Business Troubles?!

[Franco24]

Hello everyone! As many of you know I got myself a nursery certification and have been buying wholesale and selling orchids. Well recently, i've decided the money is in rare species - which are ultimately hard to come by. I've recently expanded the collection (outlined below) with the hopes of taking some divisions and breeding/flasking in the near future. What do you all think of this list? Anything I need that you don't see?

I'm really stuck (financially) and don't it seems many wholesalers are now making minimum orders of $250+ and want you buy anywhere from 5-25 of EACH plant you purchase ... whereas for the smaller grower and seller (me) - it really puts me in a rough position!

Just wanted to vent, and get some opinions for you guys.
Anyways, here's the list:

Aerenthes grandiflora
Angraecum sesquipedale

Brassavola digbyana
Brassavola culcullatta
Brassavola nodosa v. grandiflora

Bulbophyllum medusae
Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis

Cattleya aclandiae
Cattleya amethystoglossa
Cattleya araguiensis
Cattleya aurantiaca 'Orange Spots'
Cattleya bicolor v. semi-alba
Cattleya dowiana v. aurea
Cattleya iricolor
Cattleya leopoldii
Cattleya loddigesii v. coerula 'Blue Max'
Cattleya lueddemanniana
Cattleya lueddemanniana semi-alba 'Stanley'
Cattleya maxima 'Darth Vader'
Cattleya mossiae
Cattleya percivaliana
Cattleya rex
Cattleya trianae v. semi-alba delicata 'Canaima's Pink Dream'
Cattleya skinneri concolor 'Blue Haze'
Cattleya walkeriana
Cattleya walkeriana v. alba
Cattleya warscewiczii v. alba 'Leo Holguin'
Cattleya warscewiczii v. semi-alba 'Katia'

Comparettia macroplectron

Dendrobium aggregatum
Dendrobium altroviolaceaum
Dendrobium findleyanum v. oculatum
Dendrobium kingianum
Dendrobium laevifolium
Dendrobium spectabile
Dendrobium rigidum
Dendrobium unicum

Dendrochilum glumaceum

Dendrophylax funalis
Dendrophylax funalis

Dracula chimaera
Dracula lotax
Dracula vampira

Encyclia cochleata

Epidendrum porpax

Laelia anceps 'Wallbrunn' x "Rio Verde'
Laelia aurea
Laelia jongheana
Laelia purpurata flamea
Laelia tenebrosa 'Rybaczyk' x 'Maria Fumala'

Lepanthes calodictyon
Lepanthes telipogoniflora

Masdevallia horrida

Maxillaria tenufolia

Neofinetia falcata 'Amami'

Oncidium Sharry Baby 'Sweet Fragrance'
Oncidium (Burr.) Nelly Isler 'Swiss Beauty'

Paphiopedilum bellatulum
Paphiopedilum delenatii

Paphiopedilum Maudiae 'Napa Valley' x self
Paphiopedilum Supersuk 'Eureka' x Rasin Pie 'Hsinying'

Phalaenopsis bellina
Phalaenopsis bellina

Phalaenopsis gigantea
Phalaenopsis gigantea

Phragmipedium caudatum

Pleurothallis rubella

Polyrrhiza lindenii
Polyrrhiza sallei

Porroglossum teagui

Psychopsis kramerianum
Psychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos'
Psychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos' v. alba
Psychopsis papilo x sanderae
Psychopsis papilio v. alba

Psychopsiella limminghei

Scaphosepalum breve

Schoenorchis fragrans

Sophronitis cernua
Sophronitis coccinea '4N'
Sophronitis wittigiana

Tolumnia pulchellum
Tolumnia triquetrum

Trichopilia suavis
Trichopilia tortilis

Vanda coerulea
Vanda coerulea

Zootrophion serpentinum

[isurus79]

Franco,
Just to be clear, this is the list of plants you will be selling or currently have?

