- Details
Gardening and fruit growing is a business that does not require large start-up capital investments and, with a reasonable approach and detailed study, pays off within the first three years.
This business can be organized by both rural and urban residents, who can buy a plot of land outside the city at a fairly affordable price. Acquiring the right gardening tools and equipment can go a long way in getting the most out of your investment. You can explore the best garden tools for your money on BestOfMachinery to get you started.
If you decide to engage in gardening seriously and grow fruit on a larger scale than for the family table, it is desirable to buy a plot of land from 1 hectare or more. In this case, you need to properly calculate your needs and understand how much land you can actually handle with the existing resources. You may check the existing experience all over the world like this Riviera’s lemons business.
According to the average calculations, the payback can reach 100% with the right approach. Gardens can be fruit, berry, combined.
What fruits to plant?
The most popular are apples of different varieties, which are quite unpretentious in growing, but are the cheapest fruit on sale. The other varieties - pears, cherries, plums - are more capricious in growing, but more expensive.
There is such a concept as "technical varieties of fruit", which are grown not for sale in their original form, but for subsequent processing - the production of jams, wine, juices. Sale of freshly squeezed juices may also become one of your business lines.
Garden preparation
Before buying a plot of land it is desirable to take a small amount of soil and give it to the soil analysis to determine the quality, composition and suitability for growing a garden.
Before planting make preparations:
The land is first plowed to normalize the air regime, then added mineral and organic fertilizers. It is important to pay attention to clearing the soil of weeds and just unnecessary plants.
Most experts do not recommend planting a new garden immediately after uprooting old trees. The earth should be given a rest, so that the new trees are well established and receive from the soil vitamins they need for rapid growth. In order to optimize fertilizer costs, it is better to sprinkle them not all over the area, but immediately before planting, in already prepared holes.
Much attention should be paid to the location of trees in the area, as the future harvest depends on it. Some trees do not take root with each other, and some, for example, apple trees of certain varieties, can only bear fruit in the vicinity of the trees of their species.
Recommendations for the selection of seedlings
A seedling should have healthy, branched roots. They should not be dry or frostbite. The optimal length of the root system of a seedling is 30 cm. In the cut, the root should have white color, brown or gray tint indicates damage, such plant may not take root or in the future do not bear fruit.
The trunk should be straight and smooth, without damage. The seedling must necessarily correspond to the area where you are going to plant it.
Pay attention to the type of seedlings - short, medium or strong. Beginner gardeners are better off taking short and medium-sized varieties, as they are more unpretentious, resistant to frost and yield faster.
Equipment
There is a large amount of equipment necessary for gardening, but you can buy not all at once, but only the most necessary, but the better you have the equipment, the easier and more efficient it will be to work.
- Tractors (there are different capacities, depending on the functionality. Since a tractor is not needed regularly, it is better to simply rent it).
- Fertilizer spreaders
- Plant Protection Systems (Sprayers)
- Irrigation system
- Tracking platforms, carts, baskets, secateurs.
- Fertilizers (nitrogen fertilizers, which are mainly applied to the soil surface, potash, and phosphate fertilizers, which are intended for deeper soil layers).
Product sales
There are several common channels:
- Markets;
- Retail stores
- Supermarkets
It should be taken into account that summer and autumn varieties are in less demand and sold as part of a greater competition at lower prices, while winter varieties are sold at higher prices in times of shortage. Therefore, in some cases, it is more profitable to grow winter varieties and, after laying down the costs of storage (renting a warehouse), to sell products in winter and spring.