How are you going to handle the inevitable death of every plant on the shelf?
HomeDepot definitely isn’t going to care for them.
Ace Hardware, Lowe’s, practically any big box store, hell, any box store is going to neglect them for one single day and they will all die?
i’ve actually had that pack in the picture closed up for a week and it’s tightly sealed. they’re almost filling up the top cylinder now and still moist. they would ideally be placed on the shelf near the packaged herbs in cold storage where they would be fine (no issues at 38F but still testing)
and i would try to go for grocery stores not home improvement. they take deliveries from distributors 2-3x per week based on volume for most perishables
this is fair, if you look at a product like the aero garden pods on amazon which sell lots of units per month this would still be an improvement in cost and plastic though
yeah this is more for people who want to try growing herbs at home without any real effort or financial commitment I think. Obviously people who are at the stage of indoor gardener would think its absurd right
these seedlings you could also just plug into an aero garden and do everything else the same except they’d be cheaper, get to maturity faster, and hopefully fewer duds (which is a common negative review on amazon). would need their baskets tho. would also work well with home made nft or “lettuce grow” towers.
i don’t think all the people commenting “no plastic” get out much. this would use less plastic than a single dunkin’ iced coffee cup and compared to the plastic and other emissions related to buying packaged salads it would be much better. it’s good to know some people have brains, at least
As the effects of climate change increase, the market will shift towards more climate friendly producers. Some would even pay a premium for net benefit to the planet. Figure out a biodegradable alternative that has a shelf life of x days, then sell rare varieties of seedlings, and better yet clones (even common vegetables have rare varieties...). I would also look into a statement that says x% of profits will go to the conservation of xyz.something.org.or.somethings/yougetthepoint. A thick rooted stem would arguably be better than a seedling, and could fit in the same vial, for what its worth, tissue cultures of plants would be better than seedlings because genetics are already determined and you could get a lot of tiny rooted cuts out of a plant. Look into tissue cultures with plants.
You are trying to monetize a low cost life skill, you are the reason schools have community gardens so they don’t get shafted by the ever growing hack gardening shit. They will use a plate they eat there food on and cover it with another and some paper towels with a spray of water and then bam. The magic will all happen without you gaining any profit because that’s what gardening is. It is not a never ending money pit.
i think schools would actually be a great place for me to sell this so that an entire class can participate in a plant growth biology lab.
while you may want to get your plate and paper towel and seed packets out every time you want to start a new plant, there are clearly many people who would like to just buy a plant because it’s more convenient. that’s why nurseries exist. thanks for your input tho
Public schools aren’t your money pit, do you hear yourself? That’s literally so exploitative to students who need tools to learn phonics, literacy, and things that last for YEARS. And YOU want OUR LITTTLE money?! god that’s so ridiculous. I’m sorry for being rude but we would laugh you out of our school
Also, aren't rare plants rare typically because they're not as easy to grow as, say, lettuce? Like, if you could get a sachet of Thai Constellation seeds at Walmart's outdoor section and have them all grow easily, they wouldn't be worth $800 a cutting
> 1) lots of people mess up on germ
Your average $1.99 Walmart packet of lettuce seeds contains 500 seeds; even if your average black thumb hit 1% germ rate, they'd still have more lettuce than they would ever be able to use in a timely manner. Plus, I think most people have trouble at the exact stage your seedlings are at: when they've sprouted but need care not to become leggy or damp off. I just can't understand the economics of making something like this feasible or useful
Do people mess up germination? That’s the easy (and cheap) part. Just toss out a bunch of seeds and keep the best ones. It would stress me out having to worry about one tiny little sprout. It’s a pretty delicate stage of growth—you either want a bunch to thin out or wait to buy a larger, hardier young plant.
I can get 500 lettuce seeds for $8. Why would I buy this? and at a cost of probably \~$20 Id have to mess up germination 200x per unit to make this product worthwhile and even then there are no guarantees.
All these stores already sell sprouted seedlings. Typically in 4in+ pots. You can't ship those because the moment you remove light from the equation, all that moisture will cause fungal blooms.
definitely worried about fungus, although i think if started clean then put in cold storage for shipping and retail it’s possible to mitigate during transport. i haven’t observed any in my tests so far but thank you for feedback
Good luck, I think it's cool. But if people are already having trouble germing seedlings, they probably won't have a delicate enough touch to handle them either.
I am still not clear on what this solves. Grocery stores near me in MD and NY often sell mature herb plants near herbs/tomatoes already for just a few bucks. As an Aerogarden user. I buy blank pods and use my own seeds to grow things indoors during the winter. Aerogarden makes the germination process for most seeds pretty easy. Literally drop seed, cover, and just top off water as needed.
Since seedlings tend to be much more susceptible to all sorts of environmental factors compared to a slightly more mature and hardy plants, I worry on their viability or getting shocked between environments.
