Why tropical plants are on the rise

Added on 06 December 2023

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This pothos named ‘Manjula’ is part of the Exotic Angel Plants Collection at Costa Farms. Photo: Costa Farms

The holiday rush is over, and it’s now restock time for many growers. For some, retailer orders may be coming in, but others might be pondering what to grow. Where might the market be headed, what could be a big seller and, therefore, a nice fat revenue source?

Our crystal ball is chipped and murky, so we talked to a couple of experts and dove through the reports. The good news: according to the National Gardening Association 2022 Survey, 600,000 more households grew plants in containers last year, and there has been a steady rise in spending on container gardens.

One look at social media and the popularity of foliage plants is apparent. In fact, #foliageplant has 197,000 posts, #foliagefriday more than 230,000 posts, and #alocasia clocks in at well north of one million posts on Instagram. New varieties seem to spring forth weekly, becoming famous as quickly as an influencer can get their hands on one.

With all the industry effort to bring new varieties to customers, I asked Justin Hancock, Senior Brand Marketing Manager for Costa Farms, a Field of Dreams question: is the current foliage plant situation “if we grow it, they will come?” He confirmed the idea. “Yeah, so far,” he says. “And we’ll see how far that continues. There’s still so much enthusiasm around new rare plants with the consumer that if you grow it, they will come.”