You should move on. You have a wide array of experience and could definitely find something else.
Check out Indeed. Look at some of the trade websites to get a feel for some of the larger growers: Greenhouse Grower, Garden Center Mag.
Look for some of the big brands' websites for careers.
It's easy to feel beaten down and want to give up when you've been somewhere a long time and feel unappreciated. Don't be afraid to leave for something better.
Totally! There are a lot of people in our industry who don't have degrees. Some people are such a natural fit for the work that a college education really has no bearing on their knowledge or skills.
I went for a two year degree and didn't learn anything that i didn't already know from working for four years.
Hoping OP sees this! I didn’t have a degree in horticulture and had a successful (?) career working in horticulture, sustainable agriculture, and greenhouse management and then side stepped into farm education and outreach. I have a wildly unrelated degree but I did so much work in this field in high school and college that it was never a problem.
OP- you’re being exploited for your labor and also held back from growing. Let’s find you a new place to really stretch your skills!
I see you're in Michigan, as am I. There are so many other opportunies in this state. I've been in this career about as long as you have and I am paid well. Just put together a resume and call your job title a grower, you basically are one anyway and nobody will question it. Then move along to a company that will pay you better.
This probably depends where you are. Here in Colorado, it doesn’t even pay enough to live usually. A lot of my coworkers in horticulture are former weed growers, who got the degree just so they could grow weed, only to find it doesn’t pay the bills. Market’s oversaturated.
As I said, Washington. 25 to start for a trimmer. The head gardener makes 120,000 a year paid 10,000 a month in cash. If you need more than that, you chose the wrong field.
Similar in LA, trimmers get paid by the lb. 100-150. Garden assistants or whatever you want to call them 4-6k. Managers 7- 8k, Director of cultivation / Head grower 10k-15k+ depending on how many facilities you run/size of facilities. Usually the top guys make a good amount of side money consulting as well.
Hawaii $14/hour grower with bachelor's and experience for one of the few legal dispensaries in the state. On brand jobs no shortage of pot heads ready to work for next to nothing
much different skill set as cannabis a niche that requires a whole nother set of horticulture learning although it does overlap but mostly has to be hands on to get the hang of. and that would mean low wage jobs in that industry. even most experienced medium sized home growers don't have many of the skills to run a large operation
The hemp industry if you are not in a legal state. It’s the same pay and you are under the board of ag. So less funny business than in the white or grey market.
Come work for my municipality's Parks Department? We need a gardener and it pays well, great benefits, and reasonable hours.
I wish more hort people were interested in the public sector... :(
The department as a whole is responsible for maintaining two skating rinks and some sidewalk snow removal. But anybody who is involved with hort/arb spends most of the off-season planning/designing, tree trimming, tree inventory, buckthorn... stuff like that.
Hands-on gardening season here is generally mid April to mid Ocrober but that's obviously becoming more sporadic.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Horticulture/comments/19fn968/comment/kjn8vh1/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Horticulture/comments/19fn968/comment/kjn8vh1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
"About 15 minutes west of Minneapolis on Lake Minnetonka."
City of Wayzata - it'll be posted for another couple of weeks. Please do apply!
https://www.wayzata.org/696/Public-Service-Worker---Parks-Department?fbclid=IwAR2IXfWr0ZL2w4dApCEd0FmmmSuh8QXuy66MWJQazq16Jq5Oh3k3U6e8iWI
This was my life. I worked at a propagation greenhouse and collected job titles like Pokémon. I was assistant grower, water manager, IPM department manager, organics manager- and they wouldn’t even give me benefits (no problem giving them to the girls I supervised though) and on top of it they never gave me a penny more than $23 an hour. I had to leave even though I loved my job(s). My only advice would be to get your pesticide license if they have that where you’re from, slap it on your resume and apply specifically as assistant grower to a production or propagation greenhouse. You’d absolutely be able to land an AS position, greenhouses look at all the experience you have, go into detail about your responsibilities on your resume. Put assistant grower on your resume. If they call him and he tries to say you weren’t one, they’re going to ask about your roles and responsibilities and when he explains all the ways that you actually were an assistant grower he will look like a doofus. I know how hard it is working in this industry and trying to progress as a woman but you have to be assertive and sure of yourself and the decisions you make. The industry fully sucks on a pretty global scale but there are good head growers and greenhouse managers out there you’ve just got to find one
I was going to say something to this effect. In family run businesses it's unlikely that job titles matter or accurately reflect the tasks associated with that role. Regardless of what title you put down, list the responsibilities (on your resume). Ppl with get ir. Your boss will look like a doofus, and any prospective employer will be lucky to have you .
Have you considered moving in to sales? For any of the allied suppliers (ferts, media, pots)?
In terms of learning- If you can get your hands on a copy of this book (https://search.worldcat.org/title/1146482225), you should read it. Learn it. It is an excellent overview of the technical basics. If you are in a Master Gardener class, ask the extension office if you can “borrow it” online from the university library. You may already know a lot in there, but you indicated your boss was not big on training, so i am mentioning it just in case.
Finally, go to a trade show. Go to explore the very diverse world of horticulture. There are a lot of jobs out there besides grower!
Aw I feel for you. Believe it or not I didn’t even enter horticulture until I was almost 30 and I’m getting spots on the news discussing gardening topics ten years in.
I see a lot of people toil away in the nursery industry for life and a lot of them get pigeonholed into roles without any advancement opportunities. Seems like the only golden ticket is to become a department manager at a larger chain or start some niche nursery yourself and make your name known. Sounds to me like you need to get some kind of side gig, OR just GTFO and look for a better position somewhere else.
Another couple tips: join your local master gardener chapter. Make friends. Do some work on the side for people with money and influence. Show your face and show you know what you’re talking about. It’s so much like any industry, it’s less about your time spent and more about your visibility and ambition.
I am actually enrolled in a master gardener class right now. And on a wait list for some hort classes thru the MSU college of knowledge that gove certs for stuff like biologicals and a lot of greenhouse relevant stuffm.
I also did landscape maintenance on my own for like 5 years. But I got lyme disease in 2023 and I just haven't been motivated to return to that kind of work since it almost killed me. My joints hurt and greenhouse work involves less crawling.
The arthritis got me too haha.
Good for you for doing the MG program! I really owe most of my opportunities now to that, it’s a great way of connecting the dots between the art/craft/science
I understand, but I hate to see people give up on industry.
I've been in the industry for 35 years, I make well into six figures and have the opportunity to advance within my company if I want to go after it.
I have had to relocate states several times and have been with 3 different companies during the 35 years to get to where I am now.
You have to look for the opportunities.
So true. I’m lucky my next opportunity was right down the road! I’m learning so much now. I want to work in greenhouses for the rest of my life. I’m assistant grower and they plan to work me up to section grower. At a place this big who knows where it can take me! Most of the people I work with have been pulled from out of state, like the head of growing and the leas grower.