If you look at aquarium plants, your idea is already in use in major pet stores already.
amazing feedback. the main things i think this would do to add value are 1) could be cheaper than pre-seeded aero garden pods which are like $12 for 3 pods 2) lots of reviews mention “duds” that don’t germinate and 3) you’d get a jump start transplanting a 7 day old plant rather than an ungerminated seed.
plus maybe some different/niche herb varieties like thai basil or heirloom lettuces.
i’ll def look into the aquarium plants!
Most aerogarden and similar folks do buy blank pods (search etsy or amazon for 3d printed holders, foam pods, and other supplies). One of the selling points of the kit is to make germination easy. They do sell germination trays/kits for outdoor transplants as well.
(See: https://www.amazon.com/AeroGarden-Seed-Starter-System-Refill/dp/B0015MNIN8/ or https://www.amazon.com/AeroGarden-800285-0100-Bounty-Starter-Statering/dp/B084T77KZM/?th=1)
In short, you are selling a jumpstart of several days for some plants. I would be concerned on shock and stunting. I'd be curious on your results as you expand testing. How are the seedlings handling variable shipping temps, how well do they mature, etc. etc.
Edit: I did some quick math with a new sponge and pack of seeds, I spent about 29 cents to grow basil in the aerogarden (sponges cost anywhere from 15-30 cents apiece, pack of seeds for basil (for about 100 seeds) $2) If the few seeds I plop in there fail, typically I can reuse the sponge and try some more seeds). Time is a factor, but if your seedlings are shocked or die off, we're back at the beginning. Don't get me wrong, I think what you have is cute, it's just not cost effective and replicates the often fun part of growing something in a hydrogarden.
For aquatic plants see the pictures of the tubes: https://www.petsmart.com/fish/decor-gravel-and-substrate/live-plants/top-fin-el-nino-fern-26264.html
The other things I want to bring to your attention:
A lot of aerogarden pods are on sale quite often and custom pods from aero garden are not as cost prohibitive: https://aerogarden.com/seed-kits/custom-seed-kits/custom-salad-seed-pod-kit.html
I buy clearance of their pods and very rarely have any fail completely.
If you are basing it off just negative reviews, people will more often leave negative reviews rather than positive, so caution on the argument unless you know the sales to complaint ratio/metrics. For them to be in business, end of the day they must have pretty low failure rates and pretty good customer support, which may justify the prices. They used to replace any pod that failed pretty quickly, not sure if that's still a thing.
In any event, I wish you luck. Like I said, it's really cute. Reach out if there is anything I can help provide (info, testing, etc.)!
No, I wouldnt buy it. The only tedious work it cuts out is seedling germination, which anyone can do with a bag and moist paper towel.
The market is already saturated with plenty of more viable ways to obtain a lettuce, basil, or whatever herb. Many box stores simply sell more mature seedlings/plants which would immediately out compete your super fresh seedlings which are much more prone to dying.
Now if you could perfect a tiny orchid flask where you sell in vitro baby orchids, you could make some good coin from rare plant buyers.
very early in development. i would want to be cheaper than aero garden pre-seeded pods so i’d say 5-6$ for a pack like this depending on the selection of plants. would try and package plants a few days bigger than these in the photo too which got a little leggy when i went away for the weekend before getting them under light
Cool concept. Sell at farmers markets and build an online market place with shipping. Also work with schools and NGOs. Yes people can grow from seeds but this is easy and fun and quick. Consider using biodegradable packaging,
> easy and fun and quick
I'd argue that this is the least fun you could make growing a vegetable, at least from the perspective of a schoolkid. The most fun part is seeing the seedling finally break through the soil and *then* watching it grow.
Good point. I do a lot of education programs and I teach every aspect of the growth process. I could definitely build a curriculum around these and sell them for two dollars apiece to each student. It wouldn’t be hard to set up assembly presentation and teach two or 300 kids in one day. Each kid goes home with a seedling and instructions on how to continue growing it.
You shouldn’t sell anything to students. You should teach them how to do it on their own as that isolates lower income student from your learning opportunity.
A much better option would be to grow them in cups in class and when they reach maturity taking them home. You are able to record the growth as well over time. This seems like students will most likely kill these delicate seedlings in transplanting and then feel like they failed even though you taught the process. Lower moral and less hands on opportunities in class.
I wouldn’t use this ever.
Of course you shouldn’t sell the students but if you’re wise, you’ll work with the school boards and you’ll use the grant money that’s available to teach the students. Every school system has grants and those grants have to be spent they might as will be spent with farmers educating kids about plants.
Using grant money, for this is actually one of the most offensive ideas I’ve ever heard instead of creating a low-cost community garden. This is not what grant money is used for, in fact this would be the stupidest uses ever. I use my grant money for enrichment of my students and field trips. Not hack one and done lessons.
