The 5 Numbers Every Flower Farmer Should Know (If You Want to Make a Profit)

Let’s be honest, it’s easy to get swept up in the romance of flower farming. The seedlings, the scent, the sunrise harvests. But if you’re trying to run a profitable flower business — not just a pretty one — you’ve got to know your numbers.

And not just any numbers. These are the five business-critical metrics that will help you stop guessing and start growing with purpose.

Whether you're selling bouquets at market, supplying local florists, or planning for weddings, these numbers will help you make smarter decisions, ditch unprofitable crops, and scale your flower business sustainably.

Here’s what every flower farmer should be tracking — and how to work each one out.

1. Cost of Production per Stem

Right — let’s start with the big one: how much it costs you to grow a single stem.

This isn’t just the seed or tuber. I’m talking about:

• Compost

• Pots or trays

• Structures and netting

• Water, power

• Labour — yes, even if it’s just you

• And losses — because not every seed makes it to bloom

If you’re ignoring this number, you’re guessing your prices. And guessing often leads to undercharging — or worse, working hard and still making nothing.

Pro tip: Track your expenses per crop — especially your core crops — and divide by the number of usable stems you get from them. That’s your base cost per stem. You need to know this before you decide what to charge, So you'll need to do lots of research and do the numbers at the beginning of the season 

You might have compost, vermiculite, seeds, manure, labour - all of that it parts of your costs which may look something like the below:

So when you know that you need to make at least £84 off  each flower bed to actually break even  All you need to do is divide this number by the number of stems you think you can cut from that space.

So if I was growing Orlaya for instance, I could space it 15cm and i’d need 133 plants to fill this bed. I’d be able to put X2  stems off each one so that’s 266 total stems. 

£84 /266 =0.31p each 

That's my cost 

Now I haven't added in any costs for equipment, which is important. You need to ensure that ALL your costs are covered.

 Here’s my list of other equipment and rent costs:  

So on top of this initial number I would be looking to recover an extra £127 per bed per year to truly cover my costs.

 Let’s say I can get 2 crops from this bed;  

(£168)  + £127 = £295  - This is the new cost per bed.  

Let’s say  I put Larkspur in after the Orlaya. I’d need  133 plants to cut around  400 stems which will fill this space. 

So now we have:  

266 Orlaya +400 Larkspur  = 666 stems in total 

So 

Total cost / Total number stems 

£295 / 666 = 0.44p each 

So if you are selling your stems at £0.40p each you are LOSING MONEY  - Don’t do it!

2. Target Stem Price

Once you know what a stem costs you, it’s time to ask: What do I need to charge per stem to make a profit? Its easy now  you know your cost because you know what number you can not go below.

You just now need to decide how high to go. 

This is your target stem price, and it should factor in:

• Your profit margin

• Your market — are you selling to florists? Retail customers?

• The value of the flower — rare varieties, colour, vase life

• 
  

You’ll see tulips for 30p wholesale and £2 at a florist. Your job is to work out where you sit on that spectrum — not copy someone else’s price and hope for the best.

This number gives you pricing confidence. And it helps you stop comparing yourself to the grower down the road who might be under pricing out of fear, not strategy. If you want to read more about this then check out my blog all about Pricing with Confidence.

3. Yield per Square Metre (or Bed)

 How many stems are you getting from each square metre of space? I have touched on this in the cost of producing each stem already. 

This is your yield per m², and it’s vital for planning.

For example:

• Cornflower may give you 200+ stems

• Orlaya 89

• Ranunculus only 64

If you’re growing 10 metres of something that only gives you 100 stems — but you need 500 to actually make a profit — that gap becomes very real, very quickly. You also need to calculate how much each stem is worth - cornflower may only be 50p per stem and ranunculus may be £1.20 per stem.

This is the number that helps you ditch low-performers and scale up what’s actually working. Grow less fluff, and more of what pays. 

If you want a simple calculator to give you the answers then check out my my Flower Farming Planting Planner. You just plug in your beds size and the crop you want to grow and it gives you a yield and tells you how many plants you will need etc so saves a lot of time working everything out manually. You can literally plan a whole season in 10 mins!

4. Weekly or Monthly Stem Targets

This is one of the biggest shifts I made in my own business. Instead of thinking: What should I sow this month?

I now ask: How many stems do I need to cut and sell each week to hit my income goal?

Let’s say your target is £1,000 a month, and your average stem price is £1. That’s 1,000 stems a month — or 250 a week. Now you’ve got something to plan backwards from.

You can build your sowing and succession plan around this. It also shows you when your biggest gaps are — and when you’ll be swimming in blooms with no customers unless you prep your sales ahead of time.

5. Revenue per Bed

Last one — and it ties everything together: How much money does each bed or block of your plot actually bring in?

You calculate this by multiplying:

• Your yield per m²

• By your average stem price

For example, if a bed gives you 300 stems at £1 each, that’s £300. Another bed might give you 150 stems at £1.20 — that’s £180.

My Flower Farming calculator  can give you all of this detail and you can use it to calculate full beds of mixed crops or single crops and you’ll be able to see how much you can make at the drop of a hat.

Now you’re thinking like a business owner. You’re spotting which beds are worth the space — and which ones are passengers.

This is how you scale smart. It’s not about cramming in more crops. It’s about knowing which ones pay their rent.

If you’ve made it this far, here’s the truth:

You don’t need to be a maths genius to grow profitably as a Flower Farmer. But you do need to know your numbers.

To recap, the 5 numbers every flower farmer should know are:

1. Cost of production per stem

2. Target stem price

3. Yield per m²

4. Weekly/monthly stem targets

5. Revenue per bed

If you’re not tracking these yet — start simple. Pick one crop. Do the maths. Get curious. Because the moment you start measuring, you start making better decisions.

Want more, then listen to the podcast - Episode 25. Five Numbers Every Flower Farmer Should Know