Definitely move on. It seems like any other company, one bad boss can ruin the entire endeavor.
Greenhouse work 100% is not the route to take looking for a big pay cheque, it's a shame when the company makes so much, cannabis pays better and usually with benefits.
Start your own biz and put your old boss his competition. Do y ok own research, go ask his current competition about the job. Never stop learning. Now that I’ve said all that, I worked 6 yrs almost exactly what you’re saying. Then I did what I said to do, except I grew cannabis for years also so I e got some good base knowledge of plants. Now I started my own microgreens business to support through winter months and gonna open a small garden shop at the farmers market. I am now my own boss
I've thought about growing organic produce and mushrooms before. There seems to be a good market for them locally. I'm just stuck in an apartment making crappy pay, so I don't even have a place where I can grow anything.
I feel yah man, I went and got a degree in greenspace management only to discover that there is not much out there for me to do with it other than work at a greenhouse or landscaping or arborist. Does anyone else have any ideas of what a degree in greenspace management might be useful for!?
I thought I would be finding important environmental jobs but there doesn't really seem to be anything like that. At least not in my area.
I have soil knowledge for sure. My schooling doesn't allow me to be a conservation officer, that requires some separate schooling. I'm not sure what engineering consultation is exactly but it also sounds a bit out of my league lol.
It was a weird course I took, it was broad enough to cover a lot of serious stuff buuut it was broad enough to not drill down on any specific subject. It was a 3.5 year college program though so it's not one of those "joke" degrees lol
I knew what I was going to do with it which was start a fruit orchard and grow vegetables but I have kinda failed at that leaving me not knowing what else I'm supposed to do with it.
I imagined myself in a government paid truck with a canoe on top, driving to go collect some water samples and maybe some plant samples or something... something like that would be my ideal job lol
So I was you in my 20s. I was enthusiastic and ready to be a grower as I’d trained for. I also ended up in a position where I felt like my knowledge of the process and industry was going to waste. I was sometimes able to get into the greenhouses, but I didn’t work there. Instead I was assigned to the nursery that was a retail shop and no one came in. It was just me mostly alone all day and occasionally the florists would give me an order for live plant gifts. I basically cared for plants that came in on a truck or from the greenhouses they owned. It sucked. I felt like I was wasting my skills watering plants that I didn’t grow.
I ended up moving to a bigger city and no commercial growers wanted someone with college training. What they wanted was unskilled cheap labor. I ended up in a grounds position taking care of a restaurant gardens and other properties they owned nearby. I did get to grow some stuff, they were doing farm to table, or at least pretending to. Everyone I worked with had no experience in this industry. I was given manager title but no pay increase. Eventually I gave up on ever being able to use the skills I’d spent years learning. I left and my husband and I started our own business in an industry that had nothing to do with my education.
I was replaced with a migrant worker who did what he was told and paid much less to do exactly what I was doing. Through all this I learned that majoring in horticulture wasn’t the best use of my time or money. Too many businesses want cheap foreign labor even if they don’t have an education. In their home countries they often have a cursory understanding of gardening and growing that makes them more knowledgeable on the basics than most Americans. So obviously they are easier to train with a foundation to build on. Our formal training requires proper compensation, and the willingness to pay for that in my experience wasn’t there.
This is just my experience OP. You may find that place where you’re able to flourish alongside your crop. I’m in Texas FWIW and though it’s a prime spot for growing everything the demand for expertise in the field is not there.
I'm a small horticulture business owner. Run. There are a shortage of jobs in our field and hardly anyone with experience and plant knowledge out there. If you're in St Louis, call me.
You are the title you create for yourself regardless of your job location. If that means that job isn’t living up to the title you e given yourself then move on. If you fancy yourself to be head of perennial management or something like that maybe you take it to him that way. Sometimes people don’t see what they’ve got till it’s gone as well so it’s hard to tell you for your situation but, listen to this. My direct boss, landscape architect or designer, started in your exact position and was there till he was like 35. 52 or something now and he’s sitting nice and pretty. Diversifying yourself and how you market yourself can go an along way. Keep your head up!
Move on! I did the same work for 10 years decided to career change at 30 to teaching almost done with my alt route/ masters program not much of a difference decided I wanted to get reimbursed for summer (summers off teaching) and get a decent salary in WA teachers with masters start at 77k and goes up yearly I decided fuck agriculture / horticulture I use to be such a advocate but you really do work like a dog and I can’t be doing that my whole life FOR SOMEONE else when I could just find a job that pays me so I can afford my own home and start my own homestead ya know??? I was so sick of working 60-80 hour weeks!
Oh and let me tell you trying to find another job with skills like this DOES NOT TRANSFER TO ANYTHING ELSE I struggled and I hate how 10 years of my life was basically wasted bc of a stupid passion lmao
I'm 40 and in the same situation, I'm in the UK and have now applied for a job in the council (UK government). Your qualification are solid get out while you can. I have been waiting for a promotion for years and never been given more responsibility, all I do is move items around and weed. It's sole destroying, if you can weld and drive a forklift people will want and need you. Don't get how I have been and think you can't achieve more, write a CV wait a week then read it again. If it looks good start sending it out you can do better 👍
I hit the same wall, my passion is plants but I was never being paid enough in greenhouse. I pivoted to cannabis and I make a decent salary now, paid vacation, etc. but I just recently hit the point of realizing that the management aspect that I had to take on isn’t for me, may pivot to another career. I get your struggle, definitely find another job or a different brands of hort. But it’s a challenging to field to easily navigate, takes alot of time to find the good jobs.
have you ever considered becoming an arborist? The pay won’t be great in the beginning ( I started at $19 per hour) but once you get more credentials and training you could get $30-35 per hour and still work with plants. I was working in a greenhouse for 5 years and just became an arborist 1 year ago and am already at $26 per hour which was a lot better than what I made at a greenhouse. You could become a climber or do plant health care treating woody plants.
Any option to start your own business? From my research it was a good way to make decent coin. So many of the other jobs pay like farm hands despite the skills required.
Wow what a resume you have. Seriously, would be an asset for anybody. Have you thought of starting nursery yourself? There are many grants/loans (check liabilities) that one can apply for to start this kind of business…
Dude, I'm like 2 paychecks from not paying rent. I wish I could open my own place, but I don't own any land and have a rust bucket of a truck that got me thru a few years of landscape work.
My friend…it seems that you are depressed and sad about your circumstances. If thats the case, which is understandable, your options are A) continue as business-as-usual or B) opt for a change. Like I said; there are many funds, agencies even banks that fund small businesses. Try to look into that. The land can be rented by goodwill people. Look into your local community farmers. Ask them for this favour in return for a favour like owning a 20% share later on as an example. The goal is to start small and slowly grow and grow.
