--- title: Houseplants get pricey as our love for them grows - The Hustle description: Plant lovers’ spending is up — sometimes with unbelievable price points. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/453501316-final_size-womanwithhouseplants_20230507224553.webp --- # Houseplants get pricey as our love for them grows ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: May 08, 2023 Updated: October 11, 2023 In 2021, a white variegated *Rhaphidophora tetrasperma* auctioned for [~$19.2k](https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/13/asia/new-zealand-houseplant-trademe-auction-trnd/index.html) in New Zealand. And here I thought my $25 lemon-lime prayer plant was a splurge. ![houseplants](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/453501316-final_size-womanwithhouseplants_20230507224553.webp?width=595&height=400&name=453501316-final_size-womanwithhouseplants_20230507224553.webp) [Per](https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2023/05/02/rare-unusual-houseplant-collectors/) *The Washington Post, *purveyors of rare foliage drop big bucks and engage in bidding wars for the most coveted plants, but — unlike the biblical baby that revealed Solomon’s wisdom — they *can* be split in half. In fact, one collector has turned propagation into a side hustle, selling her replantable clippings on Etsy. Yet even more common plants have shot up in price as demand has increased. #### **Houseplants surged in popularity…** … amid the pandemic, as people stuck mostly inside craved nature and new hobbies. In 2020, sales for potted foliage increased 23%, [per](https://www.businessinsider.com/houseplant-industry-americans-billions-die-2022-3) *Business Insider*, and in 2021, the plant-growing industry was worth $16B. Why do plants have such staying power? Some say it’s because we’re, well, sad. - Younger plant parents — locked out of homeownership — love house plants because they [can’t have yards.](https://houseplantresourcecenter.com/2020/01/the-plant-crazy-generation-why-millennials-are-leading-the-houseplant-trend/#:~:text=With%20skyrocketing%20home%20prices%2C%20student,of%20nature%20all%20to%20yourself!) - An essay in *The Atlantic* [pondered](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/04/dark-side-houseplant-boom-nature-empathy/618638/) if plant collecting was a manifestation of eco-grief on a dying plant. Another in *The Independent* [chalked it up](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/millennials-houseplants-children-kids-money-families-succulent-cactus-bonsai-how-to-dying-a7937021.html) to career instability and delayed parenthood (of human children, not succulents). #### **Less grim?** Social media, where #planttok has 4.5B views and particularly winsome plants — like the philodendron pink princess — can become instant sensations. The same is true of seasonal plants; in 2021, pumpkin farmer [Mark Craven](https://thehustle.co/the-economics-of-pumpkin-patches/) told *The Hustle* that the Pinterests and Martha Stewarts of the world influence which varieties are hot every Halloween. **Fun fact: **One of the most expensive plants is the bonsai tree, which can endure for centuries with proper maintenance. At a 2011 convention in Japan, a stunning white pine tree sold for [~$1.3m](https://bonsaitonight.com/2011/11/25/million-dollar-bonsai/). Topics: [Agriculture](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/agriculture) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![Kinda gross, but kinda cool? A startup that tells synthetic fertilizers to piss off](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/2036425542-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-peeplants_20230918220827.webp) ### Kinda gross, but kinda cool? A startup that tells synthetic fertilizers to piss off - ![A summer without peaches sucks, but the Peach State has a lot more going for it](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/93167076-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-georgia_20230827235223.webp) ### A summer without peaches sucks, but the Peach State has a lot more going for it - ![Are your pigs overheating? There’s an app for that](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/813878361-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-hothog_20230717231026.webp) ### Are your pigs overheating? There’s an app for that - ![Orange you glad you’re not in the orange industry right now?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1392117126-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Oranges_20230625234034.webp) ### Orange you glad you’re not in the orange industry right now? - ![It’s looking like a bull market for… the bull market](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/931915082-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2012202023Rodeo.webp) ### It’s looking like a bull market for… the bull market - ![Why pull weeds when you can zap them with AI-powered lasers?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1386371261-19-News-Brief_2023-04-12T220908.995Z.webp) ### Why pull weeds when you can zap them with AI-powered lasers? - ![John Deere vs. farmers, explained](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/414897183-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-15T233322.377Z.webp) ### John Deere vs. farmers, explained - ![Why are eggs so expensive?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1119149331-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-29T001006.230Z-1024x683.webp) ### Why are eggs so expensive? - ![What the heck is happening with fertilizer?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1905979942-HS-News-Brief_2022-05-03T012858.857Z.webp) ### What the heck is happening with fertilizer? - ![3 eggcellent cash flow opportunities](https://media.hubspot.com/hubfs/Imported%20images/TheHustle+HubSpot_Lockup.svg) ### 3 eggcellent cash flow opportunities Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "datePublished" : "2023-05-08T23:06:15.000Z", "headline" : "Houseplants get pricey as our love for them grows", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/453501316-final_size-womanwithhouseplants_20230507224553.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/houseplants-get-pricey-as-our-love-for-them-grows", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T19:24:30+0000", "datePublished" : "2023-05-08T23:06:15+0000", "headline" : "Houseplants get pricey as our love for them grows", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/453501316-final_size-womanwithhouseplants_20230507224553.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```