Making Money With Palms

[Dypsisdean]

How many of you have thought about making palm/plant activities a side business, or a full time main source of income?

[Kostas]

I have thought of making palms,cycads and tropical plants in general my main source of income and I will try hard to make it happen after I buy a large property by the sea and build my main house in it Till then,I have to finish my studies,work in a company to make the above happen and then move on to opening and running a pleasant plant business

It's a fact that most things onr does for a living aren't pleasant or relaxing at all. But I think growing tropical plants for the nursery and retail trade is one of those few refreshing jobs availiable and depending on rarity and plant type,it can be a well paid one too,especially in a place like Greece where the plant selection currently available is extremely limited and the potential for adding new species to the trade,very high

[bgl]

Dean,

I checked the second one, even though I feel it's misleading (for me) and the option I was looking for is missing: "I may, at some point in the distant future, be able to supplement my income from palm sales, but up to this point the expense FAR outweighs the revenue."

After all, if you've spent more money than you're taking in you're not exactly supplementing your income!

Bo-Göran

[Jonathan]

I'm going to open the first specialist palm nursery in Tasmania to sell off my thousands of excess palms, and give our magnificent pastime its rightful place in the gardening lexicon down here.

I fully expect that no-one will notice and that I will go down in a glorious ball of flames, like a Spitfire over the Channel.

But it will be a glorious demise.....glorious....

Cheers,

Jonathan

PS. I will keep my day job!

[Moose]

I was a back yard grower. I did well working the Palm Sales of the societies in South Florida. After all was said and done, yes I made side money to support my hobby and aquire material for my yard. Never was on the scale that it could sustain my family.

If I had gone on and expanded, I think my love of palms would have deminished. I see acres of commercial palm tree farms that are overgrown and neglected.

[Got Palms]

I enjoy seeing my co workers inquire about my palms, giving them a nice bismark or tedybear palm for thier garden and watching them turn into palm nut's.

[Alicehunter2000]

I guess I have considered growing palms/plants as a side business. There are many marginal palms or rare plants that might grow here. Bizmarkia is a prime example of a palm that might survive here for many years, but is absent from palm nursery's. Some of the Big Box stores are starting to sell a few. It is so hard to part with palms after growing them from seed, especially for money . I think I would want more than they are worth....funny thing is, I usually don't want to pay what they are probably worth when I buy for my own collection.

[ariscott]

I don't want my hobby to be a source of living. I still want to enjoy it for the years to come. I am worried if I make it my main source of income, one day I will burn out & hating it. I have seen it happened a few times before.

Regards, Ari

[Kim]

My parents saw to it that all their children got a college education so we could get "off the farm". No plans to go back into "farming", not even for palms. Still, as my brother says, we can't help it, it's in our blood. Makes for a fantastic avocation.

P.S. I am very grateful to those who DO grow palms for some income -- if it weren't for those adventurous few, where would I get my palms???

[hanapalms]

I happened upon palms sales as a need to clear some space and to help cover the cost of acquiring more potting soil, pots, fertilizer, etc. My situation has been having too many palms of the same species because I traded palm seeds for palm seeds. Of course, when they all germinate, you end up with a fair number of seedlings of a certain species that you may only want one or two specimens in the garden. My excess has been sold through a garden supply store and directly out front of the garden on special palm sale days. It could become a regular thing, but I choose to do other things instead of selling palms. I do spend enough time with my palms as it is, extra income would be nice, but for the amount of work, it doesn't really pay well.

I love trading seeds though, especially for species that I don't have yet, or for ones that did not germinate or survive seedling stage.

[Dypsisdean]

Dean,

I checked the second one, even though I feel it's misleading (for me) and the option I was looking for is missing: "I may, at some point in the distant future, be able to supplement my income from palm sales, but up to this point the expense FAR outweighs the revenue."

After all, if you've spent more money than you're taking in you're not exactly supplementing your income!

Bo-Göran

Bo,

Yes, I guess I could have worded that a little better, taking into account that I know you are not the only one in that boat.

But technically, I guess you can still supplement the "income side" of your ledger while still having a red number on the bottom line.

[rozpalm]

My fear would be that if I turned my hobby into a business, it would take all of the fun out of it. I can't say that the thought hasn't crossed my bind, but when I think about all that goes into growing one palm or cycad, it usually knocks me back into reality. Like Kim, I am grateful to those that are in the business, but for the foreseeable future I will be on the paying side of the register.

[quaman58]

In a way, I look at it as something best left to the serious guys. The guys who were there before this dreadful economy, & hopefully will be there after. They have enough to deal with as it is, without me getting into the mix.

[palmster]

I guess I am just lucky.I am able to make my living doing what I really like doing. My passion and occupation are the same. The more I do, The better I like it. 21 years and still at it. Growing and planting palms and trees as my only means of income.