You could get a different part-time job in a different industry and start up a competing nursery business on the side. I started my own horticulture business from the ground up in my spare time, although I still need a day job.
Move on. Best decision I ever made was leaving the industry in the first 6 months. It took some moving around but now I make more money and don’t have to do manual labor for Pennies I am relaxed. Find your path don’t waste time
Sounds like it’s time to find a new place! I left a small greenhouse and garden center to work at a state of the art European commercial growing company so I could learn more. Now I realize how small my world was at the last place because I outgrew it. Self eject
Write down what you know about running a greenhouse business, from getting customers in, connecting with suppliers, displaying wares, making sure plants don't die on you, etc...Read and re-read it. Have several third parties read it. If you all feel the knowledge contained in there is sufficient to go alone, do it. There will be shortcomings, but you will find a way.
If you got knowledge in plants you can start being self-employed as a gardener, florist and plant advisers.
Being a florist or adviser loads of money coming in
Being a gardener good money to and the best you got to travel to different places.
What level of education do you have? I have a Bachelor's degree and I do what sounds like a similar job but for a university, with the additional requirement of some vineyard management and collecting weed samples from roadsides & the university farm. This year, after overtime, I will earn above the average wage in Australia- I'll earn about Au$90k (US$59k). I have a really good work life balance and I really enjoy my job.
Since you didn't say where you're from, presumably you're from the US. It doesn't sound like university education is feasible there, but maybe you could look into some other kind of tertiary education?
Maybe it's time to look for a larger company. If you stay there, the situation is mot likely to change
I have worked in horticulture since 1976. Hard work and low pay are the norm.
There are positions that pay well. Continuing education and certification programs will help get you there.
Get your private nursery pesticide license. Then, you can supervise other pesticide applicators, increasing your value to an employer.
Learn about production costs, overhead, and reasonable profit margins.
Change the conversation from "Look how hard I work for you." to "This is how much money I made you last year."
You're not going to get a raise just because you think you deserve one.
Growers and farmers never ever retire. They talk about it. They talk about how nice it would be to pass on the business to someone that cares. They never will though. Just learn as much as you can and move on.
I'm a landscaper in Michigan. If I was 30 I'd start a wholesale nursery with the pot in pot configuration.
I'd grow as many native perennials as I could but focus on shrubs and small trees.
I'd minimize investments by starting with only a hoop house and pot up some plants from seed but mostly buy dry root stock.
I've been pushing my current employer to grow more natives. Particularly because I see tge growing market, mostly because I've been educating myself about them as a hobby and it's a big passion of mine to help restore the environment. I've been volunteering with a nature center to remove invasives. I wish I had land to do this on.
Land is at a premium. A pot in pot operation could be set up on rented property.
The skills you have acquired may translate to any nursery. There is a large business in southern Michigan take specializes in asexual reproduction of high producing native blueberries. The cloning or asexual reproduction of root stocks is the backbone of the northern wine grape growing industry.
You have options,don't give up!
I’m in the same situation and same age. I definitely see the favoritism towards men when it comes to being taken seriously. I have the title of grower but not the compensation. I get good benefits and enjoy where I work. The upper management are nearly retirement age and I would be almost guaranteed a more prestigious position at that point but if I still have to fight for a decent wage I will not stick around much longer, which I think is the case. Maybe consider a side business like landscape design, or farmers market booths. I’ve considered going a completely different direction but I enjoy being outside. If you are interested in traveling, look into internships on attra and wwoof, many offer housing. And forest service, park service, state and county parks are good options. Also coolworks is a good resource for jobs in the hospitality industry. If you aren’t interested in travel, look into other greenhouse businesses in the area, farms, nursery’s. Attra website has a lot of resources for loans, grants, and other programs if you want to try it on your own.
OP it sounds like you got some great advice already - I agree that it is time to move on.
I was in a similar position to you (across three Indy greenhouses). I have a relevant degree and busted my ass, eventually ran our geranium & 4” annual houses (and about 40 laborers) and topped out at $11.50.
I only grow stuff for myself now and work in a “boring industry” that has allowed me the means to afford all horticulture/propagation equipment I may want. In 2024 I hope to explore tissue culturing for my own enrichment, as an example.
They sound like assholes. You should look into a horticulture job that is not family owned. Botanic gardens, parks, grounds maintenance etc. You learn lots and if you have a good boss they will want you to learn.
I do live in a legal state. Currently my area (or more specific 45min-1.5hrs from my area) is heavily saturated with grows. A lot of them are starting to drop wages for grow tech and the lower positions.
Went to school for landscape design and horticulture. Won several awards. Worked in the business for 17 years. I'm an equipment operator now and am way happier. Still love plants but its tough to make a decent living
This isn't the case as much anymore. If you're at a small company, maybe.
I'm a woman and make into six figures. My company has multiple women in management (myself included) and some in the C suites.
I know not all places are like this. But I'm out in corn field land and it's kinda true locally. After a couple years of working at the greenhouse I tried to apply to other nurseries and landscape companies on town and ended up being turned down for entry level positions and that's how I started doing landscape maintenance on my own. I sell to 3 different women who went into landscape solo because most local places don't want to let them do anything but pull weeds for $13/hr.
Are you working in Hort just for immediate or short term monetary compensation? If not how else are you benefitting, being nurtured, and benefitting others? What's your age category? Post monthly expenses?
You're contributing being "broke" and mistrusted to being a "woman." In my 30+ yrs in the Greens Industry I dont know one woman of the maybe 1000's met who were broke or mistrusted because they were "woman" or who communicated that. In fact, many females were more highly compensated than myself when I was a twenty something male. It was only after obtaining a BS in Hort, gaining MG certs, greater time at job, and displaying career responsibility did i excel financially in my career. I implore you to grow your career, grow your character, rather than perceive yourself as a victim 🪴🌿🌴🌻
I say the woman thing because my boss used to literally say he wanted to hire a man for my job before he finally gave it to me. Also, there is a very clear labor divide in my workplace where women are generally delegated to sales and the dudes are drivers or maintenance. When my predecessor left the job, I had initially been told by the owner's wife that I probably wouldn't get it because they needed a guy to help them. The owner is like 74, so I think it's just his age that makes him this way. It's not really a victim thing if they say it out loud. It took me years to talk them into letting me drive a forklift while one of my ex-coworker was trusted with it, no prior experience, first season...he got fired for coming to work drunk and hitting a tree in a work vehicle. I have a flawless driving record and didn't get to drive a van until year 3.
Youve got hella skills man. Im a union gardener west coast city boy here I was in a similar situation to yours for ten years now im making 85k plus pension and 1 month paid vacation for a city/ county gardener. I can also transfer easily to like 100 local jobs/ districts easily different kinds of gardener jobs like golf, turf, hort, prop endless list. Time to move on…..
