EDMONTON -- A new generation of green thumbs have contributed to a boom in business amid the pandemic.

In the last year, the owners of My Own Greenhouse said they have quintupled their business.

“It was really overwhelming, to be honest with you,” Cynthia Strawson, co-owner of My Own Greenhouse, said. “We weren’t prepared for it. We thought there would be more but we had no idea what the pandemic would do.”

The greenhouses started as a passion project. But since restarting their business two years ago, the owners said it’s turned into a full-time job.

“People are home. They're not going on vacations and they got a little extra money to do work on their house, or you know, put in a greenhouse that they always wanted,” Loren Daoust, co-owner of My Own Greenhouse, said.

WHAT’S SELLING?

Since the start of the pandemic there’s been a greater interest in plants, growing and gardening. Seeds, seeding supplies and house plants tend to be the most popular items, according to Rob Sproule, co-owner of the Salisbury Greenhouse.

“COVID didn’t invent trends. COVID accelerated the trends that were already in play,” he said.

In March and April of last year, Sproule said he was worried he would be out of business in a couple of years. He credits millennials in particular for becoming more interested in gardening and food sustainability for the influx in business.

“People gained new appreciation for their yards during the pandemic,” he said.

“People’s yards went from something to maintain and do activities in occasionally to a safe space to be outside.”

MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS

Sproule told CTV News Edmonton that the business acted quickly to make sure the space could be used as a mental health refuge.

“It’s hard to overstate the mental health benefits of growing a plant, and what it means, and how empowering it is and how enriching feels to put a seed in the dirt,” he said.

The co-owner of My Own Greenhouse echoed a similar sentiment.

“There’s also a feel to being inside a greenhouse, there’s a warmth and a smell of the earth and it really feels secure,” Strawson said.

“If you’re going to be socially distanced from anybody then being inside a nice warm greenhouse is a great place to do it. I always think of them as the ultimate isolation chambers.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton Darcy Seaton