How to Start a Plant Nursery Business

We all prefer to live in beautiful and fresh surroundings. Everyone has enough knowledge of fashion in every context. We wish to remain close to nature and at the same time, we want our places to look beautiful. But due to certain reasons, many of us scared to try hands-on planting. The list of reasons may start with lack of space, inappropriate or less knowledge, or anything.

So, if you have dreamt of starting your plant nursery but are not aware of important aspects, this article is for you. We have tried to cover different aspects associated with How to Start a Plant Nursery Business. You will get to know about the scope of starting a plant nursery and the other benefits related to it. The nursery business is profitable and can run it easily by moving correctly.

Requirements of Nursery Business

Every business has its requirements. You can start a plant nursery with minimum investment. You would not require many raw materials or expensive machinery to start a plant nursery.

Land

The first requirement of starting a plant nursery is, land. You need to check the availability of suitable land for your nursery. Instead of hiring land, you can utilize your backyard for the same. All you need is fertile soil that is encapsulated with enough moisture and nutrition. Make sure the nature of the soil is not toxic.

You can grow multiple plants in your nursery. For those purposes, you would require a variety of soils. A small investment would be required for the purchase of soil. You need to learn different methods of growing plants. It would be advisable to go for traditional methods.

Woody stem

If you are planning to start a nursery, you would require few stems. These stems can be purchased from gardening firms or can be directly cut from shrubs. You need to learn the process of cutting stems from shrubs.

When you cut the stem, cut it straight at the bottom and diagonally at the top. The stems should contain three nodes. You can also go for segregation of stems for maintaining the difference while planting.

Sand

Some plants may also require sand. Usually, woody plants require a lot of sand. The requirement of sand depends on the type of plants you want to grow.

Water

Can you even imagine planting without water? The answer is No. It is implausible to start a plant nursery without checking the availability of water. The land you have chosen must get enough water. You need to learn different methods of watering different plants. Different plants require a different amount of water. You need to check the moisture content of soil and the plant you are planning to grow.

Manure

Your body requires nutrition. The same is the case with plants. The manure provides plants with the required nutrition. The choice of the manure should be done cautiously. One of the most important point to be considered while choosing manure is nitrogen content.

Most of the manures are composed of heavy amounts of nitrogen that makes the leaves brown and stunted instead of beautifying them. It is advisable to use manure instead of fertilizer as manure adds a lot more than nutrition to the soil.

Tools and equipment

It is understood that planting requires simple tools. The number and the type of tools depend on the type of plants you are planning to grow in your nursery. If you are growing woody plants, it would be advisable to use fewer and simple tools.

Soil

You cannot start a nursery with soil. All you need to do is choose the category of plants you are planning to grow. The type of plants you would want to grow will decide the type of soil you should go for. The price of the soil may vary based on the qualities.

Manpower

It is not necessary to hire a big staff to run a nursery. At the initial level, you can even learn the tact and acquire the required knowledge to run the nursery on your own. You can go for enhancing manpower when you will plan to expand. Or if you are beginning at a bigger level, you can hire people accordingly.

What do you want to sell?

So, you are well- aware of the requirements of starting a plant nursery. The next thing to decide is the type of plants you want to grow in your nursery. The purchase of soil, manure, fertilizers everything depends on the type of plants you are planning to grow. Either you can go for woody and herbaceous plants, or shrubs, ornamental trees. As these plants have high commercial values. It would be advisable to grow woody plants.

After selecting the type of plants, the next thing you need to know is the steps of starting your nursery. Here we go with a stepwise description to start a nursery.

1. The first step of starting a nursery is the extraction of seeds. The seeds should be extracted without destroying a fully grown fruit.
   
2. The next step is to use the extracted seeds for plantation. The seeds are required to sowed in germination trays or seedbeds for growing. This step should be conducted carefully.
   
3. The third step includes transferring saplings to little storage units or polybag pots. The main plant should also get enough care as it is used for seasonal propagation.
   
4. Everything grows properly when it is provided with due care. Now you need to maintain the saplings. You need to take care of saplings by watering them regularly and preventing them from pests.
   
