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billtex

best selling herbs

billtex
18 years ago

Which herbs are your best sellers ? I am going to try selling a few in 2006 but not sure which ones sell the best. thanks in advance. bill in texas

Comments (8)

  • HerbLady49
    18 years ago

    I've been growing and retailing herb plants since 1989. Your basic herbs will always be your best sellers. Basil is number one, Flat leaf parsley, Onion Chives, English Thyme, Greek or Italian Oregano, Rosemary. These are just a few to try so you can get a feel for what sells best. If it works you can expand from there. Basil, Parsley and Chives I grow from seed. Don't be stingy when seeding so you can give your customer a nice full pot or pack. I generally seed 10-15 seeds/plug. I propagate Thyme, Oregano and Rosemary by taking cuttings. Try buying them wholesale for this year. If they do well you can order plugs or take you own cuttings.

  • billtex
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Herblady, thanks for info,a whole bunch, especially about the way you seed pots. thanks again. bill in tx.

  • edwoodtick
    18 years ago

    bill we have been selling herbs at our farm market for three years the most comman to start with . we buy plugs and flats , sell in three inch pots and herb planters also signage is very important, some people wont ask what it is . but when they know they buy good luck think spring ed in michigan

  • billtex
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Thanks edwoodtick, can you give me a good source for plugs,appreciate help..bill in tex.

  • Betz11
    18 years ago

    Last year I decided to try selling herbs at our market and was quite successful. I had Rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, savory, lovage, parsley, chives, and basil. I started them all from seed except the Rosemary, which I started from cuttings.

    What I did was take some of nursery flats, lined them with paper, filled them with potting soil and sowed the seed. When the plants were large enough I put them in 2" square pots. I started the seed in March and by the time for the market to open they were a nice size for sellings.

    I could have sold a lot more basil. Seems that everyone wanted that. Most of my customers were not familiar with lovage or savory, but after telling them about the plants and how to use them, I sold nearly all of them. I'll have to start a lot more plants this year.

    Don't know if this will help or not.

  • hedwig
    18 years ago

    Interesting! I'm just starting out and what I do is just the opposite - I try to get the most rare and strange herbs because I feel rare buying seeds you can get anywhere and selling the plants. Perhaps it's very false what I do??
    Trying to get five different chillies lots of different basils , mexican herbs, chinese herbs.... rare and perennial vegetable plants, natives etc. DId I understand right , you buy small plants and raise them to sell?

  • trianglejohn
    18 years ago

    Every market is different - there is no way to predict what will sell well for you. My market changes every weekend, what sells well one Saturday won't move at all the next. Rather than try to guess what will work I just grow a lot of anything I can. I think that by having a mix you attract all the different kinds of customers. If my booth only offered rare or medicinal herbs I wouldn't make enough money to stay in business - but by having a few each weekend it trains the customers that I am a source for those specialty items should they ever go looking for them.

    In my experience, you have to set up and sell plants for a long long time before your business is stable. There is no instant success (at least for me!). It takes time for customers to learn who you are, what you sell, how often you're there, how good your products are.... so you have to just do it even if you loose money at first. Don't give up. Don't undersell just to move product (no one should aim to be the cheapest vendor at the market!!!). Do the best you can and offer the best product you can grow. In time you will build up a customer base that you can make money off of and by then you will know what you want out of this business.

  • billtex
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Thanks everyone,,,for your advise.. billtex

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