Wanna usher in Christmas cheer with poinsettia? High demand and price might change your plans

Poinsettia plants are in huge demand in the Christmas month, and are priced higher this year amid Covid-19 pandemic.

Poinsettia is the highlight of winter! The lovely red leaves bring cheer on faces as Xmas celebrations kick in. And this year, the demand of these plants has seen an unusual rise amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Residents of Delhi-NCR are scouting nurseries to buy poinsettias, the favourite plant in December ahead of Christmas. The high demand in early December has lead to an increase in the price of the plant this year. (Photo:Shutterstock)

“December has just begun and the sale for poinsettias have picked up like anything,” says Dinesh from Monika Nursery, MG Road. And Vasim Khan, from Gurugram-based Bhawna Nursery adds, “The sale of poinsettias has been good at 100 pieces per day. Air-purifying plants ki itni nahin hai sale abhi jitni iski hai. Last year I would have sold about 70 of them per day. Par is baar Diwali ke kuch din baad sale ekdum badi, jaise abhi hi Christmas aa gaya ho... Is plant ko phool ki zaroorat nahi. Iska patta hi phool jaisa hai.”

Since the demand is high, price is on the higher side, too. So be prepared to shell out more, if you are heading out to buy one for yourself. Aalam, from Gurugram’s New Friends Nursery, says, “Logon ka interest zyada rehta hai isme. So we have put on offer a two plant set priced at ₹900, with a planter,” he says. And denizens say that this is quite high! Shravani Chaudhary, an IT professional, says, “Poinsettias bring so much cheer. I just love them! Last year I bought 12 of them for ₹250 each, but this year since they are so expensive, I’ve bought only five of them this time.”

Sunita Malhotra, a homemaker, who buys poinsettias every year in winter, says, “Every year I buy this plant in October and it lasts till May. Normally the nurseries would start selling them at ₹300, but soon come down to ₹250. But it’s certainly more expensive this time. The sellers are saying that the procurement price is higher because of pandemic, and hence the price rise. And almost everyone is adamant at nothing less than ₹300.”

Unhappy with the increased price, Preeti Thakur, a Delhi-based flight cabin crew member and plant lover, says, “We didn’t buy plants throughout lockdown. So now when we went out to buy things to decorate our house, we picked up poinsettias like usual and then the sellers said nothing less than ₹300 per plant, and I left them right there. It’s too much a price. I would have bought had he negotiated the price.”

“Iss saal peeche se hi paudha mehenga aa rah hai. Pune se aata hai yeh. Wahan bhi nahin hai maal. I bought around 50 plants thinking pata nahin mehenga hai itna to log ab khareedenge ya bhi nahi. Rate hai fixed hai,” says Israr, from Gurugram’s Evergreen Nursery, and Sohan Lal from Kusum Nursery in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj says, “Sale achchi hai is saal. Stock khatam ho raha hain, aur mangwana hai. This year it’s priced somewhere at ₹300-350 whereas last year it was ₹250 or even lesser owing to the bargaining skills. Iss saal Pune mein baarish bhi to hui hai. Paudhe kharab hue the isliye bhi rate bada hai.”

Author tweets @Nainaarora8

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