Despite unfavorable weather conditions, many gardeners meticulously care for their ornamental plants every day to supply the Tet market, cultivating new varieties and diversifying designs.
Under the early morning sun, Mr. Doan Huu Bon, Deputy Head of Pho Tho - Ba Bo Ornamental Flower Village ( Can Tho City), moves gently among the lush green flower pots. In about a month, the flowers will bloom brilliantly to supply the market for the 2025 Lunar New Year.
Plant fewer but more diverse crops.
"This year, the number of Tet flowers supplied to the market by the craft village has decreased significantly compared to the previous two years. Some gardeners who used to grow 10,000 pots in previous years only have 2,000 this year. Last Lunar New Year, cheaper flowers were popular, while flowers priced at 100,000 VND/pot or more were difficult to sell. This year, most gardeners have switched to growing mid-range and more diverse varieties," Mr. Bon said.
Mr. Bon's household only grows 2,000 pots of chrysanthemums, including lucky bamboo, marigolds, and especially the new Korean chrysanthemum variety with red and purple colors, which is popular in the market. Although he planted fewer plants than in previous years, he said that at this time no traders have come to place orders yet.
Mr. Doan Huu Bon in Pho Tho - Ba Bo flower village is busy tending to his flowers for sale during Tet (Lunar New Year). Photo: CA LINH
According to Mr. Tran Van Se (residing in Binh Thuy district, Can Tho city), this year's prolonged rain has caused waterlogging, leading to more diseases and malnutrition in the plants, thus requiring more fertilizer. Mr. Se is famous in this flower village for producing the "long-legged chrysanthemum" variety, which is popular in the Tet market.
"I planted 200 pots of chrysanthemums, but due to the weather, I think only 100 will be successful, and the flowers won't bloom as beautifully as last year," Mr. Se worried.
According to the Economic Department of Sa Dec City, Dong Thap province, for this year's Lunar New Year, local nurseries are expected to supply the market with approximately 75,000 baskets of chrysanthemum flowers; 100,000 baskets of Taiwanese chrysanthemums; and 100,000 baskets of colored chrysanthemum flowers (Korean chrysanthemums)... Besides flowers, Sa Dec also supplies ornamental plants such as kumquats, fruit-bearing ornamental trees, and ornamental grapes... The total area for growing flowers and ornamental plants in Sa Dec continues to be around 100 hectares. This year, the weather was unfavorable, but the experienced gardeners did not significantly affect production.
At this time, the price of ornamental flowers in Sa Dec has started to increase compared to previous months. According to Mr. Ta Van Canh, a resident of Tan Khanh Dong commune, Sa Dec city, his family's 1,400 pots of double-flowered gerbera daisies are currently thriving. From now until Tet (Lunar New Year), the family will focus on caring for the plants and using artificial lighting to ensure the flowers are of high quality.
Avoid excess.
The Agricultural Extension Station of Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City, reports that to ensure the quality of finished ornamental plants and attract customers, the station actively supports gardeners throughout the entire process of planting, caring for, and selling. The station regularly monitors and forecasts consumption trends to help gardeners balance planting quantities appropriately, avoiding oversupply.
According to Mr. Dang Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of Tan Quy Dong Flower and Ornamental Plant Cooperative in Sa Dec City, about 80% of the cooperative's members have planted flowers and ornamental plants in preparation for the Tet holiday with varieties such as roses, gerbera daisies, and Tiger daisies. Due to rising input costs, the cooperative has proactively combined the use of biological products to enhance plant resistance and reduce production costs; at the same time, they have actively explored and applied social media to introduce and promote their flowers and ornamental plants.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tran Huu Nghi, Deputy Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Cho Lach district (Ben Tre province), said that the locality is expected to supply 8-10 million products to the Tet flower market, an increase of 10%-15% compared to Tet 2024. To date, 50%-60% of the flowers have been ordered. Recently, in Cho Lach, tens of thousands of chrysanthemum pots failed to bud, so gardeners uprooted them and switched to growing other short-term flowers to be ready for Tet sales.
Plant twice.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Lam Dong province, the estimated area of flowers planted to serve the Tet market in the province is