grow plants that I have a recipe for it. People just love to try the recipes and guess what? they'll buy those plants too. All the recipes in the e-book are my own and I make sure I include lots of pictures. This past week end was my biggest sell ever , we sold over 600 plants in three days plus I don't how many e-books and I still have some plants left over that I transplant to bigger pots , those plants will go on sell on the long week end in May. I love this hobby... :)
A basil and cilantro combo pack - what a great idea! I understand you live in a rather small town? Selling over 600 plants - people must have come from miles around! And your e-book - impressive all the way around! I hope you will post more tomato and gardening tips here.
Thanks, and yes I do have people coming from small towns that are close by , also I do have a few that buy 50 plants at once because all they want to do is grow tomatoes for sale. People know me and know how I grow the plants, plus they don't have to go to the city which is an hour and a half. The e-book is a simple one , I only have about 14 good recipes with pictures, that's it. Any one can do an e-book then you burn it on a cd or give them the Dropbox link to it , that simple. Growing 600 to 800 plants is a lot of work that is for sure, and you have to have the room. In my case I start a bit later around March 25th , as the weather heats up I start using the greenhouse that I have.
In the picture above , I only have a quarter of what I grow each year...but this is a nice hobby for any one that what's to make some extra cash.
I also have Kindle books on Amazon under " Marcel Victor " but I'm working on the links right now to change them to instant free bonuses and not the newsletter. I have some trouble with my autoresponder service and it made a mess with my gardening funnels, this makes me so mad..
But any how, thank you again and I will try to post some more gardening ideas later for any one out there interested in gardening.
I have entered you in the @payitforward contest as one of my three choices for bloggers who deserve attention.
My post - https://steemit.com/gardening/@donna-metcalfe/pay-it-forward-curation-contest-week-7
The link to the contest is in the post.
I can only say....Wow. Thank you.
You're welcome. It's a fun contest with some nice prizes.
And should bring your post viewers and votes!
You might consider entering, it's a weekly thing.
I had a tomato plant that produced and lived all winter and produced again before it died. I was amazed and have never had that happen. Great post. Keep on growing.
What climate zone you live in? Tomatoes will produce for a long time if they don't winter kill, and thank you.
Yes I live in 8b sometimes we do see temps in the teens but not that winter.
I wish I lived some where else , the winters are very long here in Alberta. The summers are so short and go by so fast. July 2017 was a record year for heat, the farmers did not do good with crops but I loved it. This year is starting to look the same hot and dry.
You are not alone on that one. I think a large number of people want to be some where else other than where they are.
The weather here in Florida can be ruff during the hurricane season. which runs from June 1 to November 30. Rain can be good and help things to grow but too much is no good either. Here in Florida even when it doesn't rain the humidity can be real bad on most days.
I want to know more about the warm weather, the palm trees , your plants ...not the hurricanes...oh no,,,thanks , I'm just kidding ,,,do you have pics of your gardens?
At this time I have no garden. I do have many plants in my yard. I love my banana trees it adds the tropical look. It is raining cats and dogs right now. No not really just a figure of speech. I will be post later some pics of them. After the rains we get plenty of these.....![mushrom.jpg] (
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I hope that you have a Blessed Day.
What a wonderful project. Thank you for sharing your method with us.
I found you through the pay it forward contest. @donna-metcalfe submitted this post as one of her entries, and well deserved submission.
I really enjoy sharing my gardening ideas and projects, it's so great to be here with you people, thank you.
@donna-metcalfe featured you in the PayItForward Curation contest . That is what brought me to your post
You broke this down very well and gave some good information/tips
Thank you.
Nice post, it is interesting to read how people can make a few extra dollars on home garden products. I agree for just munching off the plant cherry tomatoes are great.
I found your post courtesy of @donna-metcalfe featuring you in her "Pay it Forward" contest post.
I thank you , gardening for me has been a very enjoyable journey. I hope I can give my son some interest in what I do with gardening, what I see in the young generation is something that scares me to no end and that's the internet and their phones. The young now a days live online and I believe they are losing reality. In the garden I can create my own world and be at peace with myself but that's actually real,. Let me know how you feel and it is nice to meet you.
What an awesome post! I grew up on a tomato farm in Southern Ontario, so this brings back a lot of memories for me :)
I found your post because @donna-metcalfe included it in her entry for the Pay it Forward Curation Contest. You should think about joining us next week :)
Thank you, I lived in Burlington - Ontario for a few years as a young boy on a tobacco farm , I loved Ontario . Just like you I have many memories to the farm life. I'm new to this platform and I don't really know my way around. Every one is telling me to join the contest but really " how do I do this ? ". Thank you again.
I had relatives who grew tobacco in Delhi. Farm life...pretty tough but boy, you end up with a good work ethic!
The contest will begin again tomorrow. Just watch for the latest post from @thedarkhorse and all the rules etc. will be there. Here's a link to last week's so you know what to look for :)
I am also a member of a couple of Discord groups who welcome, support and mentor new folks here. If you are interested in joining, let me know and I'll get you the invite links. It's a great way to develop your community as well, get to know more people.