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| Begonia 'Painted Lizard' -- Million Dollar Plant |
How to go from Figurately to Literally?
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I talk about the Million Dollar Plants that are in the
future. This interests me and is fun to
speculate.
Of course, nobody knows the potential of a new plant. Who knew that the Chinese Money Plant ---
Pilea Peperomiodes, would zoom up. The species
had been around for years, and nobody noticed.
A Canadian grower sensed a demand was showing up in Europe, took a
chance and grew thousands for the North American market. He guessed right and caught the demand going
up.
We are still growing Chinese Money Plants and sell hundreds
every week. It has been a Million Dollar
Plant, if you add up all who have benefited from it.
I want Begonia ‘Painted Lizard’ to be my Million Dollar Plant. How can that possibly happen?
A new hybrid (malachosticta X amphioxus), there are less than
50 plants in the World. If we could sell
them for $6.00, we would need 166,666 pots per year. If we could get 4 cuttings per stock plant,
we need 41,666 stock plants to cut from.
If we could get two crops per year, we would only need 20,333 stock
plants. See the supply problem?
Going the other direction, who will buy the 166,666 pots @
$6.00? That could be easy, given the current
high demand for houseplants, especially a new one.
Can you literally make a million dollars with a new plant?
Yes, but there is a lot of work and luck in between. |
