Smile Blooms 🌸 & Growth 🌿 Update ▶ from SADE

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Mr.Fakename

Out of curiosity, have you considered working with botanical gardens or even professional growers?

You have countless rarities most people have never heard about, I'm sure you could give/sell seeds/old backbulbs.
That's a cool way to fund your addiction

Was never into preparing things for sale... I would not sell an old backbulb that hadn't already sprouted into a good plant. Seeds mostly don't happen, when they do I have to guess that they are random (probably selfings). I guess I'm spoiled, living near species growers like Andy's Orchids and (in normal times) having multiple shows available with international vendors. Along with online purchases of course. When I do have extra divisions, I usually just trade, or else donate to society auctions. (I have a new "cause" for donations, the Conservation Committee of the San Diego County Orchid Society uses the proceeds of sales at shows to fund grants to various conservation projects... they also have a species study group that I find well worth driving 2 hours each way once a month to attend) So I can share my addiction, even though it doesn't enhance my bank account.

[tmoney]

Originally Posted by Shadeflower

I have heard of one individual who created his own strains and started selling to one of the european nurseries - I think that is for everyone to decide.
I have so far not sold much at all, all I have is plants I have placed in a "to sell" pile mainly till now.

I know far ore others have on here so I am not a good person to ask but I live in the UK and we don't have many nurseries here, in Germany I would expect it to be a lot harder to entice buyers to buy from you..
That might be a genuine concern for german sellers.
Here warm growing phalaenopsis' for example are very hard to find so I know I can sell them on Ebay any time.

But if you are not specialised in doing it like a shop then getting the right boxes and cheap postage rates can be real tricky as with any small scale business.

At one point I wanted to sell eggs but for the amount I produce the hassle is just not worth the effort. Ie it would take more time every week than the money I could make to make it worthwhile

ah yes, the age old problem of having a hobby you want to make money from, but running a business isn’t a hobby and is a whole nother skill set. this is exactly why my hobbies have always stayed hobbies! im old enough to know that i need to stay in my lane

about that guy selling hybrids, im still fascinated by Fred clark and his orchid enterprise. i have similar respect for David Austin and his roses. i give a lot of credit to people who can breed new plants for sale, knowing what i know about hybridizing and the sheer numbers of plants that need to be grown to find “the one”. seriously, plant hybridization programs are a thing of true beauty to me. they deserve my money

[Roberta]

Do you know how to make a small fortune in orchids? ...

Start with a large fortune...

---------- Post added at 09:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 PM ----------

Hybridizers like Fred Clarke start with a collection of outstanding stud plants. That's why his tags list not only the species or grex of each parent, but the cultivars of those parents. Many of the parents have awards for flower quality, making for progeny that are also likely to be excellent. Crosses are made with a lot of forethought. Very much NOT random. Along with the time to grow in the flask, there are more years of nurturing hundreds or thousands of babies. He doesn't keep all the seedlings, either - there is a process for selecting the strongest, most likely to succeed. So while a cross may produce thousands of plantlets, only a hundred or hundred fifty will be kept to grow to selling size. (That's why when they're gone, they're gone. The goal is quality not quantity)

[tmoney]

for sure, i have utmost respect for those guys. and learning more over the last few months i realize we have bought a few new crosses without really realizing it. so it’s sort of fun to play the lottery with them a bit.

but yeah, commercially growing plants is such an expensive and challenging undertaking, not to mention the special lab requirements for orchid seed propagation, then there’s the greenhouses, etc. you know how expensive all this can get, plus then trying to secure good genetics is the other half of this game that most don’t realize. i was somewhat fortunate to learn this in my younger college days when i had several friends who were commercial growers of a somewhat less than savory herb. the genetics war in that game really opened my eyes to a world of plant cultivation i never knew existed

[SADE2020]

We as you've seen in the other thread I am experimenting with SH lecca

But my assistant is terribly confused, she doesn't know how to act with these balls, she can't steal them and bite them like pine bark when they fall to the ground ...