CHENNAI: The love and demand for succulents and slow-growing plants are on the rise in the city. With open spaces shrinking, residents are opting to grow indoor plants that are easy to groom and maintain in this fast-paced city lifestyle.
The succulents are characterised by their fleshy leaves and they can survive the heat without much effort put in. They are the kind of plants that are found in scorching hot deserts. They need very less watering and are also available in a number of sizes. This allows people to choose between the various kinds to add more aesthetic value to the home décor.
Shapes and Sizes
These plants come in different shapes and sizes and are priced accordingly by the various nurseries that sell them. Murugan, a nursery planter from Virugambakkam says, We have succulents that range from Rs 50 to Rs 1000 and more also. In the past few years, the demand for these varieties has shot through the roof. Customers find them cute and want to own for aesthetic reasons.
Lola is a favourite succulent among the millennial crowd. It has a light purple colour and is a perfectly shaped rosette. Since the plant itself looks like a mini flower it draws a lot of attention. Snake Plant is yet another common indoor grown succulent and is the perfect one for beginners. It thrives on neglect and does well in low-light. The plant has wide leaves that grow pointy towards the top. The Ripple Jade or the Curly Jade is a common choice for filling in space between other succulents in an arrangement.
Instagrammable content
Instagram is arguably the most influential venue for popularising aesthetic trends. That being said, the social media platform has been filled with pages and photographs of succulent walls, succulent gardens,and succulent décor on furniture. The compact, indoor plants are the modern day equivalent of having a pet for millenials. There has been a raise in the hashtags like #plantparenthood, #succulove and so on.
Nivedha Varadharajan, a plant lover and an active instagram user says, The sudden spike in their demand is mainly because of these youtube home décor videos and pinterest inspirations. They add so much to the aesthetics and moreover they are easy to maintain. Generally plants are hard to maintain and are mostly grown outdoors, but these dont need much attention and can be cut and regrown to form a new succulent.
The craze for these plants are ever so on the high that some places in the United States have been witnessing illegal black market activities surrounding succulents. With everything being said, these indoor plants have been adding to the very little greenery that urban spaces can offer.
(Inputs by SADAKSHI K R)