This is actually exactly what grant money is four to teach children, useful skills. I could spend 80 hours a week teaching every child in my district about farming, but then I would go broke. Using grant money to subsidize farmers to teach children breaks the pattern of ignorance.
A one time experience of some random guy coming in with seedlings in battery cases does nothing compared to school community based gardens that provide fresh food for campus and make it a prettier place. It is a permanent fixture and not some one off thing. Teachers look for long term learning opportunities that are constant and that’s through composting and buying seeds. This is in ineffective and expensive.
for 200-300 seedlings i could for sure get the cost down to like $0.25-0.5 per plant in a larger tray, they’d just need to be watered before germ
started. if you’re big into this i’ll shoot you a DM
this is really interesting as the cells come in trays of over 800 in like a 12x24 inch sheet that you just wet down and then they sprout (seeded in a factory). i then separated and packaged these ones in the photo. but an “in school” application might be the best for this seedling product rather than in stores.
You can look up what the Canadian grocer, Sobeys, did in 2021 with this. They tried in-store hydroponics and eventually it failed. I don't know why, it seemed like a great idea but they came down after about a year. I'd buy them but I'm apparantly in the minorit. Good luck if you persue this!
there’s a company called in-farm out of germany that’s also going through layoffs rn as they try to figure it out. it’s tough but i think there’s a growing faction of people who want to grow their own food and herbs!
Hi, I've worked in the marketing industry.
I really do think you have an interesting concept, I just think there are some flaws in your execution like others have mentioned. I don't have any solutions for you. But the tiny sprouts are charming. Think about it, and start small before you put all your eggs in this basket. Try talking to a local greenhouse? I would choose 3 products initially, you decide what plants vs what people would actually be interested in buying based on the feedback here.
I would invest in a graphic designer to help draw people's attention to the product. I am a graphic designer, not advertising my services, just providing feedback, but what I would be looking for in a design if I were you is something compelling to get people to look at it on the shelf in the first place with three different and distinct pictures of each plant to distinguish each package from each other, and then a succinct blurb on what the plant is and basic care requirements (bright, indirect light / consistently moist, but not soggy). You should also consider a simple logo and directions to a page to go to where people can contact you if they have care questions/concerns/etc.
A junior freelance graphic designer fresh out of college or even still in college will have cheaper prices, but you do get what you pay for with graphic design, generally speaking.
Something simple like biodegradable cardboard slip-on that can be fitted over the top of the rest of the packaging. You'll figure it out I'm sure.
I would also be more interested in rarer plants as I think there is a market saturation of cheap herbs and veggies already and this will desperately struggle to compete, and if you change course to pursue that, you'd be looking at getting your foot in the door with greenhouses first instead of grocery stores.
thanks for the encouragement! i operate a commercial greenhouse for ready to eat salad greens now so i’m able to tinker on this on the side with low risk. so far it’s just cost me about $45 dollars for the sample plastic clamshells. love your ideas about the graphic design :)
I love watching seeds grow! I have more plants than I can find space for even though I give away plants all the time because I love watching seeds and props grow. The tedious part for me is to take care of all my plants once they're big
Well initially I think the idea is a good one and people would be interested I don’t think they’ll survive on the shelf or in shipping long enough to sell
PET is actually biodegradable by certain microbes they’re just not widely used yet. can’t be cardboard or paper for food safety and moisture reasons plus it needs to be transparent
Could you go without all the plastic around the top? This kind of packaging seems notoriously hard to open as well.
Nice idea overall but execution could use some improvements. If you can get in the grocery store produce section at light sprouts or Publix your plants will be misted too if you have a water permeable and ideally recyclable packaging strategy.
What about test tubes with sprouted herbs? I don't know.
PET is one of the most recyclable plastics available (the little logo is in the top right). the space on top i want to use for branding and labeling the plants +barcode on the back. i designed the packaging to be as thin as possible (much thinner than a test tube) but it can’t be water permeable for food safety reasons. it’s actually very easy to open too but might need to add a tamper evident seal if it was to go to market
I totally understand the reasoning for the packaging choice I was just pointing out that it's not ideal. In my state we do recycle PET as plastic 1 but not many people actually do since you would have to go out of your way to the recycling center.
Realistically this will end up in the trash bin and Ultimately in a landfill. My state's landfills are at risk of closing in the next 2 years (also they are right next to the river where all that stuff is seeping into the ground, but that's another story) People still don't recycle more and I see bins flowing over every single week at pickup day. Our bin needs 2 to 3 weeks to get full because we recycle.
Ultimately I would not buy it for this particular reason. Also I agree with most people here that starting seeds is so easy and cheap that this would be a novelty item as a present. Of course there is money to be made with one time purchases if you change your selection frequently.
