Securing Material for Future Delivery
At El Nativo Growers, we have two methods for customers to secure material for future delivery: a Secure Agreement and a Contract Growing Agreement. As a general rule, we will not hold any material for more than a few days without a more formal agreement. Our availability changes drastically on a daily basis. Although you may receive a quote of available inventory on one day, the same material may or may not be available the following day or in some cases even the same afternoon.
When we are asked to hold or grow material for a specific project, we will evaluate the request based on the factors below to determine which arrangement is most appropriate for both parties. Each request will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis; however, some projects may not be eligible for either type of agreement.
Partial List of Criteria Used to Determine Type of Agreement
- Species requested
- Project schedule
- Time of the year
- Desired container size
- Quantities requested
- Previous history with El Nativo Growers
Description of a Secure Agreement
At certain times of the year, the market demand for our material exceeds our supply. To ensure that the material for your project will be available when you are ready to plant, you may enter into a secure agreement with El Nativo Growers. A secure agreement is generally used for the holding of material in general inventory/production for short periods of time (2-12 weeks).
This agreement is usually used with general inventory items (i.e. standard species and containers sizes) that are in considerable demand. The secure agreement is a simple, one to two paragraph document that states the terms of the agreement. Click here for a Sample Agreement. All secure agreements require a non-refundable deposit that varies from 10% to 50+%. This deposit helps to solidify the intent of the customer to take delivery of the material within the time frame stated in the document. A secure agreement should only be used if the customer is certain the material will ship within the delivery guidelines listed in the document. There is no maintenance provision in a secure agreement.
Description of a Contract Growing Agreement
Although we keep an ongoing inventory of many standard, drought tolerant and restoration species, your project may require that you have material grown on a contractual basis in order to ensure timely delivery. At El Nativo Growers, we will be happy to grow material that you need for your project according to contract specifications.
A contract growing agreement is generally used for projects that will be shipped in the longer term (3-24 months). This agreement is also used for the following reasons:
- Non-standard containers. D-40, T4, or 5g containers of material typically only grown as 1g, etc.
- Species that do not fall within our normal production list.
- Quantities of material that exceed the general market demand for a particular species.
- Material that requires a full production cycle to produce.
We have the capacity to grow the material in almost any container size you desire: including rosepots, 4", plug trays, T-4, Leach Cells, 1-gallon, 5-gallon, 15-gallon, and 24" box. We can inoculate with mycorrhizae if required for native restoration projects.
To ensure that we can meet your schedules, please contact us well before your planting dates. Most species take between 8-12 months to produce from propagule to a mature one gallon container. Please see the detailed areas below for more information on our different services.
Contract growing offers many advantages in today's market. By securing plant material in advance, you will save considerable time and heartache when it is time to plant. You will not have to struggle with the erratic availability of certain species. You can also secure a negotiated price on all of the plant material for your project much closer to the date that it was awarded to you. You will not have to risk the unpredictable price escalations that can occur within each year. But be careful; if the projects you work on are prone to serious delays (4-6 months), contract growing may not be the right choice for you. In almost all contracts that we negotiate, the customer will be charged for excessive delays or failure to accept delivery on specific items. Please see our contract terms for more information.