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Greenhouses & Garden Structures

profitable greenhouse crops...

19 years ago

I was thinking of putting up a few greenhouses to supplement our income.. What'ts the most profitable crop that can resonably be grown in the greenhouse? I figure maybe tomatoes in the winter. Do you folks have suggestions to the most profitable crops? (with the least amount of overhead)

Bill in SC

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Comments (8)

stef239
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Bill,

I was told by our local co-op produce manager last year that if I brought her small bell peppers (the ones that come in different colors), she'd buy them all from me - for a good price.
I sold them some of my chile peppers because last fall I had more than I knew what to do with, and she mentioned something like "if you really want to make money, grow small bell peppers instead of chile peppers".

Stef
billinsc
Original Author
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The peppers seem interesting, and they are easy and quick to grow and yield quite well.. I will put them on my "things to consider" folder. I anxiously await other replies pertaining to other crops I might consider. I do realize that it will probably take about 4 years to realize a profit with a new greenhouse. I also realize the amount of work it will take to get going and maintain.. One good thing about it is that it won't seem like work, as growing things is my favorite pastime!! (: Bill in SC
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Dorothy, Last spring I forgot to bring in the lemon and orange trees when we got back very late from a fire one night. They sat outside all night in what was forecast to be a 28 degree night, but was actually a 23 degree night. When I found them frozen outside the next morning, I figured they were dead. However, I left them in a sunny, sheltered location and watered them and hoped for the best. Within a couple of days of that 23-degree night, they were putting out new growth. After they leafed out, I pruned away the obviously dead branches, leaving the citrus trees half their original size, but at least they survived. They rode out this last winter blast in the sunroom and in the garage and are fine. They were too weakened by freezing in the spring to flower and set fruit, and likely won't do so for another couple of years, but at least they still are alive and growing. I hope your guava bounces back like my citrus trees did. I kept greens going all winter last year in our greenhouse, but didn't bother this year because we were busy with fires when I should have been starting seeds for winter greens. I also had them in the cattle trough by the garage and, as long as I covered them on up cold nights, the greens in the outdoor trough actually performed better than the ones in the greenhouse. There were days when the greenhouse got so hot in the winter sun that some of the greens started bolting prematurely. I learned I can have either cool-season plants in the greenhouse in winter or warm-season ones, but cannot have both at once, unless I put up a wall to divide the greenhouse into a hot zone and a cool zone. We had a huge winter garden last year, and I kinda miss it this year, but I don't miss having to run out there in the late afternoon and throw row covers over stuff on especially cold nights. It is likely I'll plant a winter garden next year as long as we aren't in drought at planting time because I really miss having one this year, but with all the ice and snow falling this year and with the bitterly cold outdoor temperatures, an outdoor winter garden here this year likely would already have frozen. Last year it didn't freeze until late winter. I did notice yesterday that the catnip growing in the garden was sticking up out of the ice that still covered the ground, and it was beautifully green and didn't look damaged at all. I'd like to think that as today's rain melts the ice, I'll find more pleasant surprise plants in the garden, but I don't really expect to. Leslie and Larry, I've used low tunnel hoops similar to what Dorothy described, and you do have to fight the rodents all winter. I've had better success in winter growing greens in a cattle trough that sits about 20" above ground on metal legs. Rabbits can reach the green stuff growing in it if they stand on their hind legs and stretch, but the trough otherwise is too tall for rodents, etc. to get in there and devour the crops. Our trough has hoops over it and I keep bird netting over it all the time. The bird netting keeps birds and bunnies from eating the greens and lettuce, and the bird netting and the hoops that support it give me a sort of framework, so I can quickly toss winter-weight floating row cover over the entire trough in just a minute or two. Last year, when temperatures went down into the teens, I'd throw a couple of moving blankets (bought cheap from Harbor Freight) over the hoops for more cold protection. My greenhouse is a hoop house and I love it. We will have to replace the 6 mm greenhouse plastic in a few years, but I feel like the Aluminet shade cloth will help that greenhouse plastic last longer than it otherwise would have. In the late winter and early spring when the raging winds are the big issue for small seedlings, all my seedlings in flats are warm and secure in the greenhouse, which is the main reason we built it to begin with. Before we built it, it was a struggle every year to harden off seedlings raised indoors because the wind was so hard on them. I've lost many more seedlings to harsh wind during the hardening off process than to cool air temperatures. In a perfect world I would be at home when the winds were fierce and just would move all the plants out of the wind.Here in the real world though, when winter and spring winds are blowing strongly, we're often out a wind-driven wildfires, and I cannot just drop everything and run home to put up my plants, of course. Also, once the plants were hardened off well-enough to stay outside almost 24/7, I still would have to carry flat after flat of seedlings back indoors if an extra-cold night threatened. Since the light shelf is upstairs in a spare bedroom, I made oodles of trips up and down those stairs. I haven't had to do that since we built the greenhouse. I just move all the flats of plants that were outside hardening off right back into the adjacent greenhouse and close the doors. It has saved me tons of time these last few springs. For low tunnels, we use a hoop bender we purchased online. You can use it to turn electrical conduit into the support hoops for a low tunnel in no time at all. Before we bought it, we just used rebar as anchors and bent PVC pipe to run across the rows from one piece of rebar to another and that works fine too. I still use some of my PVC hoops in spring, but when they get brittle and break, we will replace them with EMT hoops. Last spring I had hoops over many of the rows of veggies in the garden, with bird netting over each hoop. The bird netting was more for hail protection than bird protection. 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I am a small scale version of what everyone has mentioned above. I live inner city and only on one acre and most of it is woods. Also I don't want my backyard to look like a production range for a nursery - so I only grow for market in two small areas (one in the sun, and one in the shade). I've sold for the last two years at a large flea market in the city, next year I will be at a farmer's market in another suburb. I can sell about a third of whatever I bring to market on most days and on a good day sell half. I sell bedding plants and small trees as well as tropicals and produce from my veggie/herb garden. I don't make enough to quit my day job but I more than make enough to support my hobby. The best part about gardening as a hobby is that I have a constant supply of fresh food (I garden all year; in two hoop houses during the winter), a fun part time job to make extra money and one that doesn't feel like "work"; and plenty of personal garden-related gifts for holidays and birthdays for friends and family - I always have something to share. Plenty of people try to make a living from growing things, succeeding at it is often difficult. It all depends on how much money you want to make and how hard you want to work. The biggest lesson I've learned is that there is a difference between growing plants and selling plants. Its easy to grow plants. Its harder to sell plants.
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mylu
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Are you currently a grower? (if so ignore the rest)
What are you trying to accomplish? What's your goals?
Are you looking to wholesale G/H veggies or retail spring flower sales? What's the market in your area? What needs to be filled? Do you have folks ready to purchase the product before you started growing or will you try to sell after you have the crop ready? How big are you houses going to be? Is it ok to build these houses on your property? Have you got your growers licenses yet?
I could go on and on.
Your question is a little vague (that's ok I do it too)
Please help us out and we can suggest away.
All our crops are profitable "if we sell them all" And what do you consider profitable? Are you planning on living on the income?
Let us know.
dutch_sk
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Bill
i have seedlings 2" tall,got the seeds from peppers
i bought from Costco, how tall do these plants grow
could not
find these seeds in any catalogue i have
so no information
john
Patris
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
You might try the Market forum here. They have lots of info on what to grow in different areas. They also have help with pricing, packing, and marketing.

