[johnkeegan]

Tree, A little help on the lingo. Is a liner the same as a plug?

[trees]

The terms "liner" and "plug" are basically the same thing, though typically you come across liners in woody plant production and plugs for the herbaceous stuff (there are exceptions, of course).

BTW... I think the idea of growing out your own perennials from plugs is pretty sound, if you're set up to properly care for them. In our area, we can start with plugs in Jan./Feb. and have saleable 1 gallon material by the end of April for most plants, certainly no later than June 1 for almost everything. We may be doing that exact thing next year ourselves.

[Nathaniel Carr]

Something else to consider. Some growers will pot plugs straight to gallon containers and some pot up into 4 inch first than shift up to gallons. If you want to save space in your garage the 4 inch route would be something to think about.

4 inch plants have other advantages. For 1 thing they drain faster so less chance for root rots when the plants are still small. Also there is lots more room for weeds to grow in a gallon pot when the perennials are small. Weeding pots is no big deal, but you can't do it in foul weather, where as you could be shifting 4in. pots up indoors in when it's raining.

I could see going either way.

[r schipul]

John,
I'm sure you can get most perennials in any size in the spring. The problem is in mid summer when inventories on hot/not so common plants are non existent. Why not buy in 1/2 your normal supply in gallons which can be used through spring and the other half in plugs and let them take there normal course? bringing outside once daytime temps are above freezing and covering with insulating blanket (not poly) at night. That would give you your plants for spring and your plants when you really need them in July.

[denzim]

Check out http://www.freeplants.com .
Lots of free information

[johnkeegan]

Denzim, (or anyone else) are you familiar with his products (books, dvd's etc.). The kit cost $297 and the "free" info I read was pretty run of the mill.

[denzim]

John I have his program and I think it is worth the money, Mike of MI follow his program and his 1st sale was $11,000
I also belong to his Backyard Growers Private Message Board well worth the money

[johnkeegan]

What do you feel is the basic advantage of his system over others? Thanks. And not to get sidetracked but it seems as if he does alot from cuttings. Aren't there any patent issues with that if he's selling the mature plants? Or maybe he covers that in his literature.

[denzim]

He dose all of his plants from cuttings
Yes he dose cover patents in his course
He did $25,000 on 1/20th acre

[nate78]

I plan to grow my own perrenials this year. I ordered a couple hundred .6 gal pots and some 1 gal. I will probably order 4 different varieties of plants that I use often. I will pot them with a course sand and peatmoss mix, maybe add alittle compost. I am worried that if I use compost in the mix the plants will be more apt to rot. If I use the two sizes of pots I am hoping that the larger size pots will sustain the plants into spring next year, that is if I don't use them all this year. I have been picking my plants up at a garden center and getting 20 percent discount, but they still average around 9 dollars for a one gallon perrenial. Hope this investment works out.

[NCSULandscaper]

i have several thousand plants i am growing now for the landscape business, mix of woody shrubs/perennials and grasses so it can be done with not that much more work per say but ALOT of startup money is involved with it..........i take the 2.25" liners and pot them straight to 3 gal, you can get a large plant QUICK when you give the plant alot of room to grow into, fert them every 3 months with Harrels fert and snapshot for weeds and its easy money. This spring i plan to double or triple the nursery operation, especially the field grown grass section

[NCSULandscaper]

Originally Posted by nate78

I have been picking my plants up at a garden center and getting 20 percent discount, but they still average around 9 dollars for a one gallon perrenial. Hope this investment works out.

yea if i was getting hosed that bad i would grow alot of stuff too...........its hard to compete with big nurseries and im not really trying to but im just growing what i use alot and what runs out. Most of the 3 gal shrub material i pay $5-8.50 for that, and 1 gal perennials are $2-4.............BUT we are in one of the best and largest nursery markets in the country so prices are cheap

[wvbrian]

When I used to be a nursery grower, we would pot up 50's into 4'' pots filled with pro-mix. Potted at the end of January, they were saleable by May 1st-just in time for mothers day. Of course this required a good deal of propane to keep the houses warm enough to break dormancy, but made for a nice plant and a quick profit. Nate-if potting into 1 gallons, why not pot into a bark mix-drains much better than peat/sand and you can have mixes made with a high level of organic matter to retain moisture and nutrients instead of leaching them all out. Just my 2 cents

[NCSULandscaper]

bark medium is great, i have used a 100% aged pine bark fines in my pots and everything grew great

[jwholden]

John Keegan,

How did you make out with your plugs? I'd love to hear of your success.