Man. I’m was in a similar situation. Chances are if you already feel strung along. And you stated your boss is a dick. Then listen to that part of you. Before you get hurt and can’t work. I got screwed over like that.
Spring is around the corner. Start growing cooking and health herbs on your own. Sell direct, local and online. When you can, augment with weed and mushrooms. Begin to enjoy life...
I would contact your state Cooperative extension office and become a certified master gardener. You’ll take about six months of classes through your state university system. I would feel not only with this broaden your scope of knowledge, but get you state wide access to horticulturists, gardeners and farmers. When my wife and I went through the program, it was online lectures and zoom classes, and a couple hours a week of hands-on. I don’t know if you’d have any benefit from that., but it could be worth a shot. I’m just a retired Home, gardener, and this past winter I’ve been offered two jobs as a gardening educator. Go figure.
That company sounds terrible, but you listed a ton of marketable skills, and you're only 30. You haven't wasted your life yet by a long shot. Put together a resume and start looking for your next adventure.
Man that sucks. It sounds to me like your bosses would probably shit their pants if you threatened to leave. Finding someone to replace you after you've handled all those responsibilities for so long would be almost impossible. Just make sure you really do have something else lined up just in case they call your bluff.
Would opening your own greenhouse be an option?
Apply at other nursery’s or grow operations. Look for management positions. Probably will have to travel or relocate but if you love it. Stick with it. Cannabis is bookoo bucks rn.
to me it sounds like you are fully ready to be on your own, managing your own hort business.
your next step is to seek out capital to get yourself up and running. i say this because i am seeing this post because of my interest as an investor.
people like me are likely few and far between, but i would be a perfect match in your case as i have money to invest but lack your experience. reddit may not be the best place to look for investors, but if you have acquaintances that enjoy entrepreneurial activities, i would talk these people and they may give you leads.
OMG, you're very employable. I'm sorry you've been treated this way. I think you can chalk it up to sexism. I don't know what state you're in but in California you could definitely be hired as an assistant grower or perhaps even grower. You'd be even better off if you could could get your pesticide applicator license. You can study on your own time and take the test when ready. You're doing great. Apply to other jobs and get away from these sexist dudes.
You have a lot of knowledge and experience. Get paid for it! Look for something else, indeed, Glassdoor, etc. if you find something talk to your boss and see if they can match it and give you something viable for the future. Good luck
i’m 40 and in the same boat. i love everything about working with plants and my dream is to make sell plant terrariums. i’ve worked in cannabis cultivation, greenhouse/nursery production, and as a plant healthcare technician (pesticide/fungicide applicator). i am recently unemployed due to a seasonal layoff and i refuse to go back to a company that expects their employees to survive off unemployment when the workload diminishes and return when the work picks back up. i’ve applied to many places but haven’t been hired anywhere yet. the economy is shit and wages are not keeping up with inflation especially in a field like ours. let me know if you wanna chat and commiserate lol
Try coming out to the Bay Area, retail/wholesale/growers are abundant and with your skill set you would be very valuable. Also there’s less of an “off season” in California, tho the winter can be a little slow
I'd say you should get out of retail and go through the Master Gardeners training offered by your county Extension Agent. Most of the Master Gardeners are women, and many of them went into it already having expertise with roses, fruit trees, or vegetables. You can make new friends there and network on plant varieties, jobs, and teaching opportunities. In my county, anybody can be a substitute teacher. You just have to undergo a background check since you're dealing with children and get fingerprinted. Here it's $72 a day. Just follow the teachers' learning plan(s).
If, eventually, you grow enough vegetables to sell, many places have neighborhood farmer's markets.
Between teaching and selling your produce, you can make enough to get by while looking for other opportunities outside of...\[yuck\] retail. Maybe do part time hotshot trucking (you don't have to have a truck, people deliver computer parts and appliances out of their cars all the time). A truck allows you to haul lumber, soil, larger boxes, bricks, etc. My truck has an eight-foot bed. It looks like a fleet truck, but I don't care.
Edit: You sound a lot like my daughter. She is the Swiss Army Knife of Target, and the suck can draw 20 inches of vacuum on an onion sack. I wouldn't condemn man or beast to retail after hearing years of horror stories from her. Even armed robberies, jeez.
I am just retired from a national distributor of products into commercial horticulture. That company currently has several open positions. With your background you should have no trouble finding a position
Maybe move on to the state and do inspections for nurseries since you know so much about it get paid more you get free lessons and classes, you get to meet some great people and it’s still in a career that you’ve spent a lot of time in.
Just wanted to drop in, I grew up working in floral warehouses. I think you can do so much better for yourself.
I also wanted to tell you about WWOOFING, I was reading about it and looking at places on the website and there is a Peony Farm in Alaska that hosts people. It might not be a solution obviously but it might be something cool you could do for a vacation or between positions that would network you with some more grower people and something else to slap on the resume.
Apply to be a grower in another business. You’re experienced enough and you’ll get paid more at another place than you will when your current job finally promotes you.
For what it’s worth if there are any stronger pesticides to be sprayed I do it myself- it’s not because I don’t trust the people working for me it’s to protect them.
Have you ever thought about getting into the cannabis industry? I manage a large scale commercial cannabis grow and someone with your background would stand out to me when looking for applicants for management positions, and by nature of the price of our crop, the pay is good.
I stop creating art, when I pass away, who will clean up my garbage?
Gardening is the best hobby, it eventually will go to nature, nothing to worry about.
You should move on. You have a wide array of experience and could definitely find something else. Check out Indeed. Look at some of the trade websites to get a feel for some of the larger growers: Greenhouse Grower, Garden Center Mag. Look for some of the big brands' websites for careers. It's easy to feel beaten down and want to give up when you've been somewhere a long time and feel unappreciated. Don't be afraid to leave for something better.
You should be able to make 50-60k as a grower and could skirt having a degree with your skills and experience
Totally! There are a lot of people in our industry who don't have degrees. Some people are such a natural fit for the work that a college education really has no bearing on their knowledge or skills. I went for a two year degree and didn't learn anything that i didn't already know from working for four years.
Hoping OP sees this! I didn’t have a degree in horticulture and had a successful (?) career working in horticulture, sustainable agriculture, and greenhouse management and then side stepped into farm education and outreach. I have a wildly unrelated degree but I did so much work in this field in high school and college that it was never a problem. OP- you’re being exploited for your labor and also held back from growing. Let’s find you a new place to really stretch your skills!
I see you're in Michigan, as am I. There are so many other opportunies in this state. I've been in this career about as long as you have and I am paid well. Just put together a resume and call your job title a grower, you basically are one anyway and nobody will question it. Then move along to a company that will pay you better.
Lots of great horticulture in west MI. Some very strong greenhouse operations on the east side too
Go to work for a legal weed grower. Same bullshit, but way better pay.