Hope this helps and love your eagerness!

Here is a link that might be useful: Market forum
billinsc
Original Author
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Sorry I was so vague Mylu. Once again, I was just thinking of putting up a few greenhouses (3 or 4) approximately 30X20. I have the property and the other issues such as license, etc. should pose no problem. I mainly want to supplement our income. If I could realize $200 to $300 per month profit, I would be happy. If I could make more than that, I would be estatic! Tomatoes were selling for over 3 bucks per pound here last winter. I grow tomatoes quite well outside, and was hoping to be able to grow them in a greenhouse just as easily. I surely could sell all I could grow in the winter. I could use one greenhouse to propagate hardwood cuttings of boxwoods and such, which I realize would take at least 4 years to turn a profit. Also with the cuttings greenhouse, all I would have to do is keep it above freezing, and not as warm as I would a veggie greenhouse. I was mainly interested in finding out what the absolute MOST PROFITABLE greenhouse crop is. Surely there are some crops that realize huge profits, while other crops are best avoided. I am flexable and could go in any PROFITABLE direction. I was also thinking of heating the greenhouses with wood heaters placed outside the greenhouses with the flue pipe running the length of the greenhouse overhead. I realize I may need humidifiers with this setup, and I welcome any pros and cons to wood heat. It would seem that I could save an enormous amount of money heating with wood as I cut my own and have plenty of it. I was also thinking of making my own compost on a large scale, as growing medium can be quite costly. Any and all ideas will be studied and appreciated..
Bill in SC
mylu
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Not a problem I love this type of conversation. I just posted this on another thread.

