Small and part-time farmers may be able to earn supplemental income by selling live herb plants in spring either directly to home gardeners at retail prices or to local garden centers at wholesale prices. It is difficult for a small-scale greenhouse operation to earn income with traditional bedding plants such as marigolds, petunias, impatiens, tomatoes and bell peppers. These plants are mass produced in huge, fully automated greenhouse operations. Regular bedding plants are offered for sale at all garden centers, department stores and supermarkets. Consumers can easily purchase them at relatively cheap prices. Live herb plants are not so readily available. Growers can charge higher prices that generate more profit for herb plants.

Fortunately for the small-scale greenhouse grower, herb plants do not lend themselves to mass production. Many of the most popular regular bedding plants, like begonias, come from tropical countries. They thrive under humid conditions. Growers water and fertilize them heavily to speed growth. Spearmint plants grow very well under these conditions, but most species of herbs would die in a greenhouse managed for regular bedding plant crops. Most of the culinary herbs originate from the Mediterranean region where the climate is relatively dry. A good watering regime for herb plants allows the plant roots to be dry on a regular time schedule. A large-scale greenhouse grower cannot just add a few benches of herb plants in with his or her other bedding plant crops and expect success. This is especially true if an automatic watering system is used. The herb plants will be attacked by fungus diseases in that wet, humid environment. Large-scale greenhouse growers would not want to grow herb plants anyway because they cannot usually be sold in large volume to wholesale buyers. This enterprise belongs to the small-scale grower who can make money selling herb plants one at a time retail or one flat at a time wholesale. “Which herb plants should I grow?” is a good question for a beginning grower to ask. Hundreds of different herb species are sold to consumers for backyard herb gardens. Even within species, there are many different varieties to choose from. There are 240 distinct varieties of thyme. There are great differences in flavor, appearance and growth habit among the specific cultivars. Beginning growers should start with standard herbs. Once a beginner learns how to grow strong, healthy plants, from seeds and plugs, of 20 common herbs, he or she can venture out into the rare and unusual species. The most important consideration in choosing varieties of herbs to grow and sell is flavor. Oregano provides a good example. There are many species of wild marjoram that are often labeled as oregano at plant stands.

These plants will look good in an herb garden and they will have beautiful blue flowers that can be cut and dried, but the fresh or dried leaves will not taste like oregano. The best way to be sure that Greek oregano plants have acceptable flavor is to grow them from rooted cuttings rather than from seeds. This is true for many herbs. Seeds collected from a parent plant that has excellent flavor may produce plants that have no flavor or an off flavor that no one will like. This is simply caused by cross pollination. A healthy live herb plant, with a well-developed root system, usually takes about eight weeks to grow from a rooted cutting planted in a 3-1/2 inch pot. A light, high-porosity soilless growing medium should be used. The young plants can be fertilized with either a water-soluble complete fertilizer like Peters 20-20-20 or an organic fish emulsion/kelp liquid fertilizer. The plants will have to be monitored closely for insects and diseases.

Aphids are the most common problem. Diseases usually indicate overwatering and/or inadequate ventilation. Many herb growers in Virginia produce and sell 6,000 to 10,000 plants every spring in small inexpensive greenhouses for supplemental income. One hundred flats do not require much space. These small growers generally sell their herb plants at retail prices direct to the public at spring festivals, farmers’ markets and from their homes. A quick cost analysis for production of one live herb plant in a plastic pot: Soilless potting medium 5 cents Rooted cutting 25 cents 3-1/2 inch pot 5 cents Overhead (depreciation, heat, etc.) 25 cents TOTAL costs (excluding labor) 60 cents Retail prices generally charged for herb plants are $1.50 to $2 per plant. This simple enterprise is a very practical way for a small grower to earn cash income every spring.