An employee cares for cactus plants at Myepadaytha Kyun nursery in Yangon’s Kandawgyi Park.

INDOOR plants like bonsai and cactus have become popular as gifts and for brightening up home interiors, said staff at Yangon nurseries.

“People, especially the younger generations, like cactus plants because they don’t require a lot of care. Younger people especially often forget to water their plants, so they buy a cactus,” said a salesperson at Myepadaytha Kyun nursery in Kandawgyi Park in Yangon.

The owner of the Nan Thit Sar nursery, Daw Khin Theingi Htun, said indoor plants like cactus and bonsai were popular with students to give as gifts or put on their desks.

“I’ve sold many cactus plants this year – it has been very popular with customers. People are now much more interested in all kinds of indoor plants because they can keep something beautiful in their living room and it doesn’t cost too much,” she said.

Besides cacti and bonsai, another popular indoor plant at her nursery is the Chinese rose bush, which sells for about K3500.

She said lucky Taiwan plants, which cost about K5000, were well-liked by businesspeople, as they believe they bring good luck. Another high-selling plant is the heart-shaped hoya, which can be bought for as little as K1500.

Daw Nay Chi, the owner of the Malar nursery, agreed that bonsai and cactus plants were the most popular varieties of indoor plant in Yangon.

“Five years ago cactus plants were not as popular as they are today. Now that we’ve got cactus coming in from Taiwan and Thailand in many different sizes and colours, they’ve really taken off,” she said, adding that cacti range in price from K2500 to K10,000 for more exotic varieties.

“A cactus doesn’t need much care. They are not a fragile plant; all they need is a sprinkle of water about every 15 days and then to be put in the sunshine for a while,” she said.

She said other indoor plants can have more specific needs and customers should be aware of this.

“People buy indoor plants from our shop that are fresh and blooming but when they take the plants home they eventually wither and die. They think we’re scamming them,” she said. “Customers should know the needs of the plants before they buy them. If they don’t know, they should ask the salesperson.”

“We always tell the customer how to care for the different plants. The most common mistakes are watering too much or often, or neglecting them. Both of these will kill them,” she said.