How do I prepare my greenhouse’s crop plan and propagation records for a buyer?

Start with the calendar. For each crop, show the planting dates, the house or bay, the growth stages and the expected shipping window. Add any customer commitments attached to it. A plan that connects space, time and orders is far more convincing than a list of crops.

Then document propagation. Record where seed, cuttings or young plants come from, how they are started and what proportion survive. Note any supplier that is hard to replace, and any variety you hold under special terms. If you propagate your own stock, describe how you keep the mother plants healthy and who handles that work. Finally, be candid about what went wrong. Show losses from disease, weather or timing, and what you changed afterward. Update the plan to show how it would run under new ownership. This follows the same logic as a good business plan: assumptions are visible, and the cash needs of each stage are clear. Your accountant can help connect the plan to your numbers. Store everything in an organized folder, labelled by crop and season, before the first buyer visit. Records that can be found in minutes suggest a well-run operation, while a scramble through boxes and spreadsheets raises quiet doubts in the buyer’s mind.

Key takeaways

• Build a schedule that links each crop to space, dates and customer orders.
• Record plant sources, survival and any hard-to-replace supplier or variety.
• Include losses and what changed afterward, not only the successes.