# Why is Marcgravia so expensive



## Peregrin1 (Apr 28, 2020)

I'm new to Marcgravia. I love it and will collect it. I don't understand why its so expensive for small cutting when its "fast growing". 

Can anyone offer insight into my curiosity? Thank you.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Other than _M. rectiflora_ it doesn't grow that fast.

It is in high demand.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Socratic Monologue said:


> Other than _M. rectiflora_ it doesn't grow that fast.
> 
> It is in high demand.


What SM said , it doesn't grow overly fast, and people love it. 

I'm trying to build up a selection of it myself, I'm at 3 species so far


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## RobJersey (Apr 23, 2019)

It will grow decently fast once established.. but it can take months to establish, and fast growth vs multi branched growth are 2 different t things. A mg clipping is taken from the end of growth they are t as branching as other vines. While they do send runners, they don’t send a ton of them until it is very established.


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## JoeKitz (Sep 18, 2017)

I have found the above to be true. I would add that El Coca grows very fast and establishes mature leaves much quicker than any of the other Marcgravias. At least in my conditions. It is my favorite.


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

Peregrin1 said:


> I'm new to Marcgravia. I love it and will collect it. I don't understand why its so expensive for small cutting when its "fast growing".
> 
> Can anyone offer insight into my curiosity? Thank you.


Anything and everything is worth what people are willing to pay for it. It's simple economics and in a free market the law of supply and demand will ultimately determine what something is worth. You as a consumer decide what something is worth to you personally, but what something is worth to you personally doesn't alone determine what it is worth since there are other consumers who are bidding for the same items.


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

JoeKitz said:


> I have found the above to be true. I would add that El Coca grows very fast and establishes mature leaves much quicker than any of the other Marcgravias. At least in my conditions. It is my favorite.


Hope this is true! Want to get some of this at some point, but it is really expensive as I recall. If it grows quickly I'd expect it come down in price a bit.


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## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

Marcgravia can be really hit or miss, as in a whole plant or most of it can lose its leaves or dieback. This constant pressure kills plants and makes them harder to grow and drives up demand. 
It's also a very cool plant. 

El coca has been around for a while and the price hasn't gone down much. I have been selling it for the same price for a long time now. Again people lose plants, they crash and I think that has a big influence on things. El coca is also very unique which creates constant demand. 

Also, one thing you have to remember is these plants are niche, there isn't a bigger market for them. Sure someone could farm tons of any one or several marcgravia, but then they would crash the prices, go bankrupt (not literally) get out of the market and sell their collection, and the slowly the demand would rise back up. Certain markets are just like that. 

I originally paid $150 for marcgravia sp. Bronze, I grew a massive plant that filled a 10 gallon aquarium and even had mature leaves at one point. Thats why I was selling it cheaper than almost anyone in the USA. Then the whole tank crashed lol, straight brown dried out leaves. I sold the tank with the plant having just a couple of sprouts coming back for less than a single clipping. My Peru is similar I sell it crazy cheap because I have a giant 36x18x36 full of it but the thing is the plant often loses leaves in large places. 
Also covid19 has caused alot of things to shoot up in price.


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