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Fuchsia Hanging Baskets
Greenhouse Costs of Production Budget

Basket Size
Wholesale prices
Retail prices
  Average Range Average Range
8-inch $5.77 $3.50- $8.25 $9.86 $4.99- $12.95
10-inch $8.00 $5.75-$11.50 $15.94 $10.00-$23.98
   

 

Table 2. Overhead costs 20,000 sq. ft. double layer, polyethylene greenhouse.
 

  Annual total  Cost per sq. ft.- week of bench area
Overhead labor & benefits $63,000  $0.079 
Utilities    
  Heating fuel (13,420 gal.) 17,200  0.022 
  Electricity 3,000  0.004 
  Telephone 1,273  0.002 
Depreciation 25,000 0.031 
Interest 15,000  0.019   
Insurance 4,852  0.006 
Repairs 12,409  0.015 
Property taxes 769  0.001 
Advertising 716  0.001   
Dues & subscriptions 344  0.000 
Travel & entertainment 1,697  0.002 
Office expenses 796  0.001 
Professional fees 1,000  0.001 
Truck expenses & equipment 14,000  0.017 
Rental    
Land rental 1,565  0.002 
Contributions 400  0.000 
Miscellaneous 2,800  0.003 
Bad debts 700  0.001 
Total $166,520    $0.208   
Source: Brumfield, R.G. 1994. Production costs of New Guinea Impatiens. In: Ball Guide to New Guinea Impatiens. Eds. W. Banner and M. Klopmeyer, Geneva, IL: Ball Publishing.
 

 

Table 3. Labor inputs for Fuchsia in 8-inch and 10-inch hanging baskets  
 

 
Seconds/basket 
  8-inch basket  10-inch basket 
Transplant and move to greenhouse1 56.6  60.0 
Water & fertilizer applications2 35.4  66.8 
Treat for insect control3  30.0  37.1 
Harvest 90.0  97.8 
     
Total seconds4 212.0  261.7 
Total labor cost @ $8/hr. $0.47  $0.58 
1. Three rooted cutting per 8-inch basket and 4 per 10-inch basket.
2. Plants are watered 3 times per week on average using 200ppm constant liquid feed.
3. Pesticide is applied 6 times.
4. Labor inputs were derived from Brumfield, 1994, Brumfield, et al., 1990 and Jenkins, 1987.

 
 

Table 4. Costs of producing Fuchsia in 10-inch hanging baskets grown on 17-inch centers for 14 weeks.
 

 
Size of Greenhouse
  Small  Medium  Large 
Variable costs      
Rooted cutting1 $1.20  $1.02  $0.96 
Basket 0.83  0.71  0.66 
Rooting medium 0.14  0.14  0.13 
Labels 0.04  0.03  0.03 
Fertilizer 0.23  0.19  0.18 
Pesticide2  0.09  0.08  0.07 
Sleeve 0.12  0.10  0.10 
Box 0.25  0.21  0.20 
Labor 0.58  0.58  0.58 
Interest on variable costs 0.16  0.14  0.13 
       
Total variable costs $3.64  $3.20  $3.04 
Overhead costs3 5.84  4.33  4.16 
Loss allocation 0.50  0.40  0.38 
Total per pot $9.98  $7.92  $7.58 
Sales price per pot $8.00  $8.00  $8.00 
Profit per pot -$1.98  $0.08  $0.42 

NOTES:
1. 3 cuttings per pot.
2. Pesticide is applied 4 times.
3. Overhead costs are calculated at $0.208, $0.154, and $0.148 per square foot bench-week for small (20,000 sq. ft.), medium (100,000 sq. ft.), large(400,000 sq. ft.) greenhouses respectively.

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