| |  | | Greenhouse Start Up Size
Answered by: Conrad Richter
Question from: Darlene Mason
Posted on: February 1, 2002
I am very interested in growing herbs, not only for myself, but to sell in our area, where there is currently nothing available. Do you offer any opportunities or start-up information? We have been considering buying a small greenhouse, but are not sure what size would be appropriate for start-up.
Currently we do not have any programs to help you get started in greenhouse production. In the past we put on commercial herb growing conferences and greenhouse production was covered in a couple of them. The transcripts for all of the conferences are available from Richters. Check the first and the fourth conferences for presentations on potted plant production.
Also available from Richters are several useful books. You should get "Starting a Nursery or Herb Farm". For greenhouse production of fresh herbs for the restaurant and produce markets, get "Growing and Selling Fresh-Cut Herbs".
What is a good size? That depends on a lot of factors. I don’t think that I would want to try growing with less than 1000 square feet (100 square meters), and to be efficient you need more, at least 10,000 square feet.
Also, I see in your herb catalogue the info for seed propagation, but is there a chart for planting plants, bulbs or roots? I am in zone 7 and would be interested in any planting information.
Tom Debaggio’s book, "Growing Herbs from Seed, Cutting and Root" (also available from Richters) is an excellent introduction to growing herbs. It has excellent germination charts that you will find useful.
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