[DoomsDave]

Rare palms is a great hobby, but, as a business . . .

No.

[peachy]

I'm going to open the first specialist palm nursery in Tasmania to sell off my thousands of excess palms, and give our magnificent pastime its rightful place in the gardening lexicon down here.

I fully expect that no-one will notice and that I will go down in a glorious ball of flames, like a Spitfire over the Channel.

But it will be a glorious demise.....glorious....

Cheers,

Jonathan

PS. I will keep my day job!

Goodness gracious...great balls of fire !

People about 20 minutes from here bought a palm nursery and let it go to the dogs. I have often thought about approaching them and making an offer to supply, maintain and sell plants from there as they still get passing trade and people calling in. They make their money selling custom made plastic fish ponds but with decent plant stock there it could be so much more. Wasted opportunities !!

Peachy

[Jonathan]

I'm going to open the first specialist palm nursery in Tasmania to sell off my thousands of excess palms, and give our magnificent pastime its rightful place in the gardening lexicon down here.

I fully expect that no-one will notice and that I will go down in a glorious ball of flames, like a Spitfire over the Channel.

But it will be a glorious demise.....glorious....

Cheers,

Jonathan

PS. I will keep my day job!

Goodness gracious...great balls of fire !

People about 20 minutes from here bought a palm nursery and let it go to the dogs. I have often thought about approaching them and making an offer to supply, maintain and sell plants from there as they still get passing trade and people calling in. They make their money selling custom made plastic fish ponds but with decent plant stock there it could be so much more. Wasted opportunities !!

Peachy

That would be very tempting Peaches....at least people up there would probably buy the palms!!

The problem for me, like so many other people on the board is that I have way too many palms, so the prospect of selling a few is very tempting. However, as Ari pointed out, you would risk turning your hobby into a burden...double edged sword.

But what else will I do with 1000 Nikaus?

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Palmaholic John]

My wife has given me the green-light to start some sort of palm business....but, I don't yet have a good plan. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear 'em.

[Dypsisdean]

My wife has given me the green-light to start some sort of palm business....but, I don't yet have a good plan. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear 'em.

John,

I started this poll as a result of your other thread pertaining to this topic. I wanted to reply in your topic that IMO more than half of the people here had at one time or another had the same idea you have. But I didn't know for sure if that would be accurate, and thought a poll would prove (or disprove) my guess.

Presently the poll indicates 65% of voters have had the same idea as you, or took the next step and actually tried it. I don't know what that info is worth to you, but at least it demonstrates that when the palm bug bites, the idea and lure of making money off such a rewarding activity was not unique to you.

[John in Andalucia]

I have no income besides palms, and I plan to stick with it. I am in plenty financial difficulty, but I have almost zero overheads working from my parents property. Although I'm not making any money yet, the contacts I have built are the most invaluable part of it. I believe we all serve a purpose in a chain somewhere, at least that's how I see it. Unless you have a big nursery pulling in the customers, there is still money to be made by being in a favourable position. Just today, I visited my local nursery to sell them 40 Jacaranda in pots - to pay the bank. The owner said "no" because all they can sell at the moment is bedding plants, but he took my details because he knows someone who deals in trees. Discussing palms, he told me that the few they have are not selling. I asked what he had, and they were the usual suspects; Queens, Kings, Washies, Triangles, Pygmies etc. Then I told him about ornamental, indoor palms. I don't think he realised that palms existed in that category, so now he's interested in something new. That's another door opened. Open enough doors and eventually the waft of money will breeze through! That's my strategy, at least. I don't have any assets or capital, so I'll have to live by my wits to get anywhere. In the meantime, I've around 3000 palms and trees in pots, most of which are species not available locally.

I had to start from seed, but if you are lucky enough to "set up shop" I think it would be wise to combine it with something else in the current climate. There's nothing more off-putting than walking into a brand new, decked-out nursery with no customers. Established nurseries have an aura from the many people who pass through. The worn pathways, mossy concrete and overall smell are not something that you can build, but it's what makes people walk into a place like that without a second thought. Am I waffling? Probably.

[amazondk]

Garden plant outlets have been springing up around town here a lot lately. And some palms like bismarkias are selling for a lot of money. Since exotic palms tend to come from down south somewhere they are much more expensive here than there. So, it is tempting to grow some specific ones like bismarkias from seed for wholesale to make some money. My climate is excellent for growing any tropical as long as you have water. I do have enough land to produce at least something interesting. What I really would like to find a way to do is to set up an açai , Euterpe, plantation on say 10 hectares for sale of the fruit. We have the land available, but there is a long way from thinking about it doing it.

dk

[Alicehunter2000]

Like Don, my family has some land to work with....albeit a much colder climate (8b). My father, 20 or so years ago, planted a bunch of slash pines to have extra income in old age. For those of you not from around here, slash pines are the tree of choice for making paper products and chemicals that require turpentine as the feed source ingredient. It has already paid off and only half the trees were cut.

