Rainforest vats, the next hot spot in the home gardening market?

In recent years, with the flower industry gradually turning to the home horticulture market, more and more flower products suitable for entering the family continue to emerge, from the combination of potted plants, green walls to micro-landscape, the momentum of star products is surging one after another. Around 2013, rainforest vats began to appear in China, and after several years of laying the groundwork in the market, they began to enter the vision of flower operators and consumers.

The rainforest tank evolved from the sea water tank and the water plant tank, and has the innate conditions to enter the family. It combines aquatic plants, flowers, animals and other elements together. It has led to the development of some small species of flowers, such as stagnant pineapple, air pineapple, insectivorous plants, epiphytic orchids, moss, etc., enriching the application form of potted flowers and being loved by young people.

Rise-Forum fever drives "rainforest fever"

Rain jar, Baidu encyclopedia defines it as "tropical rain forest bed, forest and even forest top plants as the main scene, with dead wood, stones, vines, etc., to create a corner of the jungle, or water jungle scenery." In order to reflect the vividness of landscaping, tiny animals such as insects, lizards and frogs are also raised, but there are also examples of purely plant landscapes and animal models. " However, landscaping alone is only an appearance, and behind it is the ecosystem that can support these plants and animals, including light, temperature, humidity, ventilation and microorganisms, showing the tropical rainforest ecosystem as a whole, that is, the so-called rainforest landscaping.

When it comes to rainforest vats, we have to mention the micro rainforest forum. Four years ago, the forum was established by enthusiasts and took the lead in putting forward the concept of "ecological landscape of tropical rainforest". At present, the forum has registered about 50,000 people, and two micro-rainforest landscaping competitions have been successfully held.

Most parts of China are located in the temperate zone, and the flowers are common plants in the temperate zone, but the tropics are the base of plants, there are many beautiful plants, and there is no relevant equipment and experience in China, so they cannot be fed. Later, senior players of the Micro Rainforest Forum began to introduce some simple devices and concepts, inspired by the way "plant hunters" transported plants during the Great Navigation era of the British Empire. At that time, the goal was to feed tropical plants in temperate regions, and it was later found that the tropical amorous feelings brought by these plants were unmatched by other landscaping. "in addition, water plant landscaping has also developed rapidly during this period. Rainforest landscaping has accepted some concepts and methods of aquatic plant landscaping, from simple feeding plants to indoor plant landscaping." Shen Qi, chief moderator of the forum (net name Su Pu), introduced the development process of tropical rain forest landscape. Previously, landscaping was divided into sea water landscaping and aquatic plant landscaping. After the rainforest tank appeared, tropical rainforest landscaping became the third largest category of landscaping. As a landscape that can enjoy "flowers", it formed a tripod with the former two.

Beijing Yueshang Natural and Ecological Landscape Museum is mainly engaged in customized rain forest tanks, water grass tanks, ecological green walls, micro-landscape and other businesses. Its director Luo Jingxue (net name Pu Lan) is one of the founders of China Landscape Architects Union. The alliance is formed spontaneously by China's top landscape architects, focusing on the dissemination and promotion of water plant landscape culture, and its members have won many awards in the world waterscape competition. Together with other members, Luo Jingxue has undertaken the landscape renovation project of the Beijing Aquarium and the China Open Tennis Championships. Luo Jingxue, who is familiar with all kinds of landscaping, believes that compared with sea water tanks and water grass tanks, rainforest tanks have more advantages: sea water tanks are the most difficult to maintain in the later stage, followed by water grass tanks, and the simplest one is rainforest tanks. because its spray, lighting, ventilation and other systems are automatic, the operation is relatively simple. At the same time, the rainforest tank contains plants and animals in the water, land and air space, making the landscape more abundant. In addition, the rainforest tank can release oxygen, purify the air and increase air humidity. "if the tropical rainforest is the 'lung of the earth', then the rainforest tank placed at home can be said to be the 'lung of the family'." Luo Jing's theory.

At present, rainforest cylinders are mostly customized according to customer requirements, including table-top products, large-scale products that can cover the whole wall, and can be combined with some furniture. according to plant species and cylinder size, the cost ranges from several thousand yuan to hundreds of thousands of yuan. "there is a lot of space for the extension of the rainforest tank landscape, which can be an inch of land or infinitely enlarged. In addition, the rainforest tank does not have high requirements for the general environment, even in desert areas, as long as the environment in the tank meets the requirements, those rainforest plants can still grow well. " Luo Jing's theory.

Late maintenance is the characteristic of rainforest landscape. Shen Qi and his friend ziv_yao (net name) set up the Pandora Planet Landscape Studio, which has undertaken many projects. If customers are tired of watching a scene for a long time, they can also change some plants in a small range to maintain their freshness. According to the cylinder size and customer requirements, the general maintenance frequency is once a month or two.

Development-pay attention to high and usher in rapid growth

It is precisely because the rainforest tank has the above advantages, so the market attention is very high in the past two years, and it has developed rapidly. Luo Jingxue lamented the rapid development of the rain forest tank in the past two years.

In this regard, Shen Qi has the same feeling: "at first, rainforest tanks mainly appeared in first-and second-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, but now there are more and more studios in other cities." and many people have changed from players to full-time. "

According to the statistics of the Micro Rainforest Forum, 25% of the people working in the rainforest tank have changed from water plant players to 10% of those engaged in the flower industry and 20% of reptile players. In terms of age, most people are between 30 and 40 years old, with higher education and income, followed by 20 to 30 years old, and fewer people over 40 years old.

