Popular Spring Bedding Plants

Owners of small “commercial” greenhouses are naturally alert for ways to save labor and stretch their producing areas. Both ends can be served by starting annuals (including bedding plants) and tender perennials in flats in late winter or early spring, and moving them to cold frames as soon as freezing -weather is past. Once the flats are moved out, the greenhouse space can be filled with other things.

Selling plants in flats of a dozen to 100 or more avoids the work of potting. Most small plants retail at about 50 to 60 cents per dozen, with the possible exception of double petunias, which usually run to twice that much. Potted singly, these same plants retail for 25 to 39 cents apiece, but to rate that price range the potted plants will also have to be grown a bit larger than is necessary in flats.

Grow the plants in full sun in a cool house, to keep them bushy. Ageratum, marigold, petunias, and many of the lesser annuals such as dwarf phlox, verbena, and torenia, can be grown and sold in flats, a dozen or more plants to the flat (the small-sized “unit” flats, such as Market-Paks, are excellent), or potted and sold in 2- or 3-inch individual pots. You may want to add a few flats of pansies or violas to offer as spring bedders, or you might find it more profitable to consider them as a special profit-making project. (See page 151.)

If you sell to a market in your city, ask them to save your empty flats. You pick them up when they are empty thus cutting your cost of supplies. The following, with brief descriptions, are some of the plants small greenhouse owners have found to be steady, profitable items. The cultural hints I offer are, of course, based on the timing of the seasons, weather, etc., in my area. Be sure you take your own local conditions into consideration in applying my recommendations (or anyone’s) as to seeding time, shifting to the outdoors, treatment of semi hardy plants, and so forth.

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