The Plant Lady: Garden suppliers struggle to keep up as demand for plants grows

Audrey Hepburn famously stated, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” For many it is the unknown amid the coronavirus pandemic that is spurring their new venture into vegetable gardening. What is the food supply going to be? Who is handling my food? And for some — they simply have more time to finally start a garden. These are all reasons why sales of vegetables have been outpacing supply.

According to Brad Gates, owner of Wild Boar Farms in Napa Valley, “seeds and plants are the new toilet paper.” He cannot keep his nursery accounts stocked with his varieties of tomatoes such as Berkeley Tie Dye, Brad’s Atomic Grape and Cosmic Eclipse.

In hindsight, Gates says he should have planted double the amount of tomatoes. Seed sowing time was roughly concurrent with the start of the stay-at-home order, and there were looming questions around the impact on consumer demand and if he would even be able to sell. There is a two-month lag period with growing plants — so by the time the demand materialized, the ability to ramp up production had passed. The planting window for tomatoes is relatively narrow, roughly March to May. Online seed sales spiked at the beginning of April, particularly with large metro areas — including New York — leading the way. This market trend was a new one for Brad, which to him indicates a burgeoning interest. As Brad points out, growing your own food essentially removes any handling by other people.

Angela Pratt, owner of The Plant Foundry in Oak Park, is in the same boat — not being able to keep seeds, vegetables or anything else edible in stock. At the start of the stay-at-home order, one of her main suppliers of organic vegetables decided to reduce production, resulting in Pratt scrambling to source plants. Luckily, within the last week her organic supplier has come through.

She sees the health of her customers and workers as top priority though, so when a shipment arrives she closes the gates and does not allow customers in. For the most part, she says customers understand this. She also has implemented no-contact curbside pickup and even local delivery for a small fee. Everything is sanitized and she asks customers to be a bit more patient with the necessary slowdowns.

Pratt has seen a surge in customers across all gardening backgrounds, ranging from novice to experienced. For those that cannot garden on a large scale, yet want to grow produce for their household, she recommends tomato varieties such as Tumbling Tom, Micro Tom and Bush Early Girl. Qualitatively, she has also seen an uptick of parents incorporating gardening into homeschooling.

Before the stay-at-home order, houseplant sales were red hot, with the millennial generation leading the way. However, according to Pratt, houseplant sales have dropped off significantly, stating the current environment is “all about edibles.”

Jonathon Robbins is the owner of Flori-Culture Orchid and Specialty Growing Supplies, a houseplant mecca in Sacramento. Flori-Culture has been closed to public traffic as Robbins does not see himself as an essential business (he doesn’t have edibles). He is trying to stay alive by selling plants and growing supplies via phone/on-line and implementing no-contact curbside pickup. According to Robbins, business is “down 86 percent ... just enough to eat.” He is using this time to be productive however, now propagating more plants — including aroids and hoyas — and even installing a tissue culture lab.

For many, this upswing in vegetable gardening is reminiscent of Victory gardens. Victory gardens were people growing food during World War I and II to take pressure off the domestic food supply.

“We typically grow our produce for our farm products, and for the chefs who cater the farm’s weddings and special events,” said Tina Reikes of Bear Flag Farm. “But the pandemic has required us to postpone all large gatherings until next year. So we’ve tripled our normal field production to provide fresh produce to some of the local and regional food programs. California has amazing agricultural resources, and everyone should have access. We hope to make a difference.”

While the stay-at-home order has caused a lot of heartache and financial stress, hopefully those who have worked the soil and harvested their first homegrown crop have now become lifelong gardeners. For those who have been gardening for years, you know that besides having your own produce, the benefits of gardening are countless.

This story was originally published May 5, 2020 at 8:37 AM with the headline "The Plant Lady: Garden suppliers struggle to keep up as demand for plants grows."