Rule one:
The Smaller the house the harder it is to control the environment.
Rule two:
Always buy the widest house you can. You can always go longer.
Rule Three: (forgot to add this one on my other post)
Always have a backup plan for heat, electricity, water. They will go out and it will happen.

Buy two bigger houses instead of the smaller. In the long run it's more cost effective. So this option would lead you down the road for more profit.

Zone 7. You should be able to grow toms with out much heating at night but the crop will grow better with warmer nights. Then you have to think about pollination. Get the bees ready! Or hand pollinate 200 to 300 toms.

Talk to some restaurants in your area and see if they will be interested in you supplying them with fresh greens and herbs. Find out what they use and get them to agree to purchase your produce before your grow it. No wasted space on things you thought they would like. I would think if you could talk them in to you supplying all thier needs you both will be better off.

As for the boxwoods. Propagate them in the fall but then wouldn't you move them outside to over winter them in a cold frame? Better yet you could plant them in the ground and sell field grown crops. That would give you new starts every year and always keep your supply (in four years coming) It will also clear out the house for your winter veggies.

Definitely setup an auto irrigation setup. With all that growing you won't have the time to hand water. Another money saving solution. Don't forget the fertilizer injector.

To keep the income coming all year you are going to have to setup different crops in the different houses. And plant them/move them accordingly.

As for profitability per crop. I'm not sure if that can truly be answered. At our nursery we make little profit on our veggies but that brings in the farmers and their wives who just have to have a planter or something else that catches their eye. Our goal is to make a profit off every thing we sell and then add it up at the end of the year.

Wood heat. What is your reason for wanting to use it?
My list of Pros and cons.
Pros. Hmm IÂm thinkingÂ
No propane bill
No propane bill
Environmentally friendly? Depends on who you are talking to.
No propane billÂ.
Ok thatÂs all I got.

Cons.
Heat Fluctuates
Have to cut a lot of wood.
Hard to set up maintain/clean
Harder to disperse the heat through out the green house.
Have to solve the hot ash on the plastic issueÂ
Have to go in the rain and cold to add wood
Have to cut a lot of wood.
Have to cut a lot of wood.
Have to cut a lot of wood.
Have to cut a lot of wood.

If youÂre wanting to be profitable you need to control as many aspects of your growing as you can. Leave nothing to chance. Your fire WILL go out on the ONE night it freezes and you WILL lose your crops to freeze. MurphyÂs LawÂ.
Not that this wonÂt happen with a propane heater but itÂs less likely.

Diversify or specialize. ThatÂs the nicheÂ.
LynnCanGrowIt
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi Bill. Please contact your County Extension Agent and ask for advise locally. If you have a saavy Agent, they can provide a wealth of information.

I'm unsure where you are located or what your customer base would be. There are many possibilities to supplement your income with home-based businesses, as you know, but without a customer base, you have no sales. Would your cusomter base be wholesale and/or retail? With retail, there is usually more work, however, there is a higher return for your labor.

Diversity would be prudent but will also add to your work load. I have a number of friends with successful GH business endeavors. Their business are:

1. Perennial plants started from seed in early August, then 'overwintered' in a large hoop GH with no heat (Zone 6/7). In early spring, these plants begin to emerge and are sold retail at nearby garden shows/markets. Delivery, set-up, retail sales involved.

2. GH tomatoes, grown in cold months w/ wood-heated hoop GH, and sold wholesale to nearby processing facility for tomato dried retail market. Delivery and wholesale sales involved.

3. Fresh produce (both organic and conventional farming methods) sold to area restaurants. Involves requests for the restaurant fare, 'special orders', and scheduled delivery to restaurants.

4. Fresh produce (both organic and conventional farming methods) for road-side retail marketing.

5. Vegetable seedlings for sale to retail customers. On-site retail sales.

6. Annual flowers grown for wholesale dried-flower market. Includes delivery to wholesaler for purchase, some heat required for germination in springtime. Flowers can be transplanted for field-grown annuals if space available.

Hope these ideas help.

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