Anyone ever work in or run a commercial greenhouse?

[metal_geek]

I'm wondering at putting a small greenhouse(20x50ish) on a piece of land in a rural area, and was wondering if money can be made operating it for a profit. I'm not talking a million dollars, but something that at the very least pays for itself.

Growing something like trays of annuals, or some specialty flowers or something. In the very least a small business and project for someone who doesn't work full time.

What kinda things are there to consider, pitfalls? I know there are lots of things like heating, and water and marketing but I'm talking generally what are the make or break kinda things..
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Alaska dispensary

[Claeren]

Cost of land and building would be the big ones i would think?

Although labour is not exactly cheap anymore , but you would be doing it yourself?



Claeren.

[metal_geek]

Well the person running it would have as much time as is needed, and the land is already paid for so the question really comes down to can you turn a small profit from that size of greenhouse operation, doing the work yourself and maybe some other family members during the busy times.
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Problems from avandia

[Ducay]

You have got to be able to make some sort of profit. Considering you could build your own greenhouse for a few thousand, throw in free labour, wholesale seed, some seedling soil mix. Add a dash of heating and water and you've got yourself plants that you could easily sell for a few bucks a package (4 x an annual).

But thats just my guesstemation. Reality could be another can of worms.

[metal_geek]

^^^ That's what I was thinking, but reality has a way of biting you in the arse..

I'm guessing if you started small, with alot of hand effort, you could likley start the project for 8 or 9 thousand dollars.. Take that cost away, can you grow enough annuals in there, to pay for the Heating, lighting, packaging and fuel costs. That's why I'm hoping someone here has some experience..
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Yamaha dragstar 650 specifications

[mykalberta]

Ever thought about talking with some of the larger greenhouses.

My dad does something similar and has a deal with a greehouse in Edmonton where he grows specific items and they sell it. (not as high of profit margin as possible but also less worries). He also has a side buisness for selling sprouting corn plans since the growing season is so short here.

[metal_geek]

I'm definatly gonna talk to someone else but CP is always useful as the second step past google
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Ship sale

[Aeneas]

I worked at Sprung Enviroponics way back when, they were the big greenhouses on Ogden road. If memory and gossip serves, they did not make money. However I don't think you are looking at the same size, or the same product. Their product was cucumbers and tomatoes.

[redforever]

My sister in law operates 2 greenhouses. She sells to suppliers, not the general public. She bought both of them from Red Deer, the first one being second hand. That turned out not to be much of a saving, but I guess she did learn what does not work. And that was how the shelves were set up. Too deep, too close, making it very hard to work between rows and very hard to water and prune. They since ripped the interior of that first one down and set it up like the second one they purchased.

Anyhow, she does make money. They already lived on an acreage so land was not a problem, and they already had water trenched to a shop right beside the greenhouses. BUT, it is VERY labor intensive. I really wonder if it is worth it when you consider your hours put into the greenhouses, and they are hard hours.

The other thing to consider is will you be able to do the labor yourself and how much do you know about gardening? If you need consultants and have to hire people, I think you would be lucky to break even. And it is not easy hiring people to work in those environments either, labor is fussy where they work these days and they demand top dollar no matter what the job. And do keep in mind, this is not the type of job past a certain age, simply too labor intensive.

And the final thing to keep in mind, ENERGY costs. You will be operating your greenhouse at the seed stage, which is late winter, early spring, so you have to pay to keep them heated at an exact temperature. Energy is not cheap right now, keep that in mind.

[metal_geek]

Energy costs is the greatest unknown in this whole project. Labour would be done by 1 or 2 people whos only pay would be any profit from the greenhouse. It would be a small setup to start with for sure, like 1000SF of space.
Anyone have any thought or experience with the Plastic covering vs the hard panel coverings?
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Wicca advice