Where are you that the pays better. Where I am it's gone way down.
Washington. It has gone down for unskilled help, but if you know your stuff, you are in demand.
This probably depends where you are. Here in Colorado, it doesn’t even pay enough to live usually. A lot of my coworkers in horticulture are former weed growers, who got the degree just so they could grow weed, only to find it doesn’t pay the bills. Market’s oversaturated.
As I said, Washington. 25 to start for a trimmer. The head gardener makes 120,000 a year paid 10,000 a month in cash. If you need more than that, you chose the wrong field.
Yeah, here head gardeners make $25 an hour lol. Which just starts to be a decent living wage here, with how inflation is.
Similar in LA, trimmers get paid by the lb. 100-150. Garden assistants or whatever you want to call them 4-6k. Managers 7- 8k, Director of cultivation / Head grower 10k-15k+ depending on how many facilities you run/size of facilities. Usually the top guys make a good amount of side money consulting as well.
Hawaii $14/hour grower with bachelor's and experience for one of the few legal dispensaries in the state. On brand jobs no shortage of pot heads ready to work for next to nothing
much different skill set as cannabis a niche that requires a whole nother set of horticulture learning although it does overlap but mostly has to be hands on to get the hang of. and that would mean low wage jobs in that industry. even most experienced medium sized home growers don't have many of the skills to run a large operation
The hemp industry if you are not in a legal state. It’s the same pay and you are under the board of ag. So less funny business than in the white or grey market.
Come work for my municipality's Parks Department? We need a gardener and it pays well, great benefits, and reasonable hours. I wish more hort people were interested in the public sector... :(
where you at
About 15 minutes west of Minneapolis on Lake Minnetonka.
What do y'all do in the winter?
The department as a whole is responsible for maintaining two skating rinks and some sidewalk snow removal. But anybody who is involved with hort/arb spends most of the off-season planning/designing, tree trimming, tree inventory, buckthorn... stuff like that. Hands-on gardening season here is generally mid April to mid Ocrober but that's obviously becoming more sporadic.
Just curious, how much is starting pay there? Here in Colorado, parks technicians are all over the place from $15-$25hr.
Current range for basic full-time Parks Maintenance Workers is 28.79 to 35.15.
Which Municipality is this for? I’d like to apply!
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Horticulture/comments/19fn968/comment/kjn8vh1/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Horticulture/comments/19fn968/comment/kjn8vh1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) "About 15 minutes west of Minneapolis on Lake Minnetonka."
City of Wayzata - it'll be posted for another couple of weeks. Please do apply! https://www.wayzata.org/696/Public-Service-Worker---Parks-Department?fbclid=IwAR2IXfWr0ZL2w4dApCEd0FmmmSuh8QXuy66MWJQazq16Jq5Oh3k3U6e8iWI
Awesome! I previously worked for the City of Minnetonka doing very similar stuff!
Sounds like you'd be a good fit!
Holy canoli batman
This was my life. I worked at a propagation greenhouse and collected job titles like Pokémon. I was assistant grower, water manager, IPM department manager, organics manager- and they wouldn’t even give me benefits (no problem giving them to the girls I supervised though) and on top of it they never gave me a penny more than $23 an hour. I had to leave even though I loved my job(s). My only advice would be to get your pesticide license if they have that where you’re from, slap it on your resume and apply specifically as assistant grower to a production or propagation greenhouse. You’d absolutely be able to land an AS position, greenhouses look at all the experience you have, go into detail about your responsibilities on your resume. Put assistant grower on your resume. If they call him and he tries to say you weren’t one, they’re going to ask about your roles and responsibilities and when he explains all the ways that you actually were an assistant grower he will look like a doofus. I know how hard it is working in this industry and trying to progress as a woman but you have to be assertive and sure of yourself and the decisions you make. The industry fully sucks on a pretty global scale but there are good head growers and greenhouse managers out there you’ve just got to find one
I was going to say something to this effect. In family run businesses it's unlikely that job titles matter or accurately reflect the tasks associated with that role. Regardless of what title you put down, list the responsibilities (on your resume). Ppl with get ir. Your boss will look like a doofus, and any prospective employer will be lucky to have you .
If you work for a small family company, you hit the ceiling of how high you can advance pretty quickly. Just move on
In my state we called it the Dutch mafia. Realest comment in this thread.
So true
Have you considered moving in to sales? For any of the allied suppliers (ferts, media, pots)? In terms of learning- If you can get your hands on a copy of this book (https://search.worldcat.org/title/1146482225), you should read it. Learn it. It is an excellent overview of the technical basics. If you are in a Master Gardener class, ask the extension office if you can “borrow it” online from the university library. You may already know a lot in there, but you indicated your boss was not big on training, so i am mentioning it just in case. Finally, go to a trade show. Go to explore the very diverse world of horticulture. There are a lot of jobs out there besides grower!
I think I own this book
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What textbook are you using for the class?
Aw I feel for you. Believe it or not I didn’t even enter horticulture until I was almost 30 and I’m getting spots on the news discussing gardening topics ten years in. I see a lot of people toil away in the nursery industry for life and a lot of them get pigeonholed into roles without any advancement opportunities. Seems like the only golden ticket is to become a department manager at a larger chain or start some niche nursery yourself and make your name known. Sounds to me like you need to get some kind of side gig, OR just GTFO and look for a better position somewhere else.
Another couple tips: join your local master gardener chapter. Make friends. Do some work on the side for people with money and influence. Show your face and show you know what you’re talking about. It’s so much like any industry, it’s less about your time spent and more about your visibility and ambition.
I am actually enrolled in a master gardener class right now. And on a wait list for some hort classes thru the MSU college of knowledge that gove certs for stuff like biologicals and a lot of greenhouse relevant stuffm. I also did landscape maintenance on my own for like 5 years. But I got lyme disease in 2023 and I just haven't been motivated to return to that kind of work since it almost killed me. My joints hurt and greenhouse work involves less crawling.
The arthritis got me too haha. Good for you for doing the MG program! I really owe most of my opportunities now to that, it’s a great way of connecting the dots between the art/craft/science
I'm literally going through the same shit about to apply for a job as a tram driver cause the industry just doesn't pay enough and has no growth
I understand, but I hate to see people give up on industry. I've been in the industry for 35 years, I make well into six figures and have the opportunity to advance within my company if I want to go after it. I have had to relocate states several times and have been with 3 different companies during the 35 years to get to where I am now. You have to look for the opportunities.
So true. I’m lucky my next opportunity was right down the road! I’m learning so much now. I want to work in greenhouses for the rest of my life. I’m assistant grower and they plan to work me up to section grower. At a place this big who knows where it can take me! Most of the people I work with have been pulled from out of state, like the head of growing and the leas grower.
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I only have a two year degree and I'm in sales. I'd rather not give anymore info than that.
