Trends come and go, but everything related to sustainability can count on growing worldwide awareness. In this sense, the green houseplant, not only as a decoration item but also as an 'air purifier' and improves physical and mental well-being, has a future.
That this awareness is alive is evident. Not only have sales been on the rise in the last few years, but also on the promotional side a lot of buzz is being generated for the green plant, such as by the Flower Council Holland, which has, for this month, declared the Dracanea as 'houseplant of the month'. This, of course, is entirely to the wishes of the producers, such as Phalaenopsis and Dracaena nursery Piet Vijverberg.
"We already have been producing this plant for 30 years," says Alex Duindam, "and we are one of the large cultivators of the Dracaena. We have an exclusive Dracaena fragrans assortment with the varieties Golden Coast, Yellow Coast, Mass Coast and the green Steudneri. They are cultivated in various combinations, in several pot sizes and year-round."
He sees two explanations for the current positive market developments in the green segment. The first is that of the fashion phenomenon: "You can make a cool statement with it by bringing one in the house. Dracaenas, and certainly our varieties with their exciting leaf drawings, are completely at home in the current 'Urban Jungle' trend. "Secondly, he points to the air purifying aspect of the plant. "The Dracaena is a powerful air purifier, and also an easy plant to take care of. It just needs a little water and is actually highly resistant."
Cultivation
The Dracaenas of Piet Vijverberg, and also of most other growers, are initially grown in Costa Rica. As wooden trunks it’s delivered in crates to us, then the trunks are sawn and potted. After this they grow into a deliverable plant. In his own words, not only is there a drive towards sustainability in the Dutch greenhouse, but certainly also on the plantations in Costa Rica. "On the large plantations there, the dracaena converts a lot of CO2 into O2, a nice contribution to a better world over there. It is of course also important that everything there is fair and done properly, and we check that with regular visits."
Vakantiebeurs Holiday Expo
Promotion for the plants is not only left to the Flower Agency. "To tell this story and to promote horticulture and plants, we, together with other horticulture entrepreneurs and Edventure Travel, took part in the Vakantiebeurs with our Dracaena and Phalaenopsis", says Alex Duindam. "We have the webshop Het Beste van de Kweker, where customers can order plants online and have them delivered straight from the nursery. In this way we have a direct connection with the end customer, we can also collect other useful information in addition to sales. Meanwhile, other growers are connected to our web shop and we want to expand this in the future. We were at the Vakantiebeurs to tell this story. Het Beste van de Kweker has the travel industry as its customer and the exhibition is also visited by very many people. And these are all potential customers! "
For more information:
Kwekerij Piet VijverbergAlex Duindam
M: +31(0)6 4335 9094