Pandemic plant parents are swiping cacti and calathea alike off the shelves in their masses with the new trend being to create an "indoor jungle".

From small plants such as Venus fly trap, to the larger snake plant, the choice available for green fingered folk is now limitless.

And the buying bonanza is no different at Urban Jungle Suffolk - just outside Beccles - which opened in August 2017 and specialises in selling an eclectic range of house plants.

The plant nursery offers a unique shopping experience to customers and introduced a Mediterranean-style planting section in 2019.

Liz Browne, partner at Urban Jungle, talked about some of the recent best sellers.

She said: "Our most popular by far is the monstera cheese plant.

"They like to grow in dark spaces and don't need much watering so are popular with people starting to grow indoor plants.

"These plants never seem to go out of fashion and are popular with people of all ages.

"Spider plants are another popular one.

"These really are entry-level plants and are incredibly easy to look after.

"Other best sellers include the goeppertia, monkey mask, alocasia amazonica, asparagus fern and the maranta fascinator."

According to Ms Browne, a number of factors are driving the uptake in people buying house plants.

She said: "Buying house plants is a huge trend now and it is certainly gaining popularity.

"It's especially gaining momentum with younger people, who often live in flats and don't have the outdoor space to grow garden plants.

"These people are investing in nature and creating their very own indoor jungles.

"Lockdown has also played a huge part in the uptake because more people are now working from home permanently.

"Our sales during the pandemic did rocket."

Ms Browne said the business had to adapt when lockdown hit.

She explained: "When we went in to the first lockdown in March 2020, we had all these indoor plants sitting around.

"So as a business we quickly turned to an online delivery service which was a huge success with our customer base.

"We also came up with the idea of mystery boxes, offering mystery plants and gifts and this was well received by people."

Advice for starting a plant collection

Liz Browne offered some useful advice to budding plant parents: start small.

"Do not buy expensive plants that need a lot of care," she said.

"Mini plants or spider plants are best for first plant purchases because they are relatively inexpensive and don't need a lot of care.

"They are easy to care for and grow in dark spaces.

"This also gives people time to learn the plant's watering pattern and ensures they understand the process of looking after them.

"A big mistake first time plant growers make is over-watering their plants.

She added: "Building on from this, it is always best to buy from someone experienced.

"All our staff own their own house plants and while our care instructions are accurate, it is always best to ask staff how to look after them."