5. You need to act like a parent. You need to take care of everything related to the plant. Different factors that should be taken care of include, required elements of soil, which season is best for which species, what makes them grow faster, and many more.
   
6. If you have completed the aforementioned steps, your plant is ready to be sold.

This is the general process of growing a plant in the nursery. It is advisable to grow woody plants for commercial purposes. Here is a stepwise guide to growing woody plants. The reason for providing a stepwise description of woody plants is- it is profitable to grow woody plants.

• The very first thing you need to do is to prepare the soil bed with the necessary elements. Divide it into narrow lines if you are planning to grow more than one species.
  
• The next step is to dig the soil at 2 feet depth. This should be the height of the stem that you are going to plant. After digging it, fill the quarter height of it with sand.
  
• Now, plant the stems into the soil with proper space. Spacing is very important as the growth of one may get hindered due to another.
  
• The next step is to cover the hollow space with soil. After putting in soil, tap it properly to make it flat.
  
• After planting is done, the plant now requires water regularly or as per its requirement.

You must know how to take care of the plant you are growing. You can use fertilizers, manure to speed up or smoothen the process of growing a plant. Using fertilizers and manure can affect your plant greatly. Another point of concern is- what should be chosen manure or fertilizers? Or the combination would be better?

Manure vs Fertilizers

Before beginning with the comparison between manure and fertilizers, let us get acquainted with what manures and fertilizers are?

• Manuring is the process of adding natural or chemical sources of nutrients to the crop. Natural sources include animal waste, waste of plants and humans. They get decomposed to produce manure.
  
• Fertilizers, on the other hand, are chemical compounds that include salts or organic compounds like Urea, ammonium sulfate, sodium nitrate, or others.

Here we go with the comparison of manure and fertilizers

• Manure is a natural substance, while fertilizers may be artificial or natural.
• Manure is obtained from decomposed human, plant and animal waste on the other hand fertilizers contain chemicals.
• Manure Improves water holding capacity, aeration, and texture of the soil, while fertilizers speed up the growth of plants.
• Manure is prepared in fields, while fertilizers are produced in factories.
• Manure provides humus to the soil and fertilizers don’t. Fertilizers are rich in plant nutrients, while manure is not.
• Manure is comparatively cheaper. So, if you have a tight budget you can begin with manure.
• Manure does not harm the quality of soil while fertilizers can harm the organisms in the soil.

So, the comparison shows manure is better than fertilizers. As it is obtained naturally and increases the activity of microbes in soil and also increases its fertility. On the other hand, fertilizers may deteriorate the quality of the soil.

One of the most important questions arising in your mind must be why? Why should I learn this? Why should I do this? Does it have any scope further? We, at traffic tail, try to answer every question of our readers. Here is the scope of starting this business.

Scope of Nursery Business

Many people are scared of executing their dream of starting a nursery business because they are not sure, whether it is profitable to start this business or not. Does it have a good future? The answer is yes.

The scope of the nursery business is increasing day by day. The quality of the present lifestyle is the biggest supporter of this business. People love to purchase plants for their homes and offices. The area of the scope is not restricted. The list of areas where these plants can be used include-

1. Bouquet Shops– Bouquet shops can be cited as the biggest supporter of the nursery business. Bouquets are no longer confined to flowers. Creatives use stems and other parts of plants. Woody bouquets are sold at a higher price. So, yeah you can sell stem to bouquet shop owners.

2. Containers– You can sell your stem to firms that use them for manufacturing small containers or baskets.

3. Designers– You can also sell your saplings or stems to designers or people. People prefer to use plants to decorate their homes or offices. Many-a-times people purchase certain plants, as they consider they think they bring good luck.

4. Crafts Business firms– Your products can be used to prepare different decorative articles for the home. You can sell your plants to craft business firms.

This is how you can sell your plants. All you need to do is learn all the tact and techniques to sell the product. You need to hunt for ways of spreading your nursery business. You need to choose your customers. One of the criteria for selling your plants could be the quantity. You can choose customers based on the quantities you will sell.

