Early-blooming chrysanthemums are still hard to sell, even at 140,000 VND per pair.

Although there is still more than a month until the 2026 Lunar New Year, chrysanthemum flowers in many gardens in Cai Mon Flower Village (Vinh Long province) have already bloomed, putting gardeners at risk of heavy losses.

Báo Tuổi Trẻ•14/01/2026

These days, chrysanthemums in Cho Lach, Vinh Long province, are in full bloom, and gardeners have to display them along the roadside for sale - Photo: MAU TRUONG

Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuyen (42 years old, residing in Cho Lach commune , Vinh Long province), despite having many years of experience growing flowers for the Tet market and passing the tradition down through generations, still cannot explain why her chrysanthemum garden of over 2,500 pots "suddenly" bloomed early this year.

Ms. Xuyen said that since mid-2025, her family has planted 2,500 pots of chrysanthemum flowers. Each pot costs her about 30,000-40,000 VND, not including labor costs. The land was borrowed free of charge from an acquaintance, but the total cost of fertilizer, pesticides, seeds, pots, etc., has reached nearly 100 million VND.

"Chrysanthemums usually need to be timed to bloom just days before Tet, but this year, they've all bloomed yellow before the twelfth lunar month," Mrs. Xuyen sighed, gently stroking a basket of fully bloomed flowers, and continued, "Now, even if we try to sell them quickly, it's difficult because Tet is still more than a month away, and very few people buy flowers at this time."

Flowers blooming too early mean a poor harvest and low prices. Chrysanthemums are a special type of flower for Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year), only selling for a very short period. If they bloom too early, no one will buy them, but if they are kept, they will wither and cannot be preserved until Tet.

In previous years, at this time, traders would have placed deposits at a price of 170,000 VND per pair. After deducting expenses, Ms. Xuyen estimated a profit of about 100 million VND from the aforementioned quantity of flowers. This year, due to the unusually early blooming of the flowers, traders are hesitant to buy them. So far, she has only sold about 200 pots at 140,000 VND per pair, 30,000 VND lower than in previous years. The majority of the remaining flowers have yet to find buyers.

It's not just Mrs. Xuyen; many chrysanthemum growers in Cai Mon are facing the same situation this year. Mr. Le Van Hung, who grows over 3,000 pots of chrysanthemums, said his family had carefully planned the planting schedule, pruned the shoots, and adjusted the sunlight. But this year's weather is too "unusual."

"It's sunny during the day but the temperature is low, and even cold at night, just like every year. I don't understand why the flowers bloomed so quickly, I couldn't react in time," said Mr. Hung, a gardener in Cho Lach commune.

Mr. Tran Huu Nghi, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Cho Lach commune, said that the locality has more than 2 million flower and ornamental plant products to serve the Lunar New Year of the Horse 2026, mainly chrysanthemum, Dutch chrysanthemum and yellow apricot blossom. Currently, about 50% of the products have been ordered by traders, at prices ranging from 150,000 to 200,000 VND per pair.

"It's possible that due to two unseasonal rains in December 2025, about 30% - 40% of the chrysanthemum crop bloomed prematurely," Mr. Nghi said, adding that the provincial agricultural sector is guiding farmers on technical measures to minimize damage.

According to Mr. Nghi, this week the commune will coordinate with the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade to organize a flower sale for local people over two days. "We will have a sales team go to each garden to livestream sales, reducing losses for the farmers," Mr. Nghi added.

A chrysanthemum garden belonging to a household in Cho Lach, Vinh Long province, has begun to bloom. The gardener is applying technical measures to ensure the flowers bloom in time for Tet (Lunar New Year) - Photo: HOAI THUONG

In Cho Lach commune alone, it is expected that more than 1 million pots of chrysanthemum flowers will be supplied to the market this year - Photo: MAU TRUONG