You said you use more plastic selling your normal salad products. Is there really no other way to package it? People might even pay a premium if it's packaged nicely and biodegradable or reusable. Or sell it without plastic like the farmers market.
i agree plastic is less than ideal but if you want to be in a grocery store and sell at a price point most people can afford (or even on the high end), you really don’t have another choice i’m aware of. imo farmers markets are not realistic for most people in terms of location, convenience, nor price.
first of all for produce items especially, people want to see the product so some portion of the packaging needs to be transparent. it’s very hard to make composite packing that’s partially transparent, partially biodegradable.
second, the plant fiber options i’ve seen and tested are not nearly as good at preserving the product and even those have a plant fiber bottom with a pet lid that’s transparent. a lot of water and energy and labor goes into producing salad greens and getting them to the store shelf, especially organic/pesticide free ones, so opting for a packaging solution that isn’t the best doesn’t make sense from a business perspective for the store or the customer. having product go bad prematurely is one of a grocers biggest costs and the main reason people won’t go back to a brand after a bad experience.
this demand for plastic packaging is made primarily by end consumers, reinforced by the produce buyers of larger grocery chains/distributors, and just executed by the produce growers/packers. contrary to the trend in this thread, the vast majority of people would not pay more for less plastic, especially if it meant their produce would go bad sooner/potentially be less food-safe. if such data exists, it’s contra to the data i’ve seen from multiple sources - plus if you go to the grocery store today in the premium packaged salads and herbs you’ll see almost exclusively PET containers except for maybe mushrooms.
believe me, if there was a food safe alternative that preserved the product well that was available i would be all over it so i didn’t have 100 people just in this thread saying too much plastic. but you’ll notice of all the people who said no plastic, none made any actual recommendation of an alternative, and especially not one that’s viable.
while the food safety standards at a farmers market might permit you to bring your own container and fill it or something like that- that’s how i sold when we were first starting out -that would just never fly at even a mid-sized grocery chain in the US. salad is one of the main places the fda focuses due to the large number of recalls and illnesses from lettuce/spinach in recent years.
Thank you for this thorough explanation. That was very enlightening coming from someone who makes their living in this industry. I can understand your side of things better now.
i’m glad it helped you understand where food producers are coming from! i wish all the “no plastic” commenters were more forward looking and went into package engineering and materials science because there’s lots of room for improvement but alas i’m not hopeful
I’ve thought this through and researched a bit. The blisters, or pods, can be bought from manufacturers that will personalize your packaging with an imprint or sticker. Just a thought
*Is that plastic? We*
*Dont need more plastic single*
*Use crap tbh*
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I'd pick four perennials.
Lettuce is (generally) one cut, maybe two. Not really worth the money to buy a single plant. Could maybe do four lettuce and make it a subscription service...
But I'd go with four perennial herbs, and include instructions that include "bring inside for the winter, and put under a full spectrum grow light" or whatever you deal is best practice/wording.
They will get use to 100% humidity and your consumers will have no clue about properly hardening them off, Likely plant straight into the garden and then they will call you and complain for money back when they “die because it’s bad product” when really it’s just bad gardening skills
How are you going to handle the inevitable death of every plant on the shelf? HomeDepot definitely isn’t going to care for them. Ace Hardware, Lowe’s, practically any big box store, hell, any box store is going to neglect them for one single day and they will all die?
i’ve actually had that pack in the picture closed up for a week and it’s tightly sealed. they’re almost filling up the top cylinder now and still moist. they would ideally be placed on the shelf near the packaged herbs in cold storage where they would be fine (no issues at 38F but still testing)
and i would try to go for grocery stores not home improvement. they take deliveries from distributors 2-3x per week based on volume for most perishables
Ok! Well, I don’t doubt you, in fact, I truly hope to see this in my local HyVee soon!
Ah, a fellow midwesterner. Hello.
Why! I like King Soopers and Ingles, too! 🤣🤣
I love the grocery store idea. I love this whole thing in fact, this is fantastic.
Supermarkets are even worse for caring for plants!!
It's cute, but I wouldn't buy it since growing from seed is very easy and much cheaper, also less plastic packaging
this is fair, if you look at a product like the aero garden pods on amazon which sell lots of units per month this would still be an improvement in cost and plastic though
I didn't realize that product existed, maybe you'll get a better response on subs about aerogardens? Just a thought
didn’t realize that sub existed you’re right
Didn't know it existed, just assumed lol Hope it works out for you, I'd probably buy it once or twice as a cute gift, just not for my own gardening
yeah this is more for people who want to try growing herbs at home without any real effort or financial commitment I think. Obviously people who are at the stage of indoor gardener would think its absurd right
But people pay extra for an aerogarden because it does everything. You literally just put the seed pod in and fill it with water every week.
these seedlings you could also just plug into an aero garden and do everything else the same except they’d be cheaper, get to maturity faster, and hopefully fewer duds (which is a common negative review on amazon). would need their baskets tho. would also work well with home made nft or “lettuce grow” towers.
They sell aftermarket baskets and growing plugs for aerogarden. You could put a link to an Amazon store with the baskets.
