How to Make Money Selling Cuttings of Indoor Plants
The other day we talked about the fact that many of the houseplants we buy in stores, greenhouses and on the Internet are not as environmentally friendly as we might think. This is because most of these plants are grown on peat, which turns out to be a limited resource. (It does grow back, but at a rate of 1 mm per year.)
Either way, one way to make sure your houseplants don’t affect your overall peat situation is to grow your own. Of course, you can go all the way from plant to seed, but growing plants from cuttings is faster and easier. And according to a study by investment researchers at money.co.uk , you might as well be sitting in a gardening gold mine – or at least a little side hustle and bustle.
It seems that growing new plants from cuttings of existing plants can be quite profitable (and also hard work, but that’s not the point here). But some plants are a better investment than others. Here are the ones that are more likely to make a living.
How to determine the profitability of plants
To be clear, the goal of the study was to determine which plants are the best investments (as you would expect from a site with “money” in the title) – not necessarily which ones are easiest to grow or which require minimal maintenance. It was a difficult situation.
Here’s how the team achieved these metrics :
Prices for fully grown houseplants and cuttings were collected using data collected from marketplaces Facebook, Farmer Gracy and Etsy. After collecting the data, we calculated the average price of both cuttings and fully grown plants for each houseplant variety. We then calculated the percentage change between the cuttings of the plant and the fully grown plant to show the increase in investment for each houseplant.
How to choose the most profitable plants
According to research by the money.co.uk team , Monstera Dubia plants are the best investment. According to their calculations, cuttings of Monstera Dubia will cost you $ 20-30, while a potted plant costs $ 255-280: up to + 766% of your initial investment.
Before presenting the chart that will make you rich, we must point out that, as you may have guessed from the website, the purchase and sale of plants took place in the United Kingdom. Of course, this needs to be borne in mind in terms of plant availability, but basically we wanted to inform you that prices will be quoted in pounds sterling, not US dollars, so you will need to do some math.
Ok, like this:
And, as with any financial decision, it is a good idea to do your homework before doing anything.
“Investing in indoor plants is a fun and alternative way to explore the investment world from the comfort of your own home,” said Salman Hakki, a personal finance expert at money.co.uk, in a statement. “As with any investment, with a little knowledge and market research, these parent plants can turn their home jungle into a profitable investment in no time.”