Succulent farming helps a young man returning home open up a new path to prosperity

Loach breeding bases, Legend Manor, Zhouquan Fruit Art Garden... In recent years, with the strong support of the Baiquan town government, various youthentrepreneurship projectshave been springing up like bamboo shoots after rain in Baiquan town. Among the manyentrepreneurship projects, the "Window Succulent Base" located in Jinshan village, Baiquan town, has recently been especially popular.

Entering the base's greenhouse, one sees succulent plants of peculiar shapes and rich colors placed everywhere on flower stands, in flower beds, and on platforms, as if it were a miniature botanical garden. The owner here is 31-year-old local young man Jiang Wubin. After graduating from university, Jiang Wubin decided to start his own business. He ran a fruit shop and also operated a flower shop. In the second half of 2013, cute-shaped succulents suddenly became popular online. Sensing a business opportunity, he decisively contracted more than 1 mu of land in Ma'ao subdistrict and established a succulent planting base, but this was still quite difficult for a young man with no planting experience at all. "At first I didn't fully understand the growing methods, and the succulents I cultivated grew poorly and had poor color. Moreover, the succulent varieties were limited, the base was in a remote location, not many people came to buy, and sales channels were not broad." Jiang Wubin said that at that time the base's average monthly turnover was only more than 2,000 yuan, and it was in a state of loss for a long time. Faced with this situation, Jiang Wubin did not give up. Instead, the more setbacks he suffered, the braver he became. He worked hard to think of countermeasures and actively changed his approach.

In the first half of last year, Jiang Wubin returned to Jinshan village and contracted 5 mu of wasteland upstream of the Jinshan Reservoir to start growing succulents again. On the one hand, he worked even harder to explore cultivation techniques, going many times to Shandong, Fujian, Shanghai and other places to learn cultivation skills, and whenever he had free time he browsed major succulent forums to learn and exchange experience with netizens. On the other hand, he changed his approach and decided to no longer "focus on" retail but instead do succulent wholesale, and tried to open up markets through online channels such as WeChat and QQ. Facts also proved that Jiang Wubin fought a beautiful "turnaround battle." This new base has high terrain, a large temperature difference between day and night, and ample sunlight, making it suitable for succulent growth. Coupled with improved cultivation techniques, the succulents in the base grew quite pleasingly and were deeply loved by succulent enthusiasts. Today, the base has nearly 300 species and more than 5,000 succulent plants, as well as more than 100,000 leaf-cutting seedlings, among which there is no lack of rare varieties. "For varieties such as Wild Baron, Blister, and Original Ebony, those on the market now are basically hybrids, while ours are introduced as original species from South Korea, Europe and other places." According to Jiang Wubin, these rare succulents can sell for as much as 7,000 yuan to 8,000 yuan per pot, and at the cheapest around 500 yuan per pot.

As its fame grows, the base's average monthly turnover can reach 30,000 yuan. Next, Jiang Wubin plans to expand the base's scale so that succulent plants can enter more people's homes and lives.