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I'm thinking of starting my own carnivorous plant nursery

  • #21
That's really inspiring phil. Thanks for sharing. I've been selling my spares at farmers' markets for a while and was getting a little pessimistic. I get curious buyers, but only rarely do I come across genuine plant-types or people interested in learning and applying themselves towards a new hobby. I'll definitely look in to visiting some flower shows and the like - I hadn't really given it much thought before, but it makes a lot of sense.
~Joe
 
  • #22
You're welcome Joe.

Yes, we've done the farmer's market before and like your experience..can be most disheartening. What I find to work best at any plant show or farmer's market is the material you have to sell. Is it the best example of its type? Is it something an avid gardener thinks looks like the most beautiful and unusual flower? The plant should be able to partially sell itself. By partially I mean simply...Do you show great zeal and enthusiasm about the plants? I find the more passionate my sales pitch the more plants fly off the table.

I've had folks fill out customer comment cards before and many times they will say one of the reasons they bought the plant was because I/we were so excited about them and gave good growing advice...along with easy to follow care sheets. You can almost always find hordes of people at our tables because we conduct small demonstrations/mini seminars.

Taking one of my Sarr hybrids for example..I can give a small talk about the plant, how I created it, how the colors will intensify, what the plant will look like next year, etc...and the next thing you know poeple are literally pushing each other out of the way to grab one.

My partner and I sell at the Huntington Botanical Gardens annual plant show/sale every year in Pasadena, CA. I's a very high end event held on the grounds of the Huntington Estate. We've been rated the most popular and I believe also the largest revenue taker. Thousands of people come through and to date we have sold out nearly every plant, every year. It's so insane at times that we don't have time to eat. The director of the botanical garden would often stop by and ask if he could get us any help or something to eat because the crowds were getting so big! We just love talking about these plants...obviously.

Being that this is a plant collector's paradise we do very well. So it does help if you can get involved where avid gardeners/plant collectors congregate. I think as far as sales go it really pays off to be comfortable with public speaking. Speak loud enough and with enough energy to draw a crowd and the plants will leap off the table. Especially successful is doing a VFT demonstration. Kids who are present will tear their parent's arm off just to get one after they see the strange 'bitey plant'

If you're lucky and it's late spring/summer time you could have a yellow jacket or a fly visit your table and the customers can watch the plants in action without your intervention. We've sold tons of Sarrs after a crowd watched a big yellow jacket or two get swallowed up. It works like magic! I remember a family watched a vft catch a fly all by itself. They just HAD to have that plant because it was eating something fresh!! I'll never forget the 'gasp' followed by, "they really DO eat bugs".
LOL!!
 
  • #23
Excellent. I think I'll have much better luck in the coming season, as I have a lot more plants this year than last, including temperates and such. On warm, sunny days I always did really well without a lot of effort. My pitch is usually pretty enthusiastic, but sometimes I worry about coming off as the "weird plant dude" so I try to set my tone to whatever kind of response I'm getting. I'll try ramping up the enthusiasm a little more, though. Basically my pitch regarding CPs is that growing them properly is simpler than most easy houseplants. Is there distilled water standing in the tray? When you look at the light source, does it hurt your eyes? If so, you're good. No fertilizers, or sticking your finger in the pot each day waiting for it to dry. That's what made it possible for me to put together as large a collection as I have today.
I'm really excited about this Spring. I have lots of big Sarrs and plenty of VFTs. With any luck, I'll have some Nep cuttings too... I haven't had a totally sold-out day yet, but I think I might see one this year once the sun comes out. A big problem is that most of the time I've been out it's been either crummy weather or days when not many people are at the venue. I'll have many easier days ahead, though. I can't wait until the biology department at my college starts talking about it - I've already had a few cliques come my way and they're all great customers.
Spontaneous feedings are really great. I had a middle school group at my stand last Summer and some flies or mosquitos or something had been visiting my plants all day. Their teacher bought one right off the bat and then as I was telling them about it, one of the kids saw a fly get stuck on a D. capensis, which was followed by this huge uproar. I sold two or three more plants to their teacher and the other chaperone after that. The reactions are priceless - more than worth an afternoon sitting in the cold or the rain every once in a while. Even if I never make a business of it, I'll still think of it as a perk of putting genuine effort into my hobby.
~Joe
 
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