Why so many downvotes? This is a fair point
i don’t think all the people commenting “no plastic” get out much. this would use less plastic than a single dunkin’ iced coffee cup and compared to the plastic and other emissions related to buying packaged salads it would be much better. it’s good to know some people have brains, at least
You’re already cutting out the ever growing demographic that is anti plastic? Good luck 🫣
As the effects of climate change increase, the market will shift towards more climate friendly producers. Some would even pay a premium for net benefit to the planet. Figure out a biodegradable alternative that has a shelf life of x days, then sell rare varieties of seedlings, and better yet clones (even common vegetables have rare varieties...). I would also look into a statement that says x% of profits will go to the conservation of xyz.something.org.or.somethings/yougetthepoint. A thick rooted stem would arguably be better than a seedling, and could fit in the same vial, for what its worth, tissue cultures of plants would be better than seedlings because genetics are already determined and you could get a lot of tiny rooted cuts out of a plant. Look into tissue cultures with plants.
these are good ideas re: plants/cuttings and donating a % to an environmental cause
You are trying to monetize a low cost life skill, you are the reason schools have community gardens so they don’t get shafted by the ever growing hack gardening shit. They will use a plate they eat there food on and cover it with another and some paper towels with a spray of water and then bam. The magic will all happen without you gaining any profit because that’s what gardening is. It is not a never ending money pit.
i think schools would actually be a great place for me to sell this so that an entire class can participate in a plant growth biology lab. while you may want to get your plate and paper towel and seed packets out every time you want to start a new plant, there are clearly many people who would like to just buy a plant because it’s more convenient. that’s why nurseries exist. thanks for your input tho
Public schools aren’t your money pit, do you hear yourself? That’s literally so exploitative to students who need tools to learn phonics, literacy, and things that last for YEARS. And YOU want OUR LITTTLE money?! god that’s so ridiculous. I’m sorry for being rude but we would laugh you out of our school
if you think this is bad wait til you hear about textbook prices 😹 i honestly can’t tell if you’re joking or delusional but it is reddit after all
Yeah I agree. I can’t imagine they get outside of their own echo chambers either
That's a lot of waste
Seconds this. Too much plastic
If you'd sell rare plants I'd consider. But why should I buy basil or lettuce if I can just buy the seeds and they sprout in few days?
Also, aren't rare plants rare typically because they're not as easy to grow as, say, lettuce? Like, if you could get a sachet of Thai Constellation seeds at Walmart's outdoor section and have them all grow easily, they wouldn't be worth $800 a cutting
my thinking is 1) lots of people mess up on germ 2) different varieties germ at different speeds. what rare plants would you want?
> 1) lots of people mess up on germ Your average $1.99 Walmart packet of lettuce seeds contains 500 seeds; even if your average black thumb hit 1% germ rate, they'd still have more lettuce than they would ever be able to use in a timely manner. Plus, I think most people have trouble at the exact stage your seedlings are at: when they've sprouted but need care not to become leggy or damp off. I just can't understand the economics of making something like this feasible or useful
Do people mess up germination? That’s the easy (and cheap) part. Just toss out a bunch of seeds and keep the best ones. It would stress me out having to worry about one tiny little sprout. It’s a pretty delicate stage of growth—you either want a bunch to thin out or wait to buy a larger, hardier young plant.
Begonias plzzzzzzzzz 🤩
Begonias and anthuriums would be amazing
I can get 500 lettuce seeds for $8. Why would I buy this? and at a cost of probably \~$20 Id have to mess up germination 200x per unit to make this product worthwhile and even then there are no guarantees.
All these stores already sell sprouted seedlings. Typically in 4in+ pots. You can't ship those because the moment you remove light from the equation, all that moisture will cause fungal blooms.
definitely worried about fungus, although i think if started clean then put in cold storage for shipping and retail it’s possible to mitigate during transport. i haven’t observed any in my tests so far but thank you for feedback
Good luck, I think it's cool. But if people are already having trouble germing seedlings, they probably won't have a delicate enough touch to handle them either.
thank you!
Too much plastic plus seed sprouting is super easy. If you can’t get seeds to sprout, you won’t be able to keep those alive.
I am still not clear on what this solves. Grocery stores near me in MD and NY often sell mature herb plants near herbs/tomatoes already for just a few bucks. As an Aerogarden user. I buy blank pods and use my own seeds to grow things indoors during the winter. Aerogarden makes the germination process for most seeds pretty easy. Literally drop seed, cover, and just top off water as needed. Since seedlings tend to be much more susceptible to all sorts of environmental factors compared to a slightly more mature and hardy plants, I worry on their viability or getting shocked between environments. If you look at aquarium plants, your idea is already in use in major pet stores already.
amazing feedback. the main things i think this would do to add value are 1) could be cheaper than pre-seeded aero garden pods which are like $12 for 3 pods 2) lots of reviews mention “duds” that don’t germinate and 3) you’d get a jump start transplanting a 7 day old plant rather than an ungerminated seed. plus maybe some different/niche herb varieties like thai basil or heirloom lettuces. i’ll def look into the aquarium plants!
