Tired of digging, If you have a Harbor Freight Tools in your area they have a 10' x 12' aluminum framed, twin wall polycarbonate covered greenhouse on sale now for $599, with a slider door in front and a window on the roof for ventilation. There is a smaller one also but I forget the size.

I am tired of being a welder myself and have begun to sell trees I have propagated on the side. I sell them on eBay and in 2005 I probably made $1000 or so. This year I have done about $5000 so I am moving in the right direction.

Good luck on your endevour and I am confident you CAN make it work. Every large propagation nursery started just as we have. Good luck.

Mike

Sure you can make money selling plants.

Check out this site.

http://www.freeplants.com/frame%20set.htm

I get a free newsletter from him every week, and I think I learn something from each of them.

I sell plants from our greenhouses. Both are from recycled items. This one is made from 2 discarded trampoline frames. I use it for protection from our hot sun in summer, and cover it with 3 mil. greenhouse film in winter. It has made a wonderful difference in the way I garden.

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You won't know unless you try. Good luck.

Janie

Nice shadehouse, Janie.

Do a google search on "greenhouse nursery production" and you should find LOTS of information.

I know many people like to profit from their hobbies.

I find the idea repulsive. I want to compartmentalize, I think that is the word professionals use, I want hobbies to be fun with not thought of money and money to be something else altogether.

Not me, Albert. We are reaching the age of retirement, and I want to know that I can live comfortably and well. This is another source of income to us.

I have always profitted from gardening, having been a landscaper and a maintainer of other people's landscapes, and it is just natural to me. Gardening is more than a hobby to me, it is a way of life, I guess.

If I am going to work, I want it to be something I like to do. Repulsive? For someone to appreciate what I do?

Not to me, Albert.

Janie

I have always loved to work in the yard. Three years ago, as I divide my plants I give away plants to friends and neighbors, since I wanted the plants to look very good, I used good potting soil, nurtured the plants and gave away when they are almost or in bloom. One of my friends made a comment about the fortune I was spending on potting soil and the containers. She suggested that to defray my cost, to have a plant sale in the summer. Followed her advice and did two plant sales in my yard. lo and behold, it was very profitable, not to mention that my grandchildren began looking at the plants in a different light. Now my grandchildren have their own plants at their house and bring it to my house when we have a plant sale. It made me so happy to see my five year old grandchild guide a prospective buyer and say something like " There are more plants in the back and I can tell you their names if you follow me." Another grandchild lighting up a visitors eyes as she is handed a bouquet of lavender as a gift for dropping by.

threekittengarden, From what you said in your post, You should visit Mike's website at www.freeplants.com and look fo the site map on his webpage. He has a homemade propagation system you should look at since you and your family love to grow and sell plants. I been doing propagation of just cuttings from plants and it's pretty easy to do with not a lot of money spent. Nice return also. Don't forget to sign up for his free newsletter also. He even has a lot of information on how to grow and care for different plants and trees. If you look around he even has a free ebook which is a rather quick download. Keep on growing!!!!

I am a small scale version of what everyone has mentioned above. I live inner city and only on one acre and most of it is woods. Also I don't want my backyard to look like a production range for a nursery - so I only grow for market in two small areas (one in the sun, and one in the shade). I've sold for the last two years at a large flea market in the city, next year I will be at a farmer's market in another suburb. I can sell about a third of whatever I bring to market on most days and on a good day sell half. I sell bedding plants and small trees as well as tropicals and produce from my veggie/herb garden. I don't make enough to quit my day job but I more than make enough to support my hobby. The best part about gardening as a hobby is that I have a constant supply of fresh food (I garden all year; in two hoop houses during the winter), a fun part time job to make extra money and one that doesn't feel like "work"; and plenty of personal garden-related gifts for holidays and birthdays for friends and family - I always have something to share.

Plenty of people try to make a living from growing things, succeeding at it is often difficult. It all depends on how much money you want to make and how hard you want to work. The biggest lesson I've learned is that there is a difference between growing plants and selling plants. Its easy to grow plants. Its harder to sell plants.

Tired of diggin, u don't lose anything until you try it. I was asking myself that too as I was starting some seeds indoors (living in Z3a is not exactly a gardeners paradise but the challenge is great). The great part about it is I'm learning how to grow different plants from seed and rooting cuttings. Then I remebered how much money I spent this summer on plants. Brand new house, no landscaping done to it. And how much my neighbours spent. 8 Plants cost us over $300 for a small shared area at the front of our houses. And I live in a new suburb, with new homes going up daily. Also no landscaping on any of them. So I decided I am going to not only have the most beautiful garden with all the different seeds I have started and will be starting, but I will be able to pay for those seeds I have bought by selling all the extra plants. There's gotta be way to start this up, with places like the big boxes and all those nurseries around us making money. Another advantage is they won't have to go very far and we can undercut the big boxes. lol

Good Luck

Janie, where did you buy the 3 mil plastic film?

I ordered the plastic film from BWI, a wholesale Nursery supply company.

I would be willing to bet you could get it on the internet. It lasts at least 3 years for me. You wouldn't think the 3mil would be that tough.

Janie

First, you are going to need a bigger greenhouse, LOL. Really ! If you think you can get by with a 6.6 L x 2.6 W gh, you need twice that size. As soon as you complete constructions you are going to ask "why didn't I build it larger". Yes, you can make some money if you have the right plants and the right location-location-location. My little town hold a spring festival and I sell plants there. Table space and set up are free. I sell lots of brugs, alocasias, hibiscus mutabilis, hydrangeas and whatever few extras I have which may interests the crowd. I have a 22L x 9W ft gh which is stuffed full of big potted plants. I use the shelf spae for rooting over the winter. I usually sell about 150 pots of stuff in a few hours at $3-$5 a pot. It easily pays for the operation costs of my gh.

Janie, you are my new idol. I want to be juuuusssst like you!

Do you think I would have any luck trying to propagate cuttings right now, or do I need to wait till spring?

Albert, I understand your point. It was the same reason my Dad stopped fishing tournaments. It started to take all of the fun out of fishing. Once he went back to fishing for pleasure, it was a source of relaxation again for him. To each his own, right?

If you are thinking of building a greenhouse/polyhouse for the purposes of propagating and growing over the winter, build as big as your space allows and your wallet permits. Two years ago I got a 15x25 ft doublewalled polyhouse, and guess what, I fill it up to overflowing in the winter and spring! I love propagating and am getting fairly successful with many plants. Selling the products of one's work helps to offset the cost of new parent plants, soil and other supplies, the operational cost of heating/electric. On the whole though, I would estimate that I'm working for maybe 25 cents/hour or less. To me, its a labor of love, a form of relaxation, and personal growth. To make money at this, one would have to focus on growing a specialty item and/or perhaps get into tissue culture.