Humble Brag/Progress

[JohnAndSancho]

Ok. For those of you that have been keeping up with my progress either here or on YouTube - 

https://youtube.com/@dbljzzl?si=emSKwA_UgMn_5vPm

 

I just got my inspection from the MS Dept of Agriculture. So that's fun. The only concern he had was with the hibiscus - they're apparently related to cotton and there's a type of bug that'll get into them but since mine is indoors it's not a concern unless I propagate it to sell and ship it, and then they'd have to come check it before it went out. 

But other than that, he didn't see anything funky. Anyway - just wanted to throw that out there and humble brag. 

 

[flplantguy]

I hope they are as chill as the Florida people are, they inspect and help at the same time and aren't dictatorial about it for the most part. The local boss is meh, but the ones we actually see are nice people.  No pests is always a goal to celebrate achieving!

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, flplantguy said:

I hope they are as chill as the Florida people are, they inspect and help at the same time and aren't dictatorial about it for the most part. The local boss is meh, but the ones we actually see are nice people.  No pests is always a goal to celebrate achieving!

Yeah, he was cool. I told him the only issues I've ran into are fire ants and spider mites, and fire ants hate cinnamon and I hose everything down once a week with neem oil - and he did let me know that there's some brands of neem oil that do contain a pesticide that cost a couple people their organic certificate. The stuff I use does have a pesticide but the pesticide is also a neem extract so I should be ok there. But he was super chill. 

[kinzyjr]

5 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I just got my inspection from the MS Dept of Agriculture. So that's fun.

I've gotten a few from the FL DOA.  It was overall a positive experience each time.  They were surprised how many seeds I order for personal use and thought I was running an illicit nursery.

[JohnAndSancho]

14 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

I've gotten a few from the FL DOA.  It was overall a positive experience each time.  They were surprised how many seeds I order for personal use and thought I was running an illicit nursery.

I'm officially licit lol. He wasn't nearly as thorough as I was expecting. But we're legal! 

[TropicsEnjoyer]

What qualifies an an illicit nursery? Like hypothetically, what if I just happen to be growing 10000 seedlings for fun?

[flplantguy]

If you are selling to the public with an unlicensed business and without taxes they don't get their cut so your not legal.  They use the inspection to ensure those portions of the business they care about are covered and you pay what they require. You do have to be on the up and up with species and pest stuff, but their approach is really to ensure the government gets funded. By the way, my gov job has one and the "cost" for the license was, you guessed it, 0.  If you are growing from home, donate or give away, or do nonprofit activity that's different, but I'm betting you get noticed when you order the seeds, and get a visit when your info is on the documents. I have not had anyone to my place yet but likely will at some point, it's not really a big deal, despite my grouching above lol, and I appreciate what they actually accomolish for issues.

[kinzyjr]

28 minutes ago, TropicsEnjoyer said:

What qualifies an an illicit nursery? Like hypothetically, what if I just happen to be growing 10000 seedlings for fun?

What @flplantguy said.  I take it I ordered over a certain amount and that triggered an inspection.

[TropicsEnjoyer]

2 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

What @flplantguy said.  I take it I ordered over a certain amount and that triggered an inspection.

ohhh wow so they just hunt you down by tracking your seed order history. scary in a way… 

@flplantguy not sure if my brain is just not comprehending right now but did you say your licensing cost was 0 for what, selling?

[flplantguy]

19 minutes ago, TropicsEnjoyer said:

ohhh wow so they just hunt you down by tracking your seed order history. scary in a way… 

@flplantguy not sure if my brain is just not comprehending right now but did you say your licensing cost was 0 for what, selling?

The state of Florida doesn't have a fee for local government that wants to do a nursery license, they just come and inspect.  So only private entities have to pay but the cost is actually quite low, here at least.  The license here is with the local nonprofit part of the county recycling program, so it's cleanups as well as tree and plant giveaways, but if the county grew their own plants they would inspect that facility too.

[JohnAndSancho]

My inspection and license are free here in MS, and they know I intend to sell online. I know my demographic is Etsy, and afaik they'll collect sales tax like eBay so I don't have to worry about it. And it'd be nice but I doubt I hit any thresholds or raise any red flags. Anything I sell has to be "Mississippi grown," and I put that in quotes because I only have to have it in my possession for 4 months to consider it grown here. 

