tropical plants? (growing, palms, ficus, Hibiscus)

[godservant]

Hi,

I have recently started a very small nursery at home, i live in the Caribbean.

would anyone care to share what plants are popular to grow, that would be most beneficial?

what tropical plants are popular in the states because we usually follow all of your trends..

thanks in advance to anyone who cares to share.

[azoria]

Popular tropicals that I can think of in the US include,

The millions of varieties of tropical hibiscus
Plumeria
mandevilla vine
New Guinea impatients
various decorative palms
Bougainvilleas
Bird of Paradise

+ more that don't spring to mind at the moment.

[godservant]

Originally Posted by azoria

Popular tropicals that I can think of in the US include,

The millions of varieties of tropical hibiscus
Plumeria
mandevilla vine
New Guinea impatients
various decorative palms
Bougainvilleas
Bird of Paradise

+ more that don't spring to mind at the moment.

Thanks so much for sharing.

[tilli]

Your biggest market will probably be the houseplant trade as few areas in the US can grow tropicals outdoors. So you'd want to choose stuff that tolerates low light and humidity. Typically this means plants like Schefflera, Ficus, some bromeliads like Vriseas and Guzmania types, ZZ plant, Sansevieria, Hoyas, orchids, Rhapis palms, that sort of thing.

[godservant]

Originally Posted by tilli

Your biggest market will probably be the houseplant trade as few areas in the US can grow tropicals outdoors. So you'd want to choose stuff that tolerates low light and humidity. Typically this means plants like Schefflera, Ficus, some bromeliads like Vriseas and Guzmania types, ZZ plant, Sansevieria, Hoyas, orchids, Rhapis palms, that sort of thing.

thanks.. much appreciated

[kinkytoes]

Here's a link to a gardening blog w/ a lot of useful information. The owner has a gorgeous garden in Barbados and has installed other gardens on the island: my rustic bajan garden

[hotzcatz]

If you have just a small greenhouse and are hoping to grow some sort of plants for money, then you may want to target the higher value plants such as the more exotic orchids which can be sold for more than a mere dracenia. Or plants that produce something, such as vanilla beans. How about saffron? That's an expensive enough product, although it might take more room than a greenhouse to grow enough of it to harvest.

[katnip kid]

Orchids are growing in popularity here. Fragrant ones are very nice but most of what is sold here are not fragrant.

Saffron is a plant from a temperate climate, and I believe needs winter cold temps. I don't think it would work for a grower in the Caribbean.