What will the future of succulents look like? Gardening experts discuss the development prospects of succulents in China

Succulent producers should not blindly pursue quantity, but should work hard on product quality and, according to market demand, produce high-quality products, while distributors create highly personalized goods rather than being swayed by market fluctuations. In the future, the development of succulent plant growing enterprises will depend on standardized, industrialized production and operation, and at the same time they must rely on their own superior varieties to win the market.

1. Scale: annual production capacity in main production areas is 50 million pots, with 41,609 Taobao stores

"The internet is the biggest driver behind the popularity of succulents," Wu Fanglin first used online data to reflect the heat of the succulent market: entering "succulent plants" returns more than 568,000 search results; on Baidu Tieba there is a succulents forum with 450,000 followers and a cumulative total of more than 11.3 million posts.

At present, the number of stores selling succulent plants on Taobao has reached 41,609 (2,700 in August 2013), many of which are newly entered stores. The number of succulent plant products on Taobao has gone from more than 10,000 three years ago to 533,800 at present. Among them, there are 17,219 stores selling various succulent plant soils alone, and 11,402 merchants selling succulent planting pots and containers.

"By a conservative estimate, China's current main succulent production areas cover 8,000 mu (excluding cacti), and they are still continuously expanding." Wu Fanglin introduced that succulents currently have an annual production capacity of 50 million pots, annual market demand of 100 million pots, and annual output value of 500 million yuan. It is expected that by 2018, market demand will reach 500 million pots, the contradiction between supply and demand will be prominent, and succulents will be in short supply.

2. Production areas: large-scale production in Fujian and Guangdong; rich varieties in Shanghai, Beijing and Shandong

Wu Fanglin introduced that at present, domestic succulent production areas are mainly concentrated in Fujian, Guangdong, Shanghai, Shandong, Beijing, Tianjin and other places. Some make popular products, mainly based on mass production; others focus on high-end products and take the boutique route.

Fujian and Guangdong often carry out commercialized, large-scale production, with cactus plants dominating their products; producers in Shanghai, Beijing, Shandong and other places often have small planting scales, but rich varieties, and the atmosphere among succulent enthusiasts is strong, with an active market.

3. Six major problems in China's domestic succulent plant industry

1. Producers with money and bases do not understand succulent plants

Most producers of a certain scale are traditional flower enterprises such as Phalaenopsis and Anthurium that have transformed, and have been in the industry for no more than three years, with a relatively shallow understanding of succulent plants. Some growers who have been in the industry for more than three years and have experienced the trough of China's succulent market have large scale and ample experience, but pay little attention to product quality.

2. Young people who understand succulents lack the funds to compete with large players. A small number have transformed from enthusiasts into producers, but due to funds and various other reasons, few practitioners have reached a certain scale. Although they are familiar with succulent plant varieties, they lack market operation experience.

3. The quality and quantity of imported products are both severely affected, and the contradiction between market supply and demand is prominent. Since September 2014, in Zhengzhou, Henan Province alone, more than 3,000 succulent plants from South Korea and Italy have been intercepted in succession. So far, only one or two enterprises have approval documents to import succulents from South Korea.

4. At present, many domestic succulent producers had no planting experience before entering the industry, and the varieties they plant are mostly market-oriented: whatever varieties sell well in the market, they plant. Moreover, they mainly rely on introduced varieties that are acclimatized and then propagated on their own. Therefore, varieties are similar and quality is uneven.

5. Succulent plants have a relatively long growth cycle, and most varieties also go dormant in summer or winter. Spring and autumn are both peak production seasons and peak sales seasons. Some people blindly enter the industry without arranging production properly, miss the peak sales season, and coupled with unskilled techniques, end up losing everything.

6. At present, China's domestic scientific research in the field of succulent plants is still at a preliminary stage. In recent years, some botanical gardens and succulent operators in Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Xiamen, Tianjin and other places have begun research on crossbreeding and tissue culture, and the task is heavy and the road is long. It is hoped that in the near future, we can have our own succulent products on the market.

Suggestion: standardized, industrialized production, and winning the market with superior varieties

Wu Fanglin suggested that in the future, the development of succulent plant growing enterprises will depend on standardized, industrialized production and operation, and at the same time they must rely on their own superior varieties to win the market.

Therefore, it is hoped that succulent producers will not blindly pursue quantity, but will work hard on product quality and, according to market demand, produce high-quality products, while distributors create highly personalized goods rather than being swayed by market fluctuations. Because although succulent plants are a "small-cap stock," China's market is huge; it can be said to be larger than all practitioners can imagine.