Starting a small-scale succulent nursery - UK

[Urchin1987]

Hello, I've have managed to source some commercial glasshouse space and am now looking to start growing cacti and other succulents for sale. I have only been growing my own collection for a couple of years, so am most definitely still learning, but have absolutely got the growing addiction and am determined to try and make a living out of this!

For the first couple of years I will also grow more conventional plants, such as Pelargoniums and other herbaceous perennials, as these will provide a higher turnover and some early income. This will allow me to build up my stock of succulents which I will initially aim to sell at markets in the SE England, before moving more online and possibly opening to retail customers.

I am really just looking for any advice around whether there are any genus which I should avoid - the glasshouse will be unheated and the only protection I will be able to provide will be horticultural fleece. Although the south-east is milder than many parts of the UK, we still do get regular frosts in winter. Would this likely lead to me losing plants in winter if I was to grow a genus such as Melocactus, or are most plants likely to survive a winter when dry and under fleece? If so, a list of plants to definitely avoid would be most helpful as I am now looking to buy in my initial stock.

Any other growing and small-scale nursery advice would be gratefully received, not just relating to cacti as I am also planning to grow various plants in Aizoaceae and Crassulaceae. I know that I will definitely make some mistakes along the way but am hoping to avoid any major catastrophes! I have found these forums invaluable already, although have mainly been lurking rather than posting...


Many thanks

[DaveW]

Melocactus and the other more tropical cacti certainly will not stand the British winter in an unheated greenhouse, though you can often just section off a small part of a larger greenhouse with polythene sheet and only heat that over winter. I run an unheated greenhouse, though the tender stuff comes into my house over winter, but from a commercial standpoint I would think you need to keep the greenhouse frost free 35F-40F (1.6C-4.4C) over winter or you do risk the plants getting marked, then would not be that saleable.

http://www.cactuscollection.com/info/ge ... ature.html

There are cacti that will stand low temperatures, like the Tephrocactus or mini Opuntia's, but they are not really commercial for the markets you intend. See:-

http://tephro.com/index.php/the-journal ... title.html

The problem growing cacti and Succulents in the UK commercially is they are slow growing and need heat over winter. It may take 3-4 years to obtain a saleable plant from seed, which may then only sell for about £2-£3 to collectors, let alone Garden Centres etc. Whereas with normal bedding plants you could have raised and sold three or four generations in that time and have earned a lot more money.

I would suggest you visit a few UK cactus nurseries to see their set ups. There is a list of links here on Cactus Mall, which will also indicate what the plants sell for:-

http://www.cactus-mall.com/nurseryuk.html

Probably the largest cactus nursery in the UK is Southfields:-

http://cactusland.co.uk/main.php

http://www.mycacti.info/pics_southfield ... July09.htm

If you are selling to Garden Centres your prices will have to be much less than to collectors since they can import cheaply from places like Holland, who grow such cacti by the million. In fact many English cactus nurseries also import some of their stock from the Continent rather than growing it themselves, taking a trip over there with their van to collect and bring them back.

Anyway good luck.

[Urchin1987]

That's really helpful Dave and confirms I should avoid plants from tropical areas for the time being.

I agree that these are certainly not the plants to grow for high margins and quick turnover! However, I am hoping to sell direct to retail customers in urban areas at a higher price than a collector would pay for a plant online. This will hopefully allow for a higher margin by creating a more saleable product using attractive pots and collective planting, such as a trough of succulents. Even so, I am open to the fact that succulents may have to only form a part of the nursery and I will need to continue to grow more conventional plants for the quicker turnover.

I would definitely like to visit a couple of the larger nurseries in order to see the set up and pick up some plants. Unfortunately they are all some distance from me but I hope to manage it in the next couple of month - Southfields is certainly on my radar. On the subject of sourcing plants from Europe, I have found it difficult to locate any place which sells cacti on a wholesale basis - do you happen to know of any nurseries which sell at trade prices?

[DaveW]

Again you may find some Continental nurseries on Cactus Mall or similar sites which if you email the links may do wholesale. You need to scroll down the next list. It is either too dear or almost impossible to get the paperwork to import from outside the EU. The EU is treated as a single country for CITES though so you can import and export quite easily within it's borders.

http://www.cactus-mall.com/nurseryeu.html

http://members.tripod.com/pharm_d/nurseries.html

Chris Pugh raises a lot of plants of very nice plants and only sells wholesale.

http://www.pughs-cacti.co.uk/

Found these but don't know anything about them.

http://www.arianecactus.be/home.php?taal=en

http://www.eugardens.eu/eu/firms/342-cactus-mania.html

http://www.ubink.nl/en/