Why tropicals might experience a dip this year

Photo: © Followtheflow | Adobe Stock

I’ve heard through the grapevine that some growers are seeing numbers for tropical houseplants take a big dip. I’m sure many of you out there are holding steady or still booming with houseplants, and forecasts for ongoing houseplant enthusiasm look promising.

That said, I would suggest we may simply be looking at a bit more of a mixed bag for tropicals in 2022 than we experienced throughout the pandemic so far. As the new pandemic plant parents now have a little experience under their belts, there’s no doubt their tastes, projects and buying habits will evolve.

Dig into data

If you haven’t yet had a chance to check it out, I’d recommend you take a peek through the 2021 Consumer Houseplant Purchasing Report put together by the Floral Marketing Fund (https://bit.ly/consumer-houseplant). There is a bevy of demographics data, as well as key information on purchasing preferences you’re bound to find illuminating.

The good news is, according to their study, 73% of respondents in 2021 planned to keep spending on plants like they did in 2020 (as compared to 2019), which should carry over into 2022. Additionally, they are still willing to spend a bit more on indoor plants than they already have through the pandemic.

Pricing opportunities

As long as you respect the need for beginners and long-time collectors to have some accessible price points for more common easy-care species, you should be able to boost your margins on more unusual or high-demand plants, trailing vines and bloomers.

Increasingly, indoor gardeners are graduating to harder-to-grow aroids and high-humidity species, pushing them to go to great lengths to grow under glass with indoor greenhouses. They’re willing to spend a pretty penny both on the plants and the associated hardgoods they need to help these plants thrive.

"Plants and gardening are good for the mind, body and planet if done responsibly and sustainably ... 2022 is going to serve up yet another big opportunity for us..."

Do I have to dance?

Let’s talk about obvious marketing shifts I’ve observed over the last few months. If you haven’t noticed, everyone and their mom seems to be rushing to market on TikTok, and Instagram is trying hard to convince you to push Reels over photos. This trend has resulted in a deluge of plant and allied trade brands suddenly pushing a slew of silly shorts on social media, with an obvious focus on targeting younger and younger consumers.

You need, of course, a presence where your consumers are so you can engage with them in ways they prefer. Yet, I question these social media tactics for certain companies who sell high-price point products and plants. While there is good price elasticity in the market right now, meaning you can probably get away with charging more for some plants than you currently are, the demographics of houseplant buyers have shifted a bit older. I often find myself saying, whilst swiping past the silly videos, “why are they trying so hard to market to 20-year-olds when this 49-year-old is the one with enough money to buy their product?”

Recruiting new young customers into your purchasing pipeline is, of course, necessary. We must always replenish our customer base as it retires out of our market. But, if you do it at the expense of marketing to older customers with money to spend, then you’re leaving a lot of cash on the table. The silly videos mostly make this Gen Xer break out in an uncomfortable rash, and I rush them out of my feed as quickly as possible — so they certainly aren’t getting me to spend.

Eventually, consumers of all ages will be forced to go hunt for content that actually helps them grow plants, instead of just dancing with them. If you are taking a TikTok approach to your plant marketing these days, just make sure you are still investing in quality content focused on wellness and aesthetics for your older spend-ready customers.

Full disclosure, I do watch a few Chihuahua Reels now and then, because I’m a sucker for tiny dogs. But I already have a pack of those tiny overlords controlling me in my house, so it’s not like I plan on “buying” more! (For the record, I only adopt.)

Just know your audience and whether the specific marketing effort is likely to get you the required sales ROI. Most importantly, make sure you’re staying true to your brand identity with whatever marketing choice you make; otherwise, you end up looking desperate and out of touch. If dancing is already on-brand for your company, then dance away.

Flower up

When it comes to gift plants, small flowering houseplants still reign supreme. I also think bloomers and gesneriads as collector houseplants are ready for a comeback with millennials and younger consumers. I even re-upped my Gesneriad Society membership and have started collecting new seeds and species. For plant collectors who have cut their teeth on more common foliage tropicals and are learning how to effectively use indoor grow lighting and grow cabinets to manage more persnickety aroids, blooming houseplants are the next logical step.

Pandemic pressures?

As I’m writing this column, the Omicron strain of COVID is on a big upswing, raising concerns again about increased mask usage and social distancing. I would have loved to think by now we would have been heading into 2022 with an easier, brighter future for all of us on a personal level; alas, it’s Déjà vu all over again. What does this mean for us in the green industry? I’d say indoor plants, and gardening in general, are yet again going to be the go-to for managing stress and anxiety, as well as making staying at home as pleasant of an experience as it can be.

One of the best things about working as a horticulturist in the green industry is that I get to feel authentically good about what I do for a living. Plants and gardening are good for the mind, body and planet if done responsibly and sustainably. I’d say 2022 is going to serve up yet another big opportunity for us to do what we do best with tropical plants: make people happy.