Definitely move on. It seems like any other company, one bad boss can ruin the entire endeavor. Greenhouse work 100% is not the route to take looking for a big pay cheque, it's a shame when the company makes so much, cannabis pays better and usually with benefits.
Start your own biz and put your old boss his competition. Do y ok own research, go ask his current competition about the job. Never stop learning. Now that I’ve said all that, I worked 6 yrs almost exactly what you’re saying. Then I did what I said to do, except I grew cannabis for years also so I e got some good base knowledge of plants. Now I started my own microgreens business to support through winter months and gonna open a small garden shop at the farmers market. I am now my own boss
I've thought about growing organic produce and mushrooms before. There seems to be a good market for them locally. I'm just stuck in an apartment making crappy pay, so I don't even have a place where I can grow anything.
I feel yah man, I went and got a degree in greenspace management only to discover that there is not much out there for me to do with it other than work at a greenhouse or landscaping or arborist. Does anyone else have any ideas of what a degree in greenspace management might be useful for!? I thought I would be finding important environmental jobs but there doesn't really seem to be anything like that. At least not in my area.
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I have soil knowledge for sure. My schooling doesn't allow me to be a conservation officer, that requires some separate schooling. I'm not sure what engineering consultation is exactly but it also sounds a bit out of my league lol. It was a weird course I took, it was broad enough to cover a lot of serious stuff buuut it was broad enough to not drill down on any specific subject. It was a 3.5 year college program though so it's not one of those "joke" degrees lol I knew what I was going to do with it which was start a fruit orchard and grow vegetables but I have kinda failed at that leaving me not knowing what else I'm supposed to do with it. I imagined myself in a government paid truck with a canoe on top, driving to go collect some water samples and maybe some plant samples or something... something like that would be my ideal job lol
So I was you in my 20s. I was enthusiastic and ready to be a grower as I’d trained for. I also ended up in a position where I felt like my knowledge of the process and industry was going to waste. I was sometimes able to get into the greenhouses, but I didn’t work there. Instead I was assigned to the nursery that was a retail shop and no one came in. It was just me mostly alone all day and occasionally the florists would give me an order for live plant gifts. I basically cared for plants that came in on a truck or from the greenhouses they owned. It sucked. I felt like I was wasting my skills watering plants that I didn’t grow. I ended up moving to a bigger city and no commercial growers wanted someone with college training. What they wanted was unskilled cheap labor. I ended up in a grounds position taking care of a restaurant gardens and other properties they owned nearby. I did get to grow some stuff, they were doing farm to table, or at least pretending to. Everyone I worked with had no experience in this industry. I was given manager title but no pay increase. Eventually I gave up on ever being able to use the skills I’d spent years learning. I left and my husband and I started our own business in an industry that had nothing to do with my education. I was replaced with a migrant worker who did what he was told and paid much less to do exactly what I was doing. Through all this I learned that majoring in horticulture wasn’t the best use of my time or money. Too many businesses want cheap foreign labor even if they don’t have an education. In their home countries they often have a cursory understanding of gardening and growing that makes them more knowledgeable on the basics than most Americans. So obviously they are easier to train with a foundation to build on. Our formal training requires proper compensation, and the willingness to pay for that in my experience wasn’t there. This is just my experience OP. You may find that place where you’re able to flourish alongside your crop. I’m in Texas FWIW and though it’s a prime spot for growing everything the demand for expertise in the field is not there.
Texas is honestly the worst. I got my degree, moved to Colorado and get paid DOUBLE here. As a laborer. My rent isn’t double.
I'm a small horticulture business owner. Run. There are a shortage of jobs in our field and hardly anyone with experience and plant knowledge out there. If you're in St Louis, call me.
You are the title you create for yourself regardless of your job location. If that means that job isn’t living up to the title you e given yourself then move on. If you fancy yourself to be head of perennial management or something like that maybe you take it to him that way. Sometimes people don’t see what they’ve got till it’s gone as well so it’s hard to tell you for your situation but, listen to this. My direct boss, landscape architect or designer, started in your exact position and was there till he was like 35. 52 or something now and he’s sitting nice and pretty. Diversifying yourself and how you market yourself can go an along way. Keep your head up!
Move on! I did the same work for 10 years decided to career change at 30 to teaching almost done with my alt route/ masters program not much of a difference decided I wanted to get reimbursed for summer (summers off teaching) and get a decent salary in WA teachers with masters start at 77k and goes up yearly I decided fuck agriculture / horticulture I use to be such a advocate but you really do work like a dog and I can’t be doing that my whole life FOR SOMEONE else when I could just find a job that pays me so I can afford my own home and start my own homestead ya know??? I was so sick of working 60-80 hour weeks! Oh and let me tell you trying to find another job with skills like this DOES NOT TRANSFER TO ANYTHING ELSE I struggled and I hate how 10 years of my life was basically wasted bc of a stupid passion lmao
I'm 40 and in the same situation, I'm in the UK and have now applied for a job in the council (UK government). Your qualification are solid get out while you can. I have been waiting for a promotion for years and never been given more responsibility, all I do is move items around and weed. It's sole destroying, if you can weld and drive a forklift people will want and need you. Don't get how I have been and think you can't achieve more, write a CV wait a week then read it again. If it looks good start sending it out you can do better 👍
Are you interested in moving? Are you interested in being a fine gardener/horticulturist for a mid-sized landscape company. If so DM me
You can get pesticide applicator certification on your own and add that to your resume
I hit the same wall, my passion is plants but I was never being paid enough in greenhouse. I pivoted to cannabis and I make a decent salary now, paid vacation, etc. but I just recently hit the point of realizing that the management aspect that I had to take on isn’t for me, may pivot to another career. I get your struggle, definitely find another job or a different brands of hort. But it’s a challenging to field to easily navigate, takes alot of time to find the good jobs.
have you ever considered becoming an arborist? The pay won’t be great in the beginning ( I started at $19 per hour) but once you get more credentials and training you could get $30-35 per hour and still work with plants. I was working in a greenhouse for 5 years and just became an arborist 1 year ago and am already at $26 per hour which was a lot better than what I made at a greenhouse. You could become a climber or do plant health care treating woody plants.
Sent you a chat!
Any option to start your own business? From my research it was a good way to make decent coin. So many of the other jobs pay like farm hands despite the skills required.
I am asking myself the same thing!
Wow what a resume you have. Seriously, would be an asset for anybody. Have you thought of starting nursery yourself? There are many grants/loans (check liabilities) that one can apply for to start this kind of business…
Dude, I'm like 2 paychecks from not paying rent. I wish I could open my own place, but I don't own any land and have a rust bucket of a truck that got me thru a few years of landscape work.
