# So I had this idea . . .



## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

This is a future idea and I want to see if it is plausible or not.

Basically I want to grow plants to help fund my fish keeping practices. 

Essentially my idea is to take the current plants I have and learn how to propagate new plants from the ones I have. Water wisteria and willow hydro are easy as is the banana plant and java moss. The only plant I am unsure of is java ferns.

Basically my goal is to become a "shop" so to say. I would set up a website that would list available plants and pricing and I would use paypal for all sales and what not. I would have pictures of all available plants yadayadayada. 

I was thinking of setting up yet another 10 gallon tank that would be plants only.

What I want to know from everyone is:

If you were in the market to buy plants would you buy:

--Water Wisteria
--Willow Hydro
--Java Moss
--Java Ferns
--Banana Plants 

If not, what plants would you buy?

I was planning to use a 10 gallon to grow all the plants, it would be plant only, no fish, no snails (hopefully), only a substrate and plants. Do you think a 10 gallon tank would suffice or should I upgrade to a larger tank and if so what size?

Those are pretty much my main questions. I should also mention if I do decide to do this all grown plants (up to a certain number of each) would be free to any member of this forum with at least 100 posts, exceptions would be made if I am contacted, as long as shipping is paid for. Especially summer since she provided the same service to me and I am grateful to her for it.

So let me know!


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

Lol I would be happy to join with you on your venture. I would focus on foreground plants (when I get more) and crypts. Maybe we could set up something so that you could see who was selling what plants so it's easier to find whatever you're looking for.

Since some of the plants will grow fairly tall, I'd say get a bigger, or at least taller tank. Other than that, looks pretty good. I would say though, ask for some money, more than just shipping so you can get more plants, tanks, ect. Nothing says gratitude like expanding business, lol. Of course, discounts are always an option.


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

Like I said this is only to help fund my aquarium expenses, I don't really want to turn this into a business, and I would only offer the free plants (aside from shipping) for a certain amount of plants. I'd say like 5 clipping of each or so, but I very much appreciate the advice, and with the advice I think I am going to go with a 20 tall.


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

With those particular plants i dont see you making much online. They are so easy to grow and popular in the aquarium hobby that most people give them away for shipping. Now, selling them on craigslist or something might prove easier and more profitable for you in the longrun because you wont have to charge shipping.


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

Summer said:


> With those particular plants i dont see you making much online. They are so easy to grow and popular in the aquarium hobby that most people give them away for shipping. Now, selling them on craigslist or something might prove easier and more profitable for you in the longrun because you wont have to charge shipping.


I agree completely, that is why I would have multiple outlets. I would eventually make my way towards slightly more difficult plants to grow.


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

did you consider just using some plastic sterlite/rubbermaid tote type containers and attempting to grow them in there? May be able to do more that way.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If you really want to get to growing a lot and actually making some money, make a setup to grow them emmersed. This is how most big online stores and many aquarists that want to make money do it. Plants are much easier to grow and it doesn't cost much to get going and can take up less space or easier to find places. If you do use a 20g tank, at least get the 20 long. You don't need height.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Edit - did the above on my phone

The reason I say you don't need height is you'll move plants much faster than they will grow. Your big limitation will be susbstrate space. I've run into this with my 125g for plants that all I want to do is grow out and move to other tanks, not necessarily sell.

Emmersed will allow you to go with more light without concern for algae. The more power the light, the faster the growth, the more plants you can grow, the more potential money you could make.


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

I didn't think of emmersed growth as an option to be honest. I also don't know exactly what it entails (aside from the fact I am growing them out of the water). I will need to do some research on it.


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

I do emersed with my crypts, DHG, and a couple others. I take a yogurt cup (for small plants), cut a couple holes in the bottom, add dirt or whatever the growing medium is, stick it in a plastic baggy, add water until its coming out the holes in the bottom, plant, add a little more water if you want, then inflate the baggy, seal it up and stick it in a windowsill. At least that's what I've been doing to growing out my baby crypts and a couple of other small plants, and it's working great for small quantities and small-sized plants. 

on a larger scale, you could use a pair of tupperware containers, one nested in another and with holes in it, and do essentially the same thing, except with actual lights isntead of just sunlight.

