Why Succulents Are Trending in the Garden Again
February 2, 2021 
Succulents have emerged as an ideal entry-level plant for people looking to enjoy something new while they’re stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photos courtesy of Gulley Greenhouse
Succulents were a popular category among consumers throughout the 2010s, but by around 2017, things started to taper off a little bit. As an industry, we were producing too many similar items.
The end user might want blue echeveria, and we were offering them 30 varieties to choose from in a gallon or a 4-inch that all looked incredibly similar. You can only sell a quart blue echeveria for as much as the guy down the street is selling it for, no matter the variety. The consumer doesn’t see enough differentiation. There were just too many options out there, and the market for landscaping was also becoming saturated to some extent.
We began to see a resurgence in 2018, however, with a couple of different niche markets driven by Millennials. For one, sales of 2-inch succulents started to explode online. It’s a great new product for the grower because it’s a quick turn. The grow time is five to nine weeks. You’re just trying to root it and ship it, and it’s an easy vegetatively propagated liner being sold as a finished product.
Another interesting trend is that many people now are looking to root the plants themselves. Growers and online entrepreneurs are reselling unrooted cuttings at a nice margin online. A 15-cent cutting may be selling for $1 online the same week the vendor received it.
This trend seems to have started with Tillandsia (air plants). Consumers were having success with these, and then they started to realize they could put a small succulent with minimal soil in one of the little glass containers and have the same two- to three-month aesthetic appeal.
These are two new and rapidly growing niche markets. I’m not saying they’re going to be huge, but you can see some amazing margins. You’re also getting short grow times, low inputs, and low risk. These are great trends for growers.
An Easy Decorating Solution
Another trend I’m seeing is using small succulents in decorations. Baby Boomers are online, and with a little more disposable income, they want something that will last for a little while and doesn’t take much care that they can show off on Facebook. Finish growers are using plant growth regulators (PGRs) on succulents and placing them in picture frames, as decorations on Christmas trees, or even to design succulent Christmas trees. The end user gets to enjoy them for a longer period of time with very little effort. It’s like suspended animation for the plants. The PGR application creates a plant that’s meant to last and not grow. It will look nice in a picture frame for up to three months and as a Christmas tree through the holiday season.
Succulent wreaths can provide a brief period of joy for consumers during the holidays.
Photo courtesy of Gulley Greenhouse
This is creating a new market for these plants that’s a little like cut flowers. They are now becoming the centerpiece on the table for Thanksgiving filling a cornucopia. They can provide enjoyment for a period of time and they’re not meant to last forever. You don’t need them still looking great on the Christmas tree in January or February. Succulents used this way are entering into the holidays where poinsettias have been. Growers can turn them quickly and maybe make a better profit too.
Great Potential in E-Commerce
Some of these new trends with succulents are a good fit for e-commerce. Online ordering and shipping plants to end users started with Tillandsia. But that has evolved into a space for succulents, both for selling the 2-inch plants and the unrooted cuttings.
Growers tried selling 4-inch succulents online, but that was more difficult. The bigger pots with more soil were more costly and also harder to ship without arriving disheveled to the end consumer. The 2-inch is a happy medium. They mark up the best. It’s a short grow time. The plant covers more of the pot so the soil doesn’t spill as easily. And succulents are tougher plants, so they hold up a little better in shipping than a petunia or impatiens possibly could.
Consumers are buying them for $4 each or sometimes $12 for a small assortment. And instead of getting 75 cents to-$1.00 for an unrooted cutting, the grower is getting $3 to $5 for a 2-inch pot. And growing in a 2-inch square pot maximizes space utilization on a grower’s bench back in the greenhouse.
A Shareable Experience
We can’t ignore the impact of COVID-19, both with online sales and with succulents in general. The pandemic has kept people indoors. Where previously people might have used some of their leisure dollars going to a movie or to dinner, consumers are now looking for other things they can do while staying home. Succulents are an easy, entry-level approach to plants. Having the pandemic locking us inside has sped that process up. We can’t really go out, so people are trying to bring the outdoors in.
The social media aspect of this can’t be ignored, either. We can’t be with friends and family as easily now, so people are anxious to share pictures of their plants and projects on Facebook and Instagram. But you’re not just exposing other people to succulents when you do that – the technology also shares new ideas with you. When you post a picture of your succulent project on Facebook, for example, it recognizes that and starts to show you other kinds of similar plants. It spirals upward from there. You’re introduced to new plants that you may find interesting.
People are willing to spend a little more money on one plant these days that they can keep indoors for them to enjoy. It’s hard to make a mistake with succulents. Consumers are not buying it for the flower, they’re buying it because it looks cool and different. If it happens to flower, that’s just a bonus. They can water it once a week and feel successful.
Additionally, it’s a great trend for growers getting into online sales. It ships well and it’s easy for producers to package. It can tolerate some heat in shipping as well as some drought stress. If you apply a plant growth regulator it will ship well in a dark box without stretching. I’m really excited about where all of this is going.
Five Succulents You May Have Overlooked
Looking to take advantage of the new opportunities in succulents? Here are five you should consider:
Three Tried and True:
- Echeveria Perle Von Nurnberg
- Haworthia fasciata
- Crassula vata
Two Exciting and New:
- Ceropegia String of Hearts
- Senecio String of Pearls
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