My friend…it seems that you are depressed and sad about your circumstances. If thats the case, which is understandable, your options are A) continue as business-as-usual or B) opt for a change. Like I said; there are many funds, agencies even banks that fund small businesses. Try to look into that. The land can be rented by goodwill people. Look into your local community farmers. Ask them for this favour in return for a favour like owning a 20% share later on as an example. The goal is to start small and slowly grow and grow.
Yes.
You could get a different part-time job in a different industry and start up a competing nursery business on the side. I started my own horticulture business from the ground up in my spare time, although I still need a day job.
Move on. Best decision I ever made was leaving the industry in the first 6 months. It took some moving around but now I make more money and don’t have to do manual labor for Pennies I am relaxed. Find your path don’t waste time
Sounds like it’s time to find a new place! I left a small greenhouse and garden center to work at a state of the art European commercial growing company so I could learn more. Now I realize how small my world was at the last place because I outgrew it. Self eject
Write down what you know about running a greenhouse business, from getting customers in, connecting with suppliers, displaying wares, making sure plants don't die on you, etc...Read and re-read it. Have several third parties read it. If you all feel the knowledge contained in there is sufficient to go alone, do it. There will be shortcomings, but you will find a way.
If you got knowledge in plants you can start being self-employed as a gardener, florist and plant advisers. Being a florist or adviser loads of money coming in Being a gardener good money to and the best you got to travel to different places.
What level of education do you have? I have a Bachelor's degree and I do what sounds like a similar job but for a university, with the additional requirement of some vineyard management and collecting weed samples from roadsides & the university farm. This year, after overtime, I will earn above the average wage in Australia- I'll earn about Au$90k (US$59k). I have a really good work life balance and I really enjoy my job. Since you didn't say where you're from, presumably you're from the US. It doesn't sound like university education is feasible there, but maybe you could look into some other kind of tertiary education?
Do your own thing. I'm expanding my operation here in North Carolina. Honest + love for what we do = success. Connect with me in DM if you like.
Maybe it's time to look for a larger company. If you stay there, the situation is mot likely to change I have worked in horticulture since 1976. Hard work and low pay are the norm. There are positions that pay well. Continuing education and certification programs will help get you there. Get your private nursery pesticide license. Then, you can supervise other pesticide applicators, increasing your value to an employer. Learn about production costs, overhead, and reasonable profit margins. Change the conversation from "Look how hard I work for you." to "This is how much money I made you last year." You're not going to get a raise just because you think you deserve one.
Growers and farmers never ever retire. They talk about it. They talk about how nice it would be to pass on the business to someone that cares. They never will though. Just learn as much as you can and move on.
I'm a landscaper in Michigan. If I was 30 I'd start a wholesale nursery with the pot in pot configuration. I'd grow as many native perennials as I could but focus on shrubs and small trees. I'd minimize investments by starting with only a hoop house and pot up some plants from seed but mostly buy dry root stock.
I've been pushing my current employer to grow more natives. Particularly because I see tge growing market, mostly because I've been educating myself about them as a hobby and it's a big passion of mine to help restore the environment. I've been volunteering with a nature center to remove invasives. I wish I had land to do this on.
Land is at a premium. A pot in pot operation could be set up on rented property. The skills you have acquired may translate to any nursery. There is a large business in southern Michigan take specializes in asexual reproduction of high producing native blueberries. The cloning or asexual reproduction of root stocks is the backbone of the northern wine grape growing industry. You have options,don't give up!
I’m in the same situation and same age. I definitely see the favoritism towards men when it comes to being taken seriously. I have the title of grower but not the compensation. I get good benefits and enjoy where I work. The upper management are nearly retirement age and I would be almost guaranteed a more prestigious position at that point but if I still have to fight for a decent wage I will not stick around much longer, which I think is the case. Maybe consider a side business like landscape design, or farmers market booths. I’ve considered going a completely different direction but I enjoy being outside. If you are interested in traveling, look into internships on attra and wwoof, many offer housing. And forest service, park service, state and county parks are good options. Also coolworks is a good resource for jobs in the hospitality industry. If you aren’t interested in travel, look into other greenhouse businesses in the area, farms, nursery’s. Attra website has a lot of resources for loans, grants, and other programs if you want to try it on your own.
OP it sounds like you got some great advice already - I agree that it is time to move on. I was in a similar position to you (across three Indy greenhouses). I have a relevant degree and busted my ass, eventually ran our geranium & 4” annual houses (and about 40 laborers) and topped out at $11.50. I only grow stuff for myself now and work in a “boring industry” that has allowed me the means to afford all horticulture/propagation equipment I may want. In 2024 I hope to explore tissue culturing for my own enrichment, as an example.
They sound like assholes. You should look into a horticulture job that is not family owned. Botanic gardens, parks, grounds maintenance etc. You learn lots and if you have a good boss they will want you to learn.
Can you grow cannabis? If so go look at the newest Rec states and apply for a head cultivator job
I do live in a legal state. Currently my area (or more specific 45min-1.5hrs from my area) is heavily saturated with grows. A lot of them are starting to drop wages for grow tech and the lower positions.
Yea that’s why I said move
Went to school for landscape design and horticulture. Won several awards. Worked in the business for 17 years. I'm an equipment operator now and am way happier. Still love plants but its tough to make a decent living
Are you female? Ha, you are never going to get a pay rise or progress while there is a Dick in control.
This isn't the case as much anymore. If you're at a small company, maybe. I'm a woman and make into six figures. My company has multiple women in management (myself included) and some in the C suites.
What do you do if you don’t mind me asking?
I'm in sales. Business to business not direct to consumers.
Unnecessary comment? Thanks for showing up tho
The wage gap is real
I know not all places are like this. But I'm out in corn field land and it's kinda true locally. After a couple years of working at the greenhouse I tried to apply to other nurseries and landscape companies on town and ended up being turned down for entry level positions and that's how I started doing landscape maintenance on my own. I sell to 3 different women who went into landscape solo because most local places don't want to let them do anything but pull weeds for $13/hr.
Unfortunately in our society loyalty doesn’t pay. Apply to be the grower at a different location and your pay will probably substantially increase.
Find a new place of employment. Start your own floral company. Just start growing cannabis
Are you working in Hort just for immediate or short term monetary compensation? If not how else are you benefitting, being nurtured, and benefitting others? What's your age category? Post monthly expenses? You're contributing being "broke" and mistrusted to being a "woman." In my 30+ yrs in the Greens Industry I dont know one woman of the maybe 1000's met who were broke or mistrusted because they were "woman" or who communicated that. In fact, many females were more highly compensated than myself when I was a twenty something male. It was only after obtaining a BS in Hort, gaining MG certs, greater time at job, and displaying career responsibility did i excel financially in my career. I implore you to grow your career, grow your character, rather than perceive yourself as a victim 🪴🌿🌴🌻
I say the woman thing because my boss used to literally say he wanted to hire a man for my job before he finally gave it to me. Also, there is a very clear labor divide in my workplace where women are generally delegated to sales and the dudes are drivers or maintenance. When my predecessor left the job, I had initially been told by the owner's wife that I probably wouldn't get it because they needed a guy to help them. The owner is like 74, so I think it's just his age that makes him this way. It's not really a victim thing if they say it out loud. It took me years to talk them into letting me drive a forklift while one of my ex-coworker was trusted with it, no prior experience, first season...he got fired for coming to work drunk and hitting a tree in a work vehicle. I have a flawless driving record and didn't get to drive a van until year 3.
