SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — The rapidly increasing price of vegetables caused by sweltering summer heat and the monsoon season is prompting many South Koreans to grow vegetables themselves in a small garden or a flower pot.
Online shopping mall Gmarket reported a 41-percent increase in seed and seedling sales between July 4 and August 3, among which seed sales for green onion (77 percent), spring onion (420 percent), lettuce (42 percent) and cabbage (13 percent) saw a significant boost.
Sales of miniature flower pots grew by 35 percent, shovels and hoes by 13 percent, pruning scissors by 21 percent, plant supplements and fertilizers by 8 percent and plant support props by 14 percent.
Sales of home gardening tools jumped by 183 percent, as well as automatic cultivators (650 percent) that use LED lights to easily grow plants at home, and hydroponics cultivators (60 percent).
“Plant cultivators with LED timers and noiseless ventilation systems that are comparatively more expensive are selling better,” an industry official said.
Image Credit: Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
