onsdag 29 september 2010

Economy and hobby gardening in apartment.

Time to start to think again and make some reflections on the economical figures of this plant growing hobby.





Book bought about chile peppers = 250 kr
Seed storage box = 200 kr
Lamp with ballast and bulbs = 700 + 200 = 900 kr
Seedling trays = 50 kr
Soil totally during one year = 60 + 80 + 80 + 100 = 320 kr
Bought plants = 3*100 kr
Sold plants totally = -1200 kr
Bought seeds = 400 kr
Fertilizer = 300 kr
Electric bills based on 15 hours/day with 72 W bulbs = 600 kr / year
Vermiculite and Perlite = 250 kr
Pots of different sizes = 300 kr
Sold fruits = -100 kr

Some of the figures like the electric bill have been exaggerated. I sure dont have the plant lamp on 15 hours/day whole year. But I am more out after a maximal cost for myself.

Down with maximal for 2010  = -2570 kr = -270 euros = -369 $.

I need to compensate the loss with not too much effort put into it. Only way is to sell plants or making sauces and selling them on a hobby basis?

Have bought seeds for next years chile pepper projects. Inclusive real bonsai projects.
Going organically when it comes to fertilizers. Have not found a reliable and suitable organic fertilizer when it comes to the P/K fertilizing. Good P/K fertilizer is essential in some cases when it comes to fruiting development. When it comes to Nitrogene it is easy. Diluted pee is the way to go economically. Notice, have yet not tried it indoors. With full potential that is. Need to try it in one pot for a specific time to evaluate eventual odour problems.

Next years economical figures:

Soil = 350 kr
Vermiculite and Perlite = 200 kr
Pots = 100 kr
Light bulbs = 200 kr
Electric bill (already taken care of, paid in advance) = 0 kr
Might need to buy another lamp, putting 200 kr at a side for it until lamp breaks = 200

Year 2011 = -1050 kr = 150 $ = 111 euros.
 
All this have to be in relation to the fact that I have actually also gained fruits with some economical value. The value of the fruits are itself a variable. And also the joy of learning something knew. Be it volountarily or involountarily. I have not given either of these factors any acknowledgement. This due to the fact that I am balancing it toward the time consumption ( which to be honest is very little).


Any comments, feel free to make an input. I made the calculations to point out that growing plants indoors as a hobby is a very cheap hobby indeed. Compared to many others like fishing etc. The other advantage is that you have your hobby in your room. You dont need to travel somewhere else. Another reason is why I post this input is that I have been asked this before but in real. Happy reading .

2 kommentarer:

Janne sa...

That's some expensive lamps you've got there. I have two 2x36W from Harald Nyborg (300 SEK in total). Work great.

I thought about one other aspect though.

How many kilos of fruit did you get (for your self)? Calculate the price per kilo and compare with list price of powder, fresh fruits, chipotle, sauce etc. and you'll probably find it pretty cheap. The luxury of having sorts not available, would match the work effort put in.

Me, on the other hand, have to calculate the new green house in to the equation as well. Will never be able to justify that by the above theory. On the other hand, I don't care. I've found a lot of new wonderful friends around the world because of this and leqarned a lot, so that's payback x 100 for me :)

Michael Salemsson sa...

Hiya Janne:

Yeah lamp costed some. But this was because it had good reflection capacity and I could have lamp real close to the plants. It did not emitt so much heat. I checked the Harald Nyborg armature. Seems good. I am not sure about the reflectional abilities though? But if you say it works empirically then tis all good.

Regarding kilos of fruit, I am not sure I even got one kilo? I have harvested some. But it is based on 10-15 plants. And some were in 3,5 litres containers. I have peppers for a year or two ahead of me for sure. My approximation was that I balanced the fruit gainage to the time consumption. On the other hand, a hobby takes some time. So it was also something expected. I just wanted to look at it as neutrally as possible. Regarding having found new human relationsship that is of course impossible to put a price on. And that is part of the fun of a new hobby. You know me by now Janne, I looked at the situation in kronor, euros and dollars and trying to do so without involving emotional factors or tagging a price to that. So the situation described in the input is of course on how much it costs without trying to put too much emphasize on the emotional values.