Incredible Indoor Edibles

John Johnston

In my travels over the years, retailers often ask, “What can we promote for fall sales besides lawn renovation?” Food is one connecting point that resonates with consumers of all ages. Encourage your customers to continue their passion for natural, fresh foods throughout fall and winter with indoor herb gardening!

Think Like a Realtor
Get started by remembering the cardinal rule of real estate: It’s all about location, location, location. Stage your display in a suitable spot that provides adequate sunlight in the soon-to-be shorter days. Southern exposure is preferable, of course, but east- or west-facing windows can also work—and with surprisingly favorable results.

Make sure your customers realize that southern-facing windows aren’t their only option, either. With the recent sales boom in hydroponics, consumers have more indoor growing options than ever before, and at reasonable price points. Full daylight-spectrum grow bulb kits can start around the mid-$30 range, with compact fluorescent systems beginning around $100 at retail.

Set your customers up for success by offering a good assortment of seeds and/or plant stock from which to choose. Build your assortment with an eye toward herbs that can be cut and used throughout the winter months. Look to the lyrics of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair” as your guide: parsley (both curly and Italian types), sage, rosemary and thyme. Healthy, thriving plants are ones that want to reproduce and flourish even with moderate trimming.

Show & Tell
When putting a retail display together, it’s best practice to include pre-planted examples of indoor herb pots. Photos to illustrate such plantings are readily available on the Internet, sure, but providing these looks in your display generates much more excitement. One recent survey found that 57% of Millennials—and 61% of consumers age 35 and over—do the majority of their retail browsing in-store. The opportunity and sales potential are huge!

Remember that herb gardening isn’t limited to the kitchen window. Indoor herbs can also thrive on baker racks, wall planters, pot rings along flat surfaces and even hung by coat racks. Be creative in your display and watch how consumers purchase more plants and accessories than ever before. Don’t forget to suggest and include small pruners or floral snips, too. Herb gardening and indoor gardening have many hidden sales opportunities just waiting to happen.

Water Works
Water is another necessity for indoor herb gardens. Clean water with low chlorine content is a must, as chlorine is harmful to root development. Most tap waters have a neutral pH; some avid gardeners prefer using filtered or distilled water to eliminate metals and chlorine. Other indoor gardeners place water in a watering can or misting bottle overnight to reduce the level of chlorine by evaporation. Another consideration: It’s prudent to keep water at room temperature to limit potential plant shock.

You might consider including self-watering planters in your offer to the consumer. These vessels provide a reservoir of water that’s wicked up into the soil to provide moisture and even liquid foods to the plants. Most pots have a higher stance to keep the soil level elevated. With the success and popularity of Novelty’s Earth Box planter, consumers have seen some pretty interesting plantings using self-watering pots. Why not showcase great pots from DCN, Bloem, Arcadia or Novelty? Eliminate the possibility of mosquitoes breeding in standing water by using a few drops of cooking oil or by adding Summit Chemical Mosquito Bits to the reservoir. As an added bonus, this product is also labeled for controlling fungus gnats in the soil.

Indoor gardening is somewhat of a controlled experiment in that you want to maintain good health and not overfeed. With some new liquid plant foods being introduced by Bonide this past year, you might find extra sales opportunities with a creative display in your greenhouse. Nature’s Source makes a great liquid plant food in a dosing pump container. Keep everything nearby to complete your sale, including misting bottles, watering cans, vinyl saucers and your favorite potting mixes from Espoma, Fafard, Hoffman and Premier. Indoor edibles can be a fresh source of nutrition and growing fun all year long. Enjoy! GP

John Johnston is Retail Education Manager for Griffin. He can be reached at jjohnston@griffinmail.com.