I guess I have been toying with the idea of buying a 1000 or so mule palms seedlings and basically doing the same idea as my dad had. My main concern would be weather. If we got a 50 year cold shot, temps where the land is located might drop down to the low teens. Would a mule palm survive? Lots of Butia's survive it there....but not so sure about a mule. Also, you just never know about rain, we have had dry spells and supplemental watering would add considerably to the cost. I could locate it near a pond/swamp area so maybe it would not be as much of an issue.....still toying with the idea. Bamboo or Royal Paulawana tree's might also work, so it might not only be palm trees that could bring in a supplemental income/investment.

[Tyrone]

I'm a landscaper that specialises in tropical plants/palms. I find though that most palms I put in are not that rare, as Jo Public doesn't really appreciate them. However my landscaping is a little different to my germinating and growing on rare palms. My rare palms do go into select types of gardens for those who will appreciate them, but my job and my hobby although along similar lines, are still different. Having a nursery is totally different to landscaping. Running a proper commercial nursery is like being a farmer. It's a seven days a week up at dawn type of job, and if you're retail, forget having a life outside of the nursery. I haven't got sick of palms yet. I am sick of the messy clutter I've let happen at my place though. I'm working on that.

Best regards

Tyrone

[ErikSJI]

I work for palms. It really is hard to make money at the palm selling business. However my friends have been doing it for over 20 years. One of the reasons they have succeeded is contract growing and pollinating. Find your customers first then grow the palms. Especially in Florida your competing with the big guys who have over 100 acres. Being a transplant from Florida to San Juan Island Pacific Northwest. I think I have figured out a way to make money on our palms with out even selling them. We plan on planting them all on a 7 acre parcel that I have and opening Palms and Putt Putt golf. Big container palms we plan on renting out for special events.

If it fails. We will have one hell of a landscaped yard.

[Jeff in St Pete]

I moved to Costa Rica with dreams of growing and selling rare palms. Once I got here and checked out the nurseries, I realized it just wasn't going to happen. Palms are so inexpensive that they are practically giving them away. The species does not seem to matter much either, a palm is a palm - Cyrtostachys renda sells for the same price as Dypsis lutescens here.

[tikitiki]

If I could only get paid for killing seedlings I could feed the hungry

[Chester Wilcox]

I have often dreamt of starting a landscaping / handyman business -- not only dealing with palms but also garden lighting, water features, etc. And also hot houses and automatic root warmers for zone pushers with a taste for exotics. I would also like to develop a range of plug-in heated pots (with dome, heater element, thermostat, etc.) for orchids and the like. I think a lot of people might appreciate the novelty of having an orchid or venus fly trap without the trouble of building a hot house.

The problem with all these ideas is that I have very little relevant experience and I think it's a very small niche market anyway.

[Jeff Searle]

By reading the poll results, I can see that there are very few nurseryman here. For me, I couldn't ask for a more rewarding field of work. 28 years to be exact.

[Tilto]

I think that we have had a permanent shift down here in South Florida.People will not invest the same amount of money in their houses as they did in the past.This will definitely impact all landscapers down here.Those who enjoy the business and who have the resources to invest will survive most of the others will fail.Perhaps other parts of the country/world will be different??

[AggiePalms]

My problem would be competing with the big boys. Up here, only hardy species are realistic to grow in a quantity large enough to make any money. And the hardy species are sold cheaply by the big box stores that get them shipped in from Florida. More competition from the local palm tree remover/installers who plant mature trees with the flatbed trucks, cranes, and lots of personnel.

I just don't think I could compete. A friend nearby is trying to supplement college money by selling 25 gallon Phoenix and others, but since it is out of his driveway and not a nursery on a major highway, he isn't having much luck.

If I could only grow all my tropical species in the ground, then there might be a niche chance. Till we get that much Climate Change, my dreams of a palm nursery are just dreams. Let's hear it for me installing Cyrtostachys renda hedges in Georgia.

[John Case]

I am not a nurseryman, but it seems that starting a new nursery now and limiting yourself only to palms is a formula to fail. I would think that it would make more sense to offer a a more full set of companion plants at least, if not other species that may be of interest but not offered by the big boys.

A good example of this is out here, where a nursery in Richmond (Annie's Annuals) offers lots of different plants (although none are palms) that cannot be obtained in other nurseries and certainly not in the box stores.

It is hard to believe that bulk of customers may not share our passion for palms, but I think it is true.