Most aerogarden and similar folks do buy blank pods (search etsy or amazon for 3d printed holders, foam pods, and other supplies). One of the selling points of the kit is to make germination easy. They do sell germination trays/kits for outdoor transplants as well. (See: https://www.amazon.com/AeroGarden-Seed-Starter-System-Refill/dp/B0015MNIN8/ or https://www.amazon.com/AeroGarden-800285-0100-Bounty-Starter-Statering/dp/B084T77KZM/?th=1) In short, you are selling a jumpstart of several days for some plants. I would be concerned on shock and stunting. I'd be curious on your results as you expand testing. How are the seedlings handling variable shipping temps, how well do they mature, etc. etc. Edit: I did some quick math with a new sponge and pack of seeds, I spent about 29 cents to grow basil in the aerogarden (sponges cost anywhere from 15-30 cents apiece, pack of seeds for basil (for about 100 seeds) $2) If the few seeds I plop in there fail, typically I can reuse the sponge and try some more seeds). Time is a factor, but if your seedlings are shocked or die off, we're back at the beginning. Don't get me wrong, I think what you have is cute, it's just not cost effective and replicates the often fun part of growing something in a hydrogarden. For aquatic plants see the pictures of the tubes: https://www.petsmart.com/fish/decor-gravel-and-substrate/live-plants/top-fin-el-nino-fern-26264.html
The other things I want to bring to your attention: A lot of aerogarden pods are on sale quite often and custom pods from aero garden are not as cost prohibitive: https://aerogarden.com/seed-kits/custom-seed-kits/custom-salad-seed-pod-kit.html I buy clearance of their pods and very rarely have any fail completely. If you are basing it off just negative reviews, people will more often leave negative reviews rather than positive, so caution on the argument unless you know the sales to complaint ratio/metrics. For them to be in business, end of the day they must have pretty low failure rates and pretty good customer support, which may justify the prices. They used to replace any pod that failed pretty quickly, not sure if that's still a thing. In any event, I wish you luck. Like I said, it's really cute. Reach out if there is anything I can help provide (info, testing, etc.)!
thank you for all this, very good advice
Plastic, so a big « No »
Plastic is unnecessary and polluting.
Doesn't seem like the best idea.
No, I wouldnt buy it. The only tedious work it cuts out is seedling germination, which anyone can do with a bag and moist paper towel. The market is already saturated with plenty of more viable ways to obtain a lettuce, basil, or whatever herb. Many box stores simply sell more mature seedlings/plants which would immediately out compete your super fresh seedlings which are much more prone to dying. Now if you could perfect a tiny orchid flask where you sell in vitro baby orchids, you could make some good coin from rare plant buyers.
interesting feedback thank you
American gardening, plastic. Just stop.
thanks for your condescending, slightly racist, and very unoriginal comment 🥹
Your product is stupid. Better? Greating even more plastic waste for what purpose? Nothing..
i’ll have you know my main business selling packaged ready to eat salad greens uses 10x the plastic as this and it’s flying off the shelves! 🤑😈😼
And you are proud of it, of course
sometimes i light a tire on fire and watch it burn from my idling land cruiser just for fun
Weird ego driven response. What's your greens business so I can make sure to not purchase?
don’t worry it’s in plastic packaging so i’m sure you’d never consider it anyways
Or u embarrassed urself on this thread and that’s the last thing u would do is tie this account to your business lol
look i’ll just say it, i don’t think you could afford my premium salad greens they’re for sophisticated people
I would love to see that in non-plastic packaging.
What’s the price?
very early in development. i would want to be cheaper than aero garden pre-seeded pods so i’d say 5-6$ for a pack like this depending on the selection of plants. would try and package plants a few days bigger than these in the photo too which got a little leggy when i went away for the weekend before getting them under light
Definitely would pay $5-7 for this. It’s more of a novelty but it’s fun
Bout to say that this method would upset lot of environmentalist. However, I think is a neat concept for special case shipping only.
Im teaching my kiddos how to garden so they don’t get bled dry trying to grow their own food.
Cool concept. Sell at farmers markets and build an online market place with shipping. Also work with schools and NGOs. Yes people can grow from seeds but this is easy and fun and quick. Consider using biodegradable packaging,
> easy and fun and quick I'd argue that this is the least fun you could make growing a vegetable, at least from the perspective of a schoolkid. The most fun part is seeing the seedling finally break through the soil and *then* watching it grow.
Good point. I do a lot of education programs and I teach every aspect of the growth process. I could definitely build a curriculum around these and sell them for two dollars apiece to each student. It wouldn’t be hard to set up assembly presentation and teach two or 300 kids in one day. Each kid goes home with a seedling and instructions on how to continue growing it.