 

Maybe I'll draw a little more attention if I get lucky and cop some grant money, but we'll jump off that bridge when we get to it. 

1 hour ago, kinzyjr said:

What @flplantguy said.  I take it I ordered over a certain amount and that triggered an inspection.

Ok that's wild. And a little spooky. I'm just curious at how much seed got you red flagged. I requested them to come out here, and I know they'll come out twice a year and other than that they'll leave me alone unless they get a complaint. And I'm so far out in the woods I don't even know how I'd cause one. I did tell the guy it's wild that I can go to a farmers market and I could sell tomatoes grown in 100% pure cat poop and nobody bats an eyelash but if I want to sell an actual plant I've gotta have a license. 

[JohnAndSancho]

2 hours ago, TropicsEnjoyer said:

 

@flplantguy not sure if my brain is just not comprehending right now but did you say your licensing cost was 0 for what, selling?

$0.00 in Mississippi to sell. 

[kinzyjr]

5 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Ok that's wild. And a little spooky. I'm just curious at how much seed got you red flagged. I requested them to come out here, and I know they'll come out twice a year and other than that they'll leave me alone unless they get a complaint. And I'm so far out in the woods I don't even know how I'd cause one. I did tell the guy it's wild that I can go to a farmers market and I could sell tomatoes grown in 100% pure cat poop and nobody bats an eyelash but if I want to sell an actual plant I've gotta have a license. 

I ordered large quantities of seeds (several species 100+ each), so that probably raised an eyebrow.  It was already inspected by the USDA, so I wasn't concerned about it passing.  

[JohnAndSancho]

45 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

I ordered large quantities of seeds (several species 100+ each), so that probably raised an eyebrow.  It was already inspected by the USDA, so I wasn't concerned about it passing.  

I'm guessing from RPS? 

[kinzyjr]

2 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I'm guessing from RPS? 

You nailed it.

[happypalms]

So you guys or girls have to register as a business to sell plants even as a hobby. How absurd I can just grow plants and sell them, we do have quarantine states within Australia that I can’t sell and ship plants to basically I need a phytosanitary certificate or something like that to sell and ship them to those states, but apart from that nothing else. We do a have a registered nursery industry though for commercial nursery owners! 

[JohnAndSancho]

14 minutes ago, happypalms said:

So you guys or girls have to register as a business to sell plants even as a hobby. How absurd I can just grow plants and sell them, we do have quarantine states within Australia that I can’t sell and ship plants to basically I need a phytosanitary certificate or something like that to sell and ship them to those states, but apart from that nothing else. We do a have a registered nursery industry though for commercial nursery owners! 

To sell at local sanctioned farmers markets, yes. To sell on eBay or craiglist or Facebook, no. But I can sell all the produce I want without a license and you'd think selling food would be a bigger concern than selling plants. Honestly I figured it'd be a selling point for me online since I can now say I've been inspected and certified vs buying some rando that might send you a plant full of spider mites and thrips. But it varies from state to state. 

[Harry’s Palms]

This year I sent thousands of Decipiens seeds out . I only charge for the shipping and cost of bubble envelopes but quite a few folks threw in a bit extra . It was still below any kind of financial red flag . My wife was concerned about it as she does the books for my small tool grinding shop ( day job!) . I could easily claim a loss if I included cost of transport to and from Ventura ( and the post office ) to gather seeds so I told her not to worry about it . So far , so good . I am out of seeds , other than personal use here . I don’t plan on selling plants or seedlings but trade? Who knows! 
   I know nothing about the ag business , here in Southern California , but I’ve been in business with my shop for almost 40 years and it costs quite a bit to be “ legal “. I do work for major companies so I prefer to be above board with it . The money is substantial and I would hate to have to worry about it so I pay my taxes and have a business license . The insurance is expensive even without employees . I keep my door locked when I’m working but I still have to have liability insurance for the few “ walk ins “ I get. They bang on my warehouse door to be let in . 
   I guess it depends on what you’re doing as to whether you want it as a hobby , like collecting palms , or selling through outlets like Etsy . Harry

[JohnAndSancho]

I'll be happy to cover me and Sancho's prescriptions. They vary between $300-350/month for both of us depending on what generic manufacturers the pharmacies get that month. I already know it's a seasonal deal though. Peaks and valleys.