My first time selling at the bonsai and succulent show
The succulent society that I belong to always gets a stand at the yearly bonsai show and those of us that wish to sell plants can do so, in return for being there over the 3 days that the show runs and helping to promote the society.
This is a good time to make space on the greenhouse shelves and start to move some of the seedlings that I have been growing for a few years now. I had a lot of smaller plants that I sold cheaply and by the end of the show I had made about 150HBD from my small corner of the stand so I was happy.
A natural bonsai, Pachypodium succulentum
The real thing, a willow Leaf Fig
I forgot to take a picture at the start of the show so this is my after display, after I had sold about 30% of my stock: I had Haworthia, Frailea cacti and a few others, mesembs and Frithia humilis, Euphorbia as well as Dioscoria seedlings and a few other plants that I had propagated.
There were quite a few people who had been to the pot table and now were on the hunt for a little plant to put in there and they mainly need advice on what would be suitable.
Although I sold quite a few small plants this way, you need to sell a lot before your earnings add up and I'm not a commercial grower so that's not a great sales approach for me.
Some other sellers had been trying to solve the same problem and that's an option for next time
A friend of mine makes rather striking mini rockeries and that could be fun to create for the next show. He doesn't sell his but brings them for the exhibition.
As always with plants, flowers sell although getting the plants to co-operate isn't always possible
I usually consider garden ornaments tacky but well, these are cats....
Of course when selling plants, you have to constantly prevent breakage and damage, and it's not only the kids that do it.
I really like trailing forms of bonsai although I prefer succulents, that are happy to be left alone for longer and I get upset when I kill my plants.
A freaky Astrophytum for @ibarra95 - these were ordinary myriostigma that got attacked by thrips or something. After the plants were sprayed, they all turned monstrose and started making really weird Fukuryu
Of course the real test of shows is not to promptly spend all the money you make on new plants. I did buy a few but I also bought quite a few seedlings to grow on for a few more years and then resell. The good part of succulents is that even if they are not sold, next year they are bigger and more valuable. Succulents are slow and it takes a minimum of 2 years to produce a saleable plant. After 5 or 10 years, they look amazing and then you sell them to people who don't have the patience for that and hope like hell that they don't take it home and promptly kill it.
I was satisfied with my first show and I'm busy making plans for next year.
Wow, that's quite a profit for the South African standards, isn't it? I know that people from there offer the cheapest online lessons among the native speakers, for like $7 per hour (and the platform cuts at least two bucks down). Congrats!
Not that large, a lot of people make a lot more at these shows. If I consider the time spent at the show and the time spent growing the plants, the returns are actually very low. But making your hobby pay a little is really just a bonus
It indeed is :)
What joy! I wish to go to a show like this. I'm glad it went well and you enjoyed it! I also like the cascading bonsai trees. I'm planning on making a drastic cut to my Pithecellobium dulce tree...
Haworthia is fun, too!
I need to pick a good haworthia pup from my mom's mother plant. It's big and she said she's going to repot it soon. And I agree it's in terrible soil but has been in it for years and produced many pups that became gifts. She calls it "The Mother of All Messes" .
Can you offer a bit of your expert advice on this particular beast?
It looks in good shape to me, these haworthia species are very tolerant. If she wants to repot it she can tip is out gently and shake then rinse the soil off the roots and separate any pups. Let the roots dry overnight, put it back in the same pot in fresh soil and it will be very happy. Plant it at a height of around 1.5cm from the top of the pot. I use dry or very slightly damp soil and pour it in, filling up around the roots while holding the plant at the right height in the pot and then I tap the sides to settle everything. Water after a week and you are good to go
Thank you so much!
I was wondering whether this pot might have been too big... But once it is repotted at proper height it will have even more room!
It sounds like you enjoyed the experience and it helped you to see what more you may want to do going forward.
I enjoyed the photos. I like the rock/succulent dish gardens. They are so attractive. I tried to put one together years ago, but of course, with no experience, I think I may have put some plants together that needed different kinds of care/water and it is hard to not treat a wide dish garden all the same on that. Live and learn... sometimes the hard way.
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The pachypodium 🤩😍 that variety I had never seen it friend, they are all plants of yours from your collection that you sell ????
As you have haworthias for sale @nivk about what prices do you sell the plants in your country ??
Bella's also the Orchids 🫣 and carnivorous plants 😁 I have never been able to have them, it is complicated that someone wants them.
Sell them here in Cuba 🇨🇺
The Astrophytum is like monstrous between mirostygma and fukuryu, three headed the.
Truly spectacular!!! Must be nice those exhibits!!!!
Thanks for sharing @nikv ☺️🤩👏👏👏👏👏👏
Como tienes en venta haworthias @nivk sobre qué precios vendes las plantas en tu país ??
Bella’s tambien las Orquídeas 🫣 y plantas carnívoras 😁 nunca he podido tenerlas, es complicado que alguien te las quiera
Vender aquí en cuba 🇨🇺
El Astrophytum es como monstruoso entre mirostygma y fukuryu, de tres cabezas la
Verdad espectacular!!! Debe ser lindo esas exposiciones!!!
Gracias por compartir @nikv ☺️🤩👏👏👏👏👏👏
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This astro is the closest I have, I'm sure you can't see the photo well, it's getting dark here. 👇
The little pots are almost as nice as the plants that will go in them //
