Has anyone experience with starting fig cuttings for sale? I am thinking about doing 10-20 plants this spring aiming to sell them in the farmer's market this fall. I would do only two locally proven varieties, cuttings from well-established trees in the area.

Any comments or ideas?

i thought about selling things.. but still haven't. once money gets involved, it would look too much like a work and that will ruin my fun. but i'm getting to a point where cost of containers and soil mixes are adding up rather quickly. 

By August you should be able to get cuttings to a 3 gallon size. If you are thinking 3 varieties, maybe 10 of each, I would go Hardy Chicago, Celeste, and Brunswick. There are many others that will do well in your area, but those are pretty standard. (Stay away from brown turkey, they are a dime a dozen at any Home Depot and not worth your time).

Of course, if a lot of people already grow the more common figs (BT, Celeste, etc) maybe you could command a premium price with varieties harder to find at the local nursery or big box, varieties that would do well at your locale like Alma, the LSU varieties, or whatever you have found to do well.  Showing pics of your mature fig plantss, ripe figs, would also boost sales.

It's not a bad idea. Especially if you plan to already be selling produce at the farmers mkt anyway. It's worth a try. 

Aaron hit the nail on the head as to which varieties to offer. They are all three cold hardy enough to make it through most winters in your zone. Makes for decent enough variety for folks to choose from as well.  

I'm planning to try to sell a few trees this year to help cover the costs of things.  Last year I gave a way about 30 trees, including 5 Ronde de Bordeaux's.  This year, I just want to break even with my expenses.. lol

Last year I tried selling some trees to offset my cost of buying trees, cuttings and soil but things didn't turn out as planned. It ended up that I gave away more than I sold. This year I'm going to try it again and hopefully stick to my plan of selling. I found that you need different sizes because some people don't want to start out with small trees, they want an instant orchard and will pay good money for it, while others like to start out with small trees and don't mind watching them grow. I would have one gallon to 5 gallon size trees to maximize your selling power.

I think you'll have to get a nursery license to sell them legally (even to give them away).  Do you already have a license, or would you be getting one just to sell the figs?  Depending on how much the license costs in your state, 10-20 plants might not cover the expense.

I'll have to look into the nursery license issue. If I need one it would probably ruin such a small scale plan as I have. The alternate would be to sell them from my home on Craig's list and word of mouth.

The volume of my sales makes the annual $150 fee is significant for me.  However, it is very reasonable.  I am certain that the actual cost of the monitoring trap for Light Brown Apple Moth and annual testing for Sudden Oak Death from various host plants on my property is at least 5-10 times what I'm paying.

I just read the AR statue on plant grower licenses and it also says this, "provided, however, that this section shall not apply to plants and plant products not affected by rules and regulations made pursuant to this act when such plants or plant products are disposed of in local trade."

so I need to check in on this since my plants will be strictly for local trade.

In Texas, it seems, that a class 1 licence ($75) allows the sale, lease or distribution of plants, but not to grow them.  A class 2 ($110) allows the same, but also a growing space of 435,600 sqft.

http://www.texasagriculture.gov/Portals/0/forms/REG/Nursery/rnf_500_instructions.pdf

Hi Greenfig ... Sorry, but I think there has be some misreading of the text. Or if you give a fig tree to your own son/dad/wife/brother.../mother  you should pay a license or go to jail ... Really ?
Normally that goes on the volume you handle - if you make some money (>1000 $ or >20 plants perhaps, something like that ) or make your life out of that sales, then of course you need the license.

As for selling trees, it is a matter of luck, and of course you'll always see two types of buyers: ones willing proven strains , and ones willing new strains(because they already tested the firsts) and/or "hype" strains.
Having photos of the mother trees with photos/weighing of fruits, of course helps a lot .
I could see as well some interest in seeking for ready to pick 10+ gallons SIP.

At a yearly sales market in the street, I bought a fig tree - the tree was small so easy to carry - I wouldn't have bought a big tree because of the facilities for transporting the tree to and in the car.
Not to mention, that I hadn't planned to buy a tree on that day, but since I had my hand at them and they were cheap - but unfortunately I bought on a photo of the fruit and the guy didn't know the strain which I see close to brunswick.

As for expenses, keeping the trees in good shape in pots requires some water - check your bill :)
The tree I bought had suffered a bit from under watering.
While walking back to the car, a smart lady made fun of the look of the tree (something like "poor little thing"), I just replied that I was gifted at looking at beautiful little things -
she ran away, I still don't know why, perhaps my blinking eye :) .
I'll see what the tree makes this year.

I sell trees to finance my hobby, and for the social interface with other people and growers (mostly produce or ornamental plants).  I sell only 1 and 3 gal trees  and only Celeste and Brown Turkey as most people are not aware of the diversity in figs, only that there light and dark colored figs.  I will sometimes sell my premium trees (anything other than Celeste and Brown Turkey) but most people are not interested in paying a premium price.  I sell the common trees at $10 a gal and the premium trees at $15.  I sell at local Farmer's Markets will sometimes set up in a local parking lot for special days.  My best day was over $500 and my worst was $0, probably average $60-70 per day.  Special days such as city-wide garage sales, HWY 80 Yard Sale, etc. I average $250-300 per day.  Is it worth it? probably greatest value is spreading the joy of growing figs and the social interaction.  East Texas is a great fig tree area and for some reason everyone seems to want either their own tree or want to add trees.  You would be surprised how many people say"my grandmother always put up fig preserves, and I always loved them"  It kinda reminds them of good times in their lives.

I have never had a problem with any official agency but that is probably because we are in a fairly rural area.  I have been told that in Shreveport Louisiana (30 miles east) does not allow roadside sales of any type of food products and will make you leave.

Some times it is a hassle to load up, sit in the sun, load up and come home and sometimes I will not go.  If you are going to do this it helps if you have good signs, a card with your telephone number and a short written paragraph on how to take care of your new tree.

Hope this helps.

You should talk to Dennis (snaglpus), he has mentioned before that he sales at the local farmersmarket.

Dang it, after re-reading those links, it's even worse than I thought.  I had been thinking that only the seller/giver was legally at fault, but apparently the buyer/receiver is also legally responsible:

This sounds like Nazis! I understand the need of some regs if someone is running a commercial operation, but big fines and confiscation sound like a different planet than I live on here in Arkansas. But I certainly will not risk selling any figs on ebay.  

Unfortunately I found the definative answer related to farmer's market sales on the University of AR Agi extension website:

GeneDaniels,
Thanks for starting this topic.
I just searched my states regulations... attached is the permitting requirements for selling in a farmers market. The nursery Growers permit is $100.00 and also requires a NY Sales Tax certificate.

But you can sell produce and eggs without a permit, so you can sell the Figs : )

In AR you can sell any uncut fruit without a permit. So that is what I am mulling now. Maybe we should start a thread about small-time commercial growing?