• Selling as raw materials– You can sell your plants or stems as raw materials. The margin should be less in such cases as you are selling it as raw material. You can make a contract with crafting business firms and supply them with products regularly.
  
• Selling to sellers– You can also sell your plants to other sellers. Not all sellers produce and sell. Some prefer to buy from others. You can supply these sellers.
  
• Selling to designers– You can also sell your woody plants or other plants to designers. They use plants and other materials for preparing home décor items.
  
• Selling for Ayurvedic use– If you are producing herbaceous plants, you can sell them to people or doctors who make ayurvedic medicines.
  
• Sell yourself– You can produce and sell. You can present your plants attractively and sell them directly to the customers. This will cut middlemen. You can sell ornamental plants for gift purposes. You can also sell them for growing purposes. People buy plants for growing them in their homes.

This is how you can sell your plants. And now you must have got an idea about the scope of the nursery business. It requires less investment and results are fruitful.

Most profitable plants to grow

Plants vary based on their commercial values. If you are planting for a home nursery, you can go for the plants you love or you always wanted to grow. But when you are growing it for business, you should know about a few plants that are profitable to grow. Here we go with the list of plants that have high commercial value.

• Saagwan– These species of plants have high commercial values. They are getting extinct as they have been destructed for a long. This is a woody plant and the wood obtained from this plant is of great quality.
  
• Bamboo– Bamboo is a woody plant, that has great commercial values. It grows quickly. It can be grown in a nursery and can be sold at a good price. So, if you are planning to run a nursery business, make sure you are growing bamboo.
  
• Herbs– Growing herbs is a good idea! You must be knowing the health benefits associated with herbs. People prefer herbal products a lot. You can either sell for further growth or you can make contracts with industries that use herbs to manufacture their products.

Choosing a location

Usually, people have their personal locations to grow plants for nursery business. In case, you are free to choose the location, keep the following factors in your mind-

• Land you choose must have fertile soil. The soil should be tillable, well-drained, and must have good water-holding capacity.
• Soil should be fertile and contain high organic-matter content (3-5%).
• It should be free from obstacles like large stones, hard pans or shale in the root zone.

All of the above factors should be kept in mind while choosing land for your plant nursery business.

Target Market

Defining target market is a must. It is not possible to start a business without choosing a target market. While selecting a target market for your nursery business, you need to consider this-

• Who is the customer? – You need to find an answer to this question, whom are you going to sell your plants. It depends on several factors like location, type of business, location of the market, and many more. You need to check which income group is the best for your nursery business. You should choose your location accordingly.
  
• Now that you have selected your target market, the next step is to get acquainted with their preferences. As we all know, the customer is king. So, you need to keep a market-oriented approach even in the nursery business. Get to know their preferences through questionnaires or other suitable methods.
  
• Can you avoid the trend? The answer is no. From garments to make-up, from decorative items to nursery every business moves according to the trend. You should remain updated with what is prevailing in the market. You need to develop an adaptive attitude if you want to run a nursery business smoothly. You can use local and national industry association data and other commercial publications data to remain updated with the trend.
  
• You need to use your sixth sense to run a plant nursery. You need to anticipate the future and grow plants accordingly. Although you can find numerous sources to guide, eventually, it is your business, and you have to run it.
  
• Every business requires promotion. A plant nursery needs that too. You need to promote the plants you feel are outstanding and can fetch good revenue.

The next point is HOW CAN I ATTRACT CUSTOMERS?This question disturbs the owners of the nursery. People hesitate to enter this business, as they lack knowledge about the same. So, traffic tail is here to help you.

You can use both traditional and digital methods to attract customers. Traditional methods that can be used to attract customers include-

• If you are producing and selling then you can focus on presentation. You can use decorative items and creative ideas to grab the attention of the users. You can use woody plants, ribbons, or other materials to fetch the attention of the customers.
  
• You can do it by word of mouth. You can ask your friends and family to make people aware of your business.
  
• You can make contracts with craft business firms or other businesses to sell your products.
  
