Nir Nursery expands market for wax pot plants

The market for wax cut flowers has developed rapidly and the volumes at the Dutch auction are increasing year after year. Also in North America and the Far East, these flowers are flown in from several parts of the world and are rising in popularity. Unfortunately, the wax flower pot plants cannot benefit from this popularity in these areas due to the strict phytosanitary regulations and high shipping costs. For these reasons, Israeli breeder and propagator Nir Nursery is eager to establish a market for wax pot plants in North America and the Far East. This is explained by Nitzan Nir, owner of the company.

Asaf Nir and Nitzan Nir. Asaf is holding VerticordiaXChamelaucium called Rey and Nitzan a bouquet of "Vega" cut-flower branches.

Popularity of Wax flowers
Wax flowers are being produced all over the world. Nir Nursery supplies local growers in Israel, but mainly exports their wax flower varieties to growers in South Africa, South America, Mexico and Southern Europe. The flowers that are cultivated in these countries are distributed worldwide afterwards. Important destinations are Europe, United States and Asia. According to Nitzan, in all these areas the volumes and prices are increasing. "When looking at the Dutch auction statistics of Wax flowers, for example, volumes increased from 26 million stems in 2015 to 30 million in 2016 and 23 million stems were already sold this year and by the end of the year, this volume is expected to reach a higher level than in 2016. Also the average prices per stem increased from 23.5 euro cents per stem in 2016 to 27 euro cents in 2016 to 27.5 euro cents till now." And according to Nir, a similar trend can be noticed in the US.

Market for wax pot plants?
But will there be a market for wax flower pot plants in North America and the Far East too? According to Nir, there will be. "At the IPM Essen, that was held in January this year in Germany, people from these countries were even asking for the wax pot plants", says Nir. According to him, in North America and the Far East, not many wax plants are being sold as phytosanitary regulations are strict, shipping costs from the producing countries are often too high and almost none are being grown within the nation. "For this reason, we are now trying to build up a market in these areas where we are looking for growers that are interested in cultivating this crop. And next to supplying the young plants, we will also assist them during the production of it. I have high hopes for this crop."

Jupiter. As cut flower on the left and as pot plant on the right.

Novelties
Even though, Nir Nursery is busy with developing new markets for their wax pot plants, their priority remains breeding new wax and other flower and pot varieties, which they have been doing for over 30 years now. The Jupiter and Color Wax, for example, are two wax flower lines that they launched recently. "Jupiter is known for its early flowering habit, large and volumes terminal flowers and the Color Wax for its colorful branches. This latter one is a totally new product", says Nir. Both lines are available as cut flower and pot plant.

Another novelty of Nir Nursery, which is not a wax flower but is a pot plant, is the "Chris-Tal" Adenanthos variety. "This is also a new product designed for pot plant, and especially as a Christmas tree. It was already available in Italy this year and at the IPM show we've invited visitors to touch the "Chris Tal" and see how soft it is to the touch, unlike the traditional Christmas tree."

For more informat

ion
Nir Nursery
Nitzan Nir
Email: info@nir.co.il
www.nir.co.il