Also, if you are interested in well priced flasks of good parentage for a small grower like yourself, try Mick Fournier. He has some really cool stuff and I just got a flask from him in early January: HBI, Producer of Fine Orchids in Flask

Edit: You might want to look into buying compots too. I know H&R regularly sells them: hrnurseries.com

[Franco24]

This is my personal collection that I show and plan to hopefully use to start breeding and flasking. There is absolutely no money is buying wholesale and re-selling ... The market is just so unpredictable.

Thanks for the tip on flasks. I've dealt with Mick for ghost seedlings and really might venture into flasks until I can get my own going.

Thanks for the tip!

[keithrs]

If your going to be breeding then buy good quality stock. Be selective!

Do you have your import permits?

I would suggest to import plants(2-5 of each) for yourself, get them established and flowering then sell the plants you don't want.....At the same time buy flasks and get them going. You maybe better off focusing on species from Asia or NG/Australia or South America. Grow for yourself first... Think of it as a hobby with a side business. Don't give up your day job!

Ill be honest.... The plants you listed are not "rare". In fact, most are quite common to the average collector. Lets be honest... If your going to sell species you're selling to collectors.

Good Luck on your future indavors!

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Franco24

This is my personal collection that I show and plan to hopefully use to start breeding and flasking. There is absolutely no money is buying wholesale and re-selling ... The market is just so unpredictable.

Thanks for the tip on flasks. I've dealt with Mick for ghost seedlings and really might venture into flasks until I can get my own going.

Thanks for the tip!

No problem!

Looks like a pretty good collection too.

[Franco24]

You have a point. I think my best bet is to venture into seedlings and de-flasking. There is much more time involved that route, but the profit margin is much larger.

[Leafmite]

I would think the biggest profit would be in phals. They bloom quickly from flask, can be easily sold at fairs and orchid/craft shows for a decent profit, and don't take high light. Of course, I am not selling orchids so I wouldn't know. :|
Personally, I like your collection. I have some of the same and hope to get that particular aeranthes and plan to get a C. walkeriana in the future.
The vendors I know have other jobs, too. Good luck!

[keithrs]

The best thing to do is to get you a good fair size greenhouse(especially for seedlings) and work on your culture! No culture=poor business!

As my gramps said.... "Farmers these days rely on fungicide and fertilizers to cover up there poor culture"

If you have good culture, you can use far less chemicals and grow much better plants.

Ex. When I first got into grow orchids I used 20-20-20 and loads of physan 20. Then I found MSU, RO water and found out the importance of TDS and pH. My culture increased 10 fold! I watered @ 125 ppm N once a week. Now I have reduced my feed by almost 4x and fertilized at ever watering. Again, slight improvement. Beneficial bacteria solved a lot of rot problems I had so no more physan 20. K-lite came along and another step in the right direction. Now I'm moving away from synthetic fertilizer to more organic fertilizers. Humidity is one of the great keys!

Trading with local OS members is a great way to acquire some rare hard to find plants.

Find the plants you love and sell those.... I dont know anyone in the orchid world that loves all orchids. You have paph lover, phrag. lovers, Catt/laelia lovers, Pleuro lovers, bulbo lover, ect... Passion for what you grow will make it easier to grow in dark or low times. On top of that it makes it alot easier to talk to customers about what you grow and how to grow.

Are you a member over @ ST?

[Leafmite]

Good advice. We have two vendors at our OS. One is a bulbo enthusiest and the other is a cyp enthusiest. Both have extensive knowledge and collections. They sell other things but mostly what they know and grow. When I wanted to try a bulbo, I knew just where to turn.

[ALToronto]

I have to respectfully disagree with Leafmite. I don't think there is any money in phals for a small grower because they've been completely devalued by the big growers. When Wally World makes a profit selling a blooming noid phal for $10, how much can you really charge for a species?

Franco, you need to decide on your market - who are your customers, and what do they want to buy? In what condition? Is there anything value-added you can do to make your plants more attractive to your customers?

Judging from your collection, I would say that your market is intermediate - people who have become bored with flashy hybrids and are getting into the more accessible species. But you should also consider resellers - businesses who will buy your plants in quantity and sell them to individuals. Find out what organizations they belong to, go to the meetings and network, network, network. There is no substitute for face-to-face when it comes to selling or buying.