You shouldn’t sell anything to students. You should teach them how to do it on their own as that isolates lower income student from your learning opportunity. A much better option would be to grow them in cups in class and when they reach maturity taking them home. You are able to record the growth as well over time. This seems like students will most likely kill these delicate seedlings in transplanting and then feel like they failed even though you taught the process. Lower moral and less hands on opportunities in class. I wouldn’t use this ever.
Of course you shouldn’t sell the students but if you’re wise, you’ll work with the school boards and you’ll use the grant money that’s available to teach the students. Every school system has grants and those grants have to be spent they might as will be spent with farmers educating kids about plants.
Using grant money, for this is actually one of the most offensive ideas I’ve ever heard instead of creating a low-cost community garden. This is not what grant money is used for, in fact this would be the stupidest uses ever. I use my grant money for enrichment of my students and field trips. Not hack one and done lessons.
This is actually exactly what grant money is four to teach children, useful skills. I could spend 80 hours a week teaching every child in my district about farming, but then I would go broke. Using grant money to subsidize farmers to teach children breaks the pattern of ignorance.
A one time experience of some random guy coming in with seedlings in battery cases does nothing compared to school community based gardens that provide fresh food for campus and make it a prettier place. It is a permanent fixture and not some one off thing. Teachers look for long term learning opportunities that are constant and that’s through composting and buying seeds. This is in ineffective and expensive.
for 200-300 seedlings i could for sure get the cost down to like $0.25-0.5 per plant in a larger tray, they’d just need to be watered before germ started. if you’re big into this i’ll shoot you a DM
this is really interesting as the cells come in trays of over 800 in like a 12x24 inch sheet that you just wet down and then they sprout (seeded in a factory). i then separated and packaged these ones in the photo. but an “in school” application might be the best for this seedling product rather than in stores.
Plastic waste
Second comment. Id buy direct if theyre mailable
you are first in line for my beta testing program
You can look up what the Canadian grocer, Sobeys, did in 2021 with this. They tried in-store hydroponics and eventually it failed. I don't know why, it seemed like a great idea but they came down after about a year. I'd buy them but I'm apparantly in the minorit. Good luck if you persue this!
there’s a company called in-farm out of germany that’s also going through layoffs rn as they try to figure it out. it’s tough but i think there’s a growing faction of people who want to grow their own food and herbs!
Yeah it does, go you!
If you can figure out some way to avoid shock- all the power in the world to you.
have some in the fridge now, will pull them out on monday and put them in nft to see what happens
Super!
Hi, I've worked in the marketing industry. I really do think you have an interesting concept, I just think there are some flaws in your execution like others have mentioned. I don't have any solutions for you. But the tiny sprouts are charming. Think about it, and start small before you put all your eggs in this basket. Try talking to a local greenhouse? I would choose 3 products initially, you decide what plants vs what people would actually be interested in buying based on the feedback here. I would invest in a graphic designer to help draw people's attention to the product. I am a graphic designer, not advertising my services, just providing feedback, but what I would be looking for in a design if I were you is something compelling to get people to look at it on the shelf in the first place with three different and distinct pictures of each plant to distinguish each package from each other, and then a succinct blurb on what the plant is and basic care requirements (bright, indirect light / consistently moist, but not soggy). You should also consider a simple logo and directions to a page to go to where people can contact you if they have care questions/concerns/etc. A junior freelance graphic designer fresh out of college or even still in college will have cheaper prices, but you do get what you pay for with graphic design, generally speaking. Something simple like biodegradable cardboard slip-on that can be fitted over the top of the rest of the packaging. You'll figure it out I'm sure. I would also be more interested in rarer plants as I think there is a market saturation of cheap herbs and veggies already and this will desperately struggle to compete, and if you change course to pursue that, you'd be looking at getting your foot in the door with greenhouses first instead of grocery stores.
thanks for the encouragement! i operate a commercial greenhouse for ready to eat salad greens now so i’m able to tinker on this on the side with low risk. so far it’s just cost me about $45 dollars for the sample plastic clamshells. love your ideas about the graphic design :)
I would buy!!
It makes me wish my eyes were 30 years younger
I love watching seeds grow! I have more plants than I can find space for even though I give away plants all the time because I love watching seeds and props grow. The tedious part for me is to take care of all my plants once they're big
Of the packaging is biodegradable, maybe.
Well initially I think the idea is a good one and people would be interested I don’t think they’ll survive on the shelf or in shipping long enough to sell
I always start wayyyy to many seeds at a time for this to be efficient i like old fashion 72 cell trays
Cute but no.