Edit: For emersed, the biggest thing to think about is keeping the humidity up. While they're adjusting to being out of water, plants can be fragile, and need to be kept humid. After they adjust, they can handle a bit less humidity, but it's fine to keep things moist. An easy way to keep humidity up is to have a cover or wrap over the plants. If the cover or leaves of the plants are foggy or moist, then it's probably enough. Too much humidity under a powerful light though, can burn the leaves, so try and keep things in balance.


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## Kev1jm2 (Oct 18, 2011)

Jungle Val grows like a weed even in my tank (shop lights, no ferts, no co2)


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

I'd like to attempt an emersed setup myself just to see if i can do it.


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## hanky (Jan 18, 2012)

I just recently started getting into live plants and am getting a bit addicted myself, I have Mr. Pat sending me some Java moss for the cost of shipping, I notice a few people that do that here , awful nice of them. Thing is even if you want to only make enough to fund your hobby that might be hard if you give them away for shipping, at least charge for your time and effort to go to the post office too. I personally would buy some banana plants from you since the stores around me have terrible selection of half dead plants. good luck on your venture, maybe think about growing a few more rare plants that people cant find so readilly. I'll be watchin the classifieds


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

As I said before the plants being sold at the cost of shipping would only be on this forum and for a certain amount when I first started or if I was growing plants faster than I could sell. 

Kind of like a limited supply type deal. Kinda like what you see in a business when they first open their stores. They have promotional deals to build a customer base (this would be considered a sort of promotion). While my reasons behind them aren't necessarily to build a customer base here on the forum, I do want to offer plants to those who have and continue to help me, at least for beginner or basic plants, rarer plants I couldn't do the same thing however.


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

I would look at using a large clear tote because they can be had very cheaply and can hold quite a bit of water and plants. I would also build a DIY Co2 setup and place them on cheap shelving to retrofit light kits to.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If you're going to use totes, by all means do a emmersed setup. IMO, it would make no sense to fill up something with water if you didn't need to, all the while increasing nutrient, light, CO2 requirements. At least if you go through the hassle of filling with water like an aquarium, go glass and stock it also. May as well. The fish will have no impact on your plant growing unless you plan to overload it with CO2. JMO.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

For java moss, what seems to sell best is to offer a really huge portion of it.
To sell in smaller portions I'd get moss other than java moss, like flame or Christmas moss, it's not really harder to grow and it is in more demand. If you take the time to do something like moss carpet squares out of plastic or stainless steel mesh you can ask more.
Example from ebay, 3x flame moss pads will probably sell for 10-15$ 
3x Flame Moss Pad - Live aquarium plant fish tank java | eBay

Emmersed is a good idea too, some plants will grow really fast that way. I'm currently doing some Brazilian Micro Sword - Lilaeopsis brasiliensis that way in glass jars on the windowsill with garden soil and it's doing really well. Tote containers would be similar but let you do it on a larger scale if you have the space.
Here is how commercial growers do it:
Aquatic plants farm (56k)
Florida Trip – Florida Aquatic Nurseries (Day 5)-- Guitarfish

The principle can be adapted for windowsill growing. The problem with natural light is that it is difficult to control and can overheat your plants easily if they get direct sun but it works okay for me. I found this page very helpful:
Beginner's Guide to starting your first Emersed setup!! - Plant Physiology & Emersed Culture - Aquatic Plant Central

If you don't want to get too complicated and are not looking to sell a big quantity consider things that are easy but really slow growing. For example anubias is one of the easiest plants ever to grow but because it is so slow to grow it's always really expensive. 

A local store might be the best place to start selling. Some stores have a quick turnover of plants and will accept stuff that is not in demand online especially if they are nicely bundled and ready to sell. They might well give store credit which is always nice, even if it's not cash.


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## Mr_Pat (Apr 13, 2010)

Good luck on this... and yes i sent out Java moss to a few people for the cost of shipping .. It's one plant thats veryyy easy to grow and is usually the plant of choice to toss in with shrimp and what not when you ship them. I honestly wouldnt expect to be able to sell it anywhere local so might as well send it to someone who can use it .. otherwise it would probably end up in our garden as compost when it starts over growing the tank


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