• Choose your target locations wisely. This is the key. Go for the locations where there is more use of these products.
  
• Find the places where people are willing to spend money on such things.

Digital methods to promote your nursery business

By following traditional methods, you can cover your area or the nearby places. If you want to experience sizeable growth, you should resort to digital methods. We, at Traffic Tail, holds expertise in helping businesses to grow. We understand the requirements of your business and would guide you accordingly. Here is a list of digital methods that can be used to attract customers.

• Having a website– Make sure your website is attractive. This is a kind of business where you need to be eye candy. Your website should be informative as well as creative.
  
• Social Media– The list of digital methods is incomplete without the mention of social media. Your social media accounts should contain pictures of plants you are selling. Social media account should be well-optimized.
  
• Google My Business– You can also get your business registered on Google My Business. People tend to develop an amicable attitude towards the businesses they find both online and offline.

Using digital methods to promote your nursery business can add a lot. Now you will have a better reach. This can raise the number of opportunities for your business. For an instance, by sitting in Kashmir you can make a deal with someone who is putting up in Delhi. Digitalization removes a geographical barrier.

Get associated with Traffic Tail for a complete guide to run your nursery business smoothly.

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Profit Margin in Nursery Business

The profits in the nursery business are sizeable, owing to less investment. You can earn a lot by spending a small amount. If you are growing plants in the backyard or anywhere in your own space, the investment is minimal. The main factor that is going to affect your business is the maintenance of plants.

This business does not ask for a huge space, it requires regularity and consistency. You should regularly water the plants. Another benefit of a nursery business is it is a one-time investment. Once the stems are planted, they continue to grow for a longer period.

This business is a slave of creativity. Brainstorm, come up with better ideas, analyze your competition and try to offer the best. This is how you can earn handsome profits.

Do you know?

• Florida Plant nurseries experienced growth during the stifling pandemic
• You can grow succulent plants as they are being loved these days.

Pro tips-

• After having a good name, don’t remain stuck to a few species.
• Try to provide customized services
• Plan your production according to the customers.

You must have appeased with almost every aspect associated with starting a nursery business. This business doesn’t have a thirst for bulging investments. It needs creativity and contacts. You need to think out-of-the-box to run your business effectively. You can begin with selling plants at a lower price. This would help you in developing an edge over your competitors who are selling at a higher price.

The nursery business does not have huge competition. You can make a good profit by learning all the tact to run your business. You can even carry this business on a bigger level with the least manpower. It is advisable to hire fewer people. You can rock the market as a nursery business owner. All you need to do is, develop a strong plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much does it cost to start a plant nursery?

Ans. Starting a plant nursery does not require heavy investment. If you have your land or area to grow plants, then you are expected to invest in soil, tools and manure. It wouldn’t cost much.

2. Does it have a scope?

Ans. Yes, the nursery business has a future. All you need to do is, grow and nurture your plants wisely. Then be creative and develop contacts. And you can earn heavily.

3. Which plants can be easily harvested and last for years?

Ans. Here is the list-

• Beautyberry
• Boxwood
• WeigeliaFlorida
• Forsythia
• Hydrangea

4. Can I digitalize my nursery business?

Ans. Yes, you can digitalize your nursery business. You can sell your plants online. You can even consult digital marketing agencies that can guide you in selling your plants.

5. What is the ideal size of a plant nursery?

Ans. It is not necessary to have a plant nursery of any particular size. Anyway, the ideal size is 9200 and 10000 square meters.

6. What is better manure or fertilizers?

Ans. It is advisable to use manure, as it contains natural ingredients and does not harm the organisms in the soil. It improves the texture of the soil and affects your plants positively.

7 How can I start a plant nursery from home?

Ans. – Either you can start a shop or you can sell your plants for growing purposes.

8. Which plants can be sold from home?

Ans. Here is a list of plants that can be sold from home-

• Mushrooms
• Ornamental grasses
• Bamboo
• Flowers
• Ginseng
• Ground covers
• Herbs
• Landscaping trees and shrubs