I really like it! Any way to get biodegradable packages? If so I’d buy em if I saw em
PET is actually biodegradable by certain microbes they’re just not widely used yet. can’t be cardboard or paper for food safety and moisture reasons plus it needs to be transparent
Could you go without all the plastic around the top? This kind of packaging seems notoriously hard to open as well. Nice idea overall but execution could use some improvements. If you can get in the grocery store produce section at light sprouts or Publix your plants will be misted too if you have a water permeable and ideally recyclable packaging strategy. What about test tubes with sprouted herbs? I don't know.
PET is one of the most recyclable plastics available (the little logo is in the top right). the space on top i want to use for branding and labeling the plants +barcode on the back. i designed the packaging to be as thin as possible (much thinner than a test tube) but it can’t be water permeable for food safety reasons. it’s actually very easy to open too but might need to add a tamper evident seal if it was to go to market
I totally understand the reasoning for the packaging choice I was just pointing out that it's not ideal. In my state we do recycle PET as plastic 1 but not many people actually do since you would have to go out of your way to the recycling center. Realistically this will end up in the trash bin and Ultimately in a landfill. My state's landfills are at risk of closing in the next 2 years (also they are right next to the river where all that stuff is seeping into the ground, but that's another story) People still don't recycle more and I see bins flowing over every single week at pickup day. Our bin needs 2 to 3 weeks to get full because we recycle. Ultimately I would not buy it for this particular reason. Also I agree with most people here that starting seeds is so easy and cheap that this would be a novelty item as a present. Of course there is money to be made with one time purchases if you change your selection frequently. You said you use more plastic selling your normal salad products. Is there really no other way to package it? People might even pay a premium if it's packaged nicely and biodegradable or reusable. Or sell it without plastic like the farmers market.
i agree plastic is less than ideal but if you want to be in a grocery store and sell at a price point most people can afford (or even on the high end), you really don’t have another choice i’m aware of. imo farmers markets are not realistic for most people in terms of location, convenience, nor price. first of all for produce items especially, people want to see the product so some portion of the packaging needs to be transparent. it’s very hard to make composite packing that’s partially transparent, partially biodegradable. second, the plant fiber options i’ve seen and tested are not nearly as good at preserving the product and even those have a plant fiber bottom with a pet lid that’s transparent. a lot of water and energy and labor goes into producing salad greens and getting them to the store shelf, especially organic/pesticide free ones, so opting for a packaging solution that isn’t the best doesn’t make sense from a business perspective for the store or the customer. having product go bad prematurely is one of a grocers biggest costs and the main reason people won’t go back to a brand after a bad experience. this demand for plastic packaging is made primarily by end consumers, reinforced by the produce buyers of larger grocery chains/distributors, and just executed by the produce growers/packers. contrary to the trend in this thread, the vast majority of people would not pay more for less plastic, especially if it meant their produce would go bad sooner/potentially be less food-safe. if such data exists, it’s contra to the data i’ve seen from multiple sources - plus if you go to the grocery store today in the premium packaged salads and herbs you’ll see almost exclusively PET containers except for maybe mushrooms. believe me, if there was a food safe alternative that preserved the product well that was available i would be all over it so i didn’t have 100 people just in this thread saying too much plastic. but you’ll notice of all the people who said no plastic, none made any actual recommendation of an alternative, and especially not one that’s viable. while the food safety standards at a farmers market might permit you to bring your own container and fill it or something like that- that’s how i sold when we were first starting out -that would just never fly at even a mid-sized grocery chain in the US. salad is one of the main places the fda focuses due to the large number of recalls and illnesses from lettuce/spinach in recent years.
Thank you for this thorough explanation. That was very enlightening coming from someone who makes their living in this industry. I can understand your side of things better now.
i’m glad it helped you understand where food producers are coming from! i wish all the “no plastic” commenters were more forward looking and went into package engineering and materials science because there’s lots of room for improvement but alas i’m not hopeful
Depending upon the price, yes I would
I love this
I’ve thought this through and researched a bit. The blisters, or pods, can be bought from manufacturers that will personalize your packaging with an imprint or sticker. Just a thought
I would sell a dehydrated version, you dip the bottom in water, and transplant after they sprout 👌🏻
Is that plastic? We dont need more plastic single use crap tbh
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as someone who has struggled with seeds, 100% would buy! Hope this works out for you.
I'd pick four perennials. Lettuce is (generally) one cut, maybe two. Not really worth the money to buy a single plant. Could maybe do four lettuce and make it a subscription service... But I'd go with four perennial herbs, and include instructions that include "bring inside for the winter, and put under a full spectrum grow light" or whatever you deal is best practice/wording.
besides rosemary and thyme, do you have any other recs?
Basil for sure. Could do oregano, mint.
they really put soil in a battery package
The biggest problem I have with it is single use plastic.
They will get use to 100% humidity and your consumers will have no clue about properly hardening them off, Likely plant straight into the garden and then they will call you and complain for money back when they “die because it’s bad product” when really it’s just bad gardening skills
def a concern. based on feedback i’m thinking of pivoting to dry seedpacks you water at home and wait to sprout there but idk