[Nigel]

I don't want my hobby to be a source of living. I still want to enjoy it for the years to come. I am worried if I make it my main source of income, one day I will burn out & hating it. I have seen it happened a few times before.

Regards, Ari

YESSSSSS this is the problem

[John in Andalucia]

Spooky. This topic has jumped to the top of the board twice, even though the post before mine, here, was made well before the last posts in the topics below it.

[RainForestt Robert]

I have come to the conclusion that while there is a market for palms here in Trinidad it probably is not sufficient for me to maintain the standard of living that I have achieved through my regular job. I've thought about it, explored it and there just isn't the flow. People will inquire and when they hear the price of some plants they're like "this isn't food, I can make do with Manila and MacArthur palms". So while I have thousands of Sealing Wax seedlings there is not much motivation for me to pot them up and invest the time and energy required to move them to other levels. Be that as it may, I think that there is a market to make a living from horticulture in Trinidad, thus my shift into using some space for orchids. For every palm I sell that took years to grow I sell 15 - 20 orchids that have a turn around time in months, take up less bench space and I can charge as much or more than I could for the palms. I'll always have palms and they will supplement my income, but if it was the only game in town I'd lose my house!

[PALM MOD]

Spooky. This topic has jumped to the top of the board twice, even though the post before mine, here, was made well before the last posts in the topics below it.

John,

Poll topics are "bumped" by each vote.

[John in Andalucia]

Spooky. This topic has jumped to the top of the board twice, even though the post before mine, here, was made well before the last posts in the topics below it.

John,

Poll topics are "bumped" by each vote.

Thanks Dean. I thought perhaps the recent update was beginning to malfunction.

[Moose]

I have come to the conclusion that while there is a market for palms here in Trinidad it probably is not sufficient for me to maintain the standard of living that I have achieved through my regular job. I've thought about it, explored it and there just isn't the flow. People will inquire and when they hear the price of some plants they're like "this isn't food, I can make do with Manila and MacArthur palms". So while I have thousands of Sealing Wax seedlings there is not much motivation for me to pot them up and invest the time and energy required to move them to other levels. Be that as it may, I think that there is a market to make a living from horticulture in Trinidad, thus my shift into using some space for orchids. For every palm I sell that took years to grow I sell 15 - 20 orchids that have a turn around time in months, take up less bench space and I can charge as much or more than I could for the palms. I'll always have palms and they will supplement my income, but if it was the only game in town I'd lose my house!

Robert - how is your Bromeliad thing you were contemplating doing?

Ron.

[Jose Maria]

I moved to Costa Rica with dreams of growing and selling rare palms. Once I got here and checked out the nurseries, I realized it just wasn't going to happen. Palms are so inexpensive that they are practically giving them away. The species does not seem to matter much either, a palm is a palm - Cyrtostachys renda sells for the same price as Dypsis lutescens here.

I agree with Jeff, in Costa Rica palms grow like weeds and they give them away..or you can just dig some up by the roadside for free.

The only way to make some money with palma is planting african oilpalm, after 2 years of planting harvesting begins, and the market always wants more palmoil...

I have considered it as I have a cattle farm and went out of this line of " business"...but "losing money".

Anyway collecting exotic palms is what I like.

[amazondk]

I moved to Costa Rica with dreams of growing and selling rare palms. Once I got here and checked out the nurseries, I realized it just wasn't going to happen. Palms are so inexpensive that they are practically giving them away. The species does not seem to matter much either, a palm is a palm - Cyrtostachys renda sells for the same price as Dypsis lutescens here.

I agree with Jeff, in Costa Rica palms grow like weeds and they give them away..or you can just dig some up by the roadside for free.

The only way to make some money with palma is planting african oilpalm, after 2 years of planting harvesting begins, and the market always wants more palmoil...

I have considered it as I have a cattle farm and went out of this line of " business"...but "losing money".

Anyway collecting exotic palms is what I like.

Jose Maria,

Can you make money with açai, Euterpe olearcea there? The market here has exploded.

dk

[amazondk]

I moved to Costa Rica with dreams of growing and selling rare palms. Once I got here and checked out the nurseries, I realized it just wasn't going to happen. Palms are so inexpensive that they are practically giving them away. The species does not seem to matter much either, a palm is a palm - Cyrtostachys renda sells for the same price as Dypsis lutescens here.

I agree with Jeff, in Costa Rica palms grow like weeds and they give them away..or you can just dig some up by the roadside for free.

The only way to make some money with palma is planting african oilpalm, after 2 years of planting harvesting begins, and the market always wants more palmoil...

I have considered it as I have a cattle farm and went out of this line of " business"...but "losing money".

Anyway collecting exotic palms is what I like.

Jose Maria,

Can you make money with açai, Euterpe olearcea there? The market here has exploded.

dk