With the rise and development of rainforest vats, the rainforest plant market is also enriching and growing. in addition to commonly used ferns and moss, varieties such as stagnant pineapples, air pineapples, insectivorous plants, epiphytic orchids, climbing vines, and borage moss are also gradually coming into public view, and some varieties will be caught fire from time to time. For example, the "black pineapple", which became popular on the Internet in 2015, is a kind of pineapple.

NealCaffrey's Taobao store, Qiqi Private Garden, currently imports only pure rainforest plants, with annual sales of more than 1 million yuan. Imports are close to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, as far away as the United States and New Zealand. "I opened a Taobao store in 2012, when there were few rainforest plants and the price was relatively high. Now the prices of some varieties are more friendly to the people and can be accepted by the public more quickly. " The shopkeeper NealCaffrey said.

Zhou Yulai, a post-90s man, was the first to introduce rainforest plants to the Beijing flower market, opening a shop in Beijing's Sihuan Flower and Tree Center in early 2015, selling pineapples, air pineapples, insectivorous plants and other products. In May 2016, he took the rainforest tank to the exhibition at the China International Flower and Horticulture Expo, which was the first time that the rainforest tank had appeared in a professional flower exhibition. It can be said that Zhou Yulai witnessed the rise and development of the rainforest market.

"when we first made rainforest plants, many people didn't recognize them, and we needed to give consumers these novel varieties of science over and over again. Now that there are more information about rainforest plants on the Internet, consumers have a more comprehensive understanding of the products, and more people are beginning to express excitedly that there is such a small shop specializing in rainforest plants in Beijing. " Zhou Yu said. However, he believes that compared with the traditional flower industry, rainforest plants are limited by the objective conditions such as the diversification of their varieties, the narrowness and specialization of consumer groups, and so on. In the short term, it is only a very small branch of the whole flower industry. It needs a process of growth and precipitation. In 2017, in order to provide more and better quality rainforest plants, Zhou Yulai invested thousands of square meters of modern greenhouse in Panggezhuang Town, Daxing District, Beijing, to produce high-quality rainforest plants, and opened Taobao store "companion garden" at the same time. Sell plants and materials related to rainforest tanks.

As fast as rainforest plants are, there is equipment. "when I first started working as a rainforest cylinder, the outer cylinder was transformed from other types of landscape cylinders, such as transforming a reptile cylinder into a rainforest cylinder, and some of the glass was not very thick. In addition, the spray, lighting equipment is not professional, sometimes the fan is removed from the computer chassis. " Luo Jing's theory. Now, seeing the market demand, some manufacturers have begun to produce equipment specifically for rainforest cylinders, such as the famous domestic "Little Pet" equipment design and manufacturing brand "New Pet". After seeing the market prospect of rainforest landscaping two years ago, the head of the company launched a series of professional rainforest ecological products, and prepared to take rainforest ecological landscaping as a key development section of the company.

Problem-three thresholds make it difficult to promote

At present, the domestic rainforest tank market is still in the primary stage of development, and it is expected to take two to three years or more to be known by the mass market. At present, some problems in this market have more or less hindered its development.

First of all, the high cost of rainforest tanks has deterred some ordinary consumers. "take a 60 cm × 45 cm × 60 cm standard cylinder, for example, the overall cost of the hardware facilities is thousands of yuan, not counting the plants inside, so many consumers are very cautious, especially some middle-aged and elderly consumers. Reluctant to sell for thousands of prices." Wulin (Wang Minglin), who is building the "Chengyuan Ecological Landscape" design experience center in Chengde unexpectedly home, said. In addition, the installation of rainforest cylinders has certain space requirements, which also sets a threshold for consumers.

Secondly, the quality of employees is mixed. "now some businesses are so unprofessional that they don't even understand the most basic knowledge of plants and animals. They just come in when they see money, and there is often misuse of plants and animals." One practitioner said angrily. Generally speaking, if maintained regularly, a tropical rainforest landscape can last for several years, while some practitioners only look good when making the landscape, regardless of whether the plants are dead or alive, the landscape can only last for a few days. This kind of "flower arrangement" misleads consumers' understanding of the rainforest tank.

Thirdly, the norms of rainforest landscaping industry need to be improved, and the equipment is not complete. In terms of software, there are no specifications for which animals and plants should be selected, their planting location or feeding conditions, and how to maintain them; in terms of hardware equipment, there are no specifications and standards for cylinder height, sprinkler facilities and light replenishment system. "many people are greedy for bargains and use the lights of aquatic plants to keep the rain vats, but because the rainforest vats are high, and terrestrial plants have a much higher demand for light than aquatic plants, rainforest plants that use inferior lamps will fade, grow too much, turn yellow, and even die." Shen Qi said, "therefore, I have been advocating the marketization of rainforest equipment and published articles at the Micro Rainforest Forum to discuss the spray used in rainforest tanks, the specifications of lighting systems, technical parameters, and so on. I just hope that rainforest equipment can be more standardized and professional."

Shen Qi believes that at present, the rainforest landscaping industry is still in a small stage, practitioners are not United enough, and they have not yet reached the stage of "everyone gathering firewood." it is very difficult to attract capital. In addition, at present, few people pay attention to rainforest landscape, mainly rely on the forum, Wechat moments, QQ group word of mouth, lack of publicity channels.

Luo Jingxue believes that this year and next year will be the outbreak period of the rainforest cylinder market, and the year after next will enter the elimination period. After all, the rainforest tank looks easy to get started, but it's not easy to do it well. Only after the market test, high-quality merchants can stay, and the market will usher in a healthy development.