Following lol
Youve got hella skills man. Im a union gardener west coast city boy here I was in a similar situation to yours for ten years now im making 85k plus pension and 1 month paid vacation for a city/ county gardener. I can also transfer easily to like 100 local jobs/ districts easily different kinds of gardener jobs like golf, turf, hort, prop endless list. Time to move on…..
Man. I’m was in a similar situation. Chances are if you already feel strung along. And you stated your boss is a dick. Then listen to that part of you. Before you get hurt and can’t work. I got screwed over like that.
You should call yourself assistant grower with all you do and your boss calling you his right arm .ask him for more responsibility and a raise aa well
Spring is around the corner. Start growing cooking and health herbs on your own. Sell direct, local and online. When you can, augment with weed and mushrooms. Begin to enjoy life...
I would contact your state Cooperative extension office and become a certified master gardener. You’ll take about six months of classes through your state university system. I would feel not only with this broaden your scope of knowledge, but get you state wide access to horticulturists, gardeners and farmers. When my wife and I went through the program, it was online lectures and zoom classes, and a couple hours a week of hands-on. I don’t know if you’d have any benefit from that., but it could be worth a shot. I’m just a retired Home, gardener, and this past winter I’ve been offered two jobs as a gardening educator. Go figure.
That company sounds terrible, but you listed a ton of marketable skills, and you're only 30. You haven't wasted your life yet by a long shot. Put together a resume and start looking for your next adventure.
Man that sucks. It sounds to me like your bosses would probably shit their pants if you threatened to leave. Finding someone to replace you after you've handled all those responsibilities for so long would be almost impossible. Just make sure you really do have something else lined up just in case they call your bluff. Would opening your own greenhouse be an option?
Apply at other nursery’s or grow operations. Look for management positions. Probably will have to travel or relocate but if you love it. Stick with it. Cannabis is bookoo bucks rn.
Move into the cannabis space
to me it sounds like you are fully ready to be on your own, managing your own hort business. your next step is to seek out capital to get yourself up and running. i say this because i am seeing this post because of my interest as an investor. people like me are likely few and far between, but i would be a perfect match in your case as i have money to invest but lack your experience. reddit may not be the best place to look for investors, but if you have acquaintances that enjoy entrepreneurial activities, i would talk these people and they may give you leads.
You do know where to go from here. To the competition.
Sounds like it's time for an ultimatum or to move on.
OMG, you're very employable. I'm sorry you've been treated this way. I think you can chalk it up to sexism. I don't know what state you're in but in California you could definitely be hired as an assistant grower or perhaps even grower. You'd be even better off if you could could get your pesticide applicator license. You can study on your own time and take the test when ready. You're doing great. Apply to other jobs and get away from these sexist dudes.
You have a lot of knowledge and experience. Get paid for it! Look for something else, indeed, Glassdoor, etc. if you find something talk to your boss and see if they can match it and give you something viable for the future. Good luck
Start your own business girl!!
i’m 40 and in the same boat. i love everything about working with plants and my dream is to make sell plant terrariums. i’ve worked in cannabis cultivation, greenhouse/nursery production, and as a plant healthcare technician (pesticide/fungicide applicator). i am recently unemployed due to a seasonal layoff and i refuse to go back to a company that expects their employees to survive off unemployment when the workload diminishes and return when the work picks back up. i’ve applied to many places but haven’t been hired anywhere yet. the economy is shit and wages are not keeping up with inflation especially in a field like ours. let me know if you wanna chat and commiserate lol
Try coming out to the Bay Area, retail/wholesale/growers are abundant and with your skill set you would be very valuable. Also there’s less of an “off season” in California, tho the winter can be a little slow
Start your own gig!
As others said move on and don’t look back That doesn’t sound like a place with any room for advancement
I'd say you should get out of retail and go through the Master Gardeners training offered by your county Extension Agent. Most of the Master Gardeners are women, and many of them went into it already having expertise with roses, fruit trees, or vegetables. You can make new friends there and network on plant varieties, jobs, and teaching opportunities. In my county, anybody can be a substitute teacher. You just have to undergo a background check since you're dealing with children and get fingerprinted. Here it's $72 a day. Just follow the teachers' learning plan(s). If, eventually, you grow enough vegetables to sell, many places have neighborhood farmer's markets. Between teaching and selling your produce, you can make enough to get by while looking for other opportunities outside of...\[yuck\] retail. Maybe do part time hotshot trucking (you don't have to have a truck, people deliver computer parts and appliances out of their cars all the time). A truck allows you to haul lumber, soil, larger boxes, bricks, etc. My truck has an eight-foot bed. It looks like a fleet truck, but I don't care. Edit: You sound a lot like my daughter. She is the Swiss Army Knife of Target, and the suck can draw 20 inches of vacuum on an onion sack. I wouldn't condemn man or beast to retail after hearing years of horror stories from her. Even armed robberies, jeez.
I am just retired from a national distributor of products into commercial horticulture. That company currently has several open positions. With your background you should have no trouble finding a position
Also, growing legal weed is a real job now.
Maybe move on to the state and do inspections for nurseries since you know so much about it get paid more you get free lessons and classes, you get to meet some great people and it’s still in a career that you’ve spent a lot of time in.
At least you're in a business that's growing
Just wanted to drop in, I grew up working in floral warehouses. I think you can do so much better for yourself. I also wanted to tell you about WWOOFING, I was reading about it and looking at places on the website and there is a Peony Farm in Alaska that hosts people. It might not be a solution obviously but it might be something cool you could do for a vacation or between positions that would network you with some more grower people and something else to slap on the resume.
Apply to be a grower in another business. You’re experienced enough and you’ll get paid more at another place than you will when your current job finally promotes you.
Check if there are any toxics
For what it’s worth if there are any stronger pesticides to be sprayed I do it myself- it’s not because I don’t trust the people working for me it’s to protect them.
Have you ever thought about getting into the cannabis industry? I manage a large scale commercial cannabis grow and someone with your background would stand out to me when looking for applicants for management positions, and by nature of the price of our crop, the pay is good.
I stop creating art, when I pass away, who will clean up my garbage? Gardening is the best hobby, it eventually will go to nature, nothing to worry about.
Get into an export industry, they have deeper pockets and reward you better