Millennial plant parents

If you do a quick Google search for “Millennials” and “plants,” you’ll find a long list of recent articles talking about the popularity of houseplants among this demographic. Often hyperbolic, the headlines call attention to the fact that as Millennials often delay purchasing their first home and having children, they instead turn their focus to “adopting” plants. One of my favorite over-the-top headlines is from an article I read in The Washington Post: “Millennials are filling their homes — and the void in the hearts — with houseplants.”

Hyperbolic headlines aside, it is true that Millennials have propelled houseplants into the spotlight again, filling their apartments, condos or homes with lush tropicals, funky succulents, trendy air plants, and anything unique and showy they can find — and then posting photos of them to social media. Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest have become a way for Millennials to discover new plants and show off their own plant finds. This increased visibility has also led to consumers asking for plants at retail that they may not have heard of otherwise.

In this month’s cover story, regular contributor Brooke Bilyj explores how this plant renaissance got started and makes the case for why growers may want to consider producing a few of these popular plants.

After you’ve gotten a better understanding of the current market for houseplants, don’t miss the article by sister-publication Garden Center columnist C.L. Fornari on why tropicals growers must provide adequate variety and care information on their plant tags. Read it here.

If you’re interested or involved in bulb production, check out how Sarah & Michael’s Farm saves money and ensures quality through its growing media recycling practices (here). And if you’re about to start forcing bulbs, consider columnist Christopher Currey’s advice to give bulb dips a try this season (here).

Boost your production know-how even more with John Bartok’s Tech Solutions column on increasing growing space. If you’re looking for more greenhouse pest and disease information, there’s a new book on the topic that’s written by some experts you surely know. Find out more about it here. Learn how to battle one of those pests — twospotted spider mite — here.

On behalf of everyone here at Greenhouse Management, I wish you the very best this holiday season and beyond.

Karen E. Varga, Editor
kvarga@gie.net
216-393-0290 | Twitter: @Karen_GIE