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rules about plant sales?
#1
Someone here must know the answer --

I have this property with all sorts of great plants, the old standards and some more unusual, AND I really need money. [:0]

Is it only nurserymen who can propagate plants or sell them?
Mine would be cheaper than the nursery.
God knows I've spent thousands of dollars to acquire all these plants.
Was just wondering if it was feasible to make a little back and provide a service.

I went out today to get plants to finish this pond area I'm doing and a few other touches, and I must have spent $150. [Sad]

I have a lot of plants to draw on, like I said, but for this area I didn't have the right ones nor time to wait for the cuttings even if I did.

So what do you think? I know people give away cuttings, and I've given away lots of them in my time, but ... it seems I'm usually giving away my stuff and paying full price what I get and it's created a slight cash flow problem. <cough> [:p]
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#2
Why not call it a Garage Sale?

Aloha pumehana,
Brian and Mary
Lynnwood, WA\Discovery Harbour
Aloha pumehana,
Brian and Mary
Lynnwood, WA\Discovery Harbour
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#3
Kathy, do you have Areca Palms or Hibiscus?
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says

"Oh Crap, She's up!"
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#4
I know that Garden Exchange buys plants from backyard growers, but they pay wholesale which is a lot lower than retail. Many of the plant sellers at Makuu are backyard growers too.

Carol
Carol

Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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#5
Our ohana has been using plants to make food for years!

We have had many offers for money for these food products but typically we trade or barter with them.

Awa used to be a big seller until the Germany Scare.

I guess as long as your not selling Pakalolo, I don't know why there would be much problems.

Have you seen all the people selling plants at Farmers Market?

-------
General Election Unofficial Poll
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#6
Hi Kathy,

Caution, lengthy response!

There is a long tradition in most places of sharing plants or propagating them to sell at a swap meet or farmer's market. I'd hate to see that go away completely, and i can tell from your posts that you are a caring gardener and general plant person.

That said, I feel it's important to give some cautionary advice. The biggest risk you are taking is that your plants are not subject to inspection like commercial nurseries are. One of the ways that so many of our really serious pests (nettle caterpillar, Little Fire Ant, coquis) have been spread is by the movement of plant material around the island. This does not mean that commercial nurseries are perfect -- far from it, but most of take our responsibility to not spread problems very seriously. It would not be fun to have a customer really angry at you for selling them an infected plant.

As a certified nursery, we are subject to inspections (including soil samples) twice a year, and are also inspected for nearly everything that comes around -- Light Brown Apple Moth, Nettle Caterpillars, Fire ants, phytopthera rumora (Sudden Oak Death), and whatever's new around the corner. So, if you are going to go on with plans to propagate for sale, then do careful observation of your plants, use clean containers, and keep them in a clean environment (off the ground). Before anything goes off your place, inspect it carefully for pests and disease. Keep yourself informed about new pests and about the nurserymen's code of conduct about not selling invasive species. The end result of that is also that you'll be a better grower/gardener for it in the long run. I know that getting serious about our nursery business has improved my skills very much!

A point about the costs of plants in retail nurseries... those costs must cover any labor, the wholesale price of the plants or the expense of growing plants out from seed or cuttings, insurance, shrinkage and other loss, energy, taxes and the costs of land and buildings, and last but not least, a small wage for the owner. No one's in the small nursery business to get rich -- there are certainly easier ways to do so!
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#7
I sell plants on eBay. Kinda like turning yard rubbish into cash. You have to take the plant/cutting/seeds to the inspection station in Hilo (around the corner from Tyke's Laundromat) along with the box it is going to be mailed it. They inspect it for free, write down your address and the address on the box, then let you tape it up in the box (bring tape). After it is sealed, they put red stamps all over it and then you can mail the box away.

Let's see, the plants have to be bare root (all dirt washed off and roots wrapped in moist newspaper and plastic) and you can't send plants with roots to Arizona, Lousiana, Texas and California, is it? There's four states which can't get roots, I'd have to go check.

I was doing well selling sprouted coconuts on eBay (this was several years ago) then someone else swiped my advertisement (how rude!) and started selling coconuts cheaper so it wasn't worthwhile to take them all the way to the inspection station anymore.

If you grow fruits and vegetables, you can sell that real well!

"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales." 
Kurt Wilson
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#8
The bare-root part of it is because of the root nematodes. Louisiana, California and Florida are the most stringent, and the rules for us shipping to the mainland are based on them. In order to ship plants to the mainland, we must grow in a non-soil mix. Plants must be on benches at least 18" off the ground, cuttings taken at least 1' off the ground, pruners or other tools never touch the ground. For our certification, we are inspected twice a year, and during one of them, they take soil samples from each bench. If any of the particular nematodes are found, the plants on that bench would have to be removed and not shipped at all. If all is well, then we can ship rooted plants to the mainland. Hotkatz, your plants were probably grown in soil, which is why they would have to be bare-rooted and no roots to those few states.

Jane
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#9
This is America! (last time I checked) you can sell any thing you own for any amount of money someone is willing to pay. Providing it is not a controled substance visavis ATF, FDA, etc.

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#10
POst when you go to sell the orchids!! They are my weakness. And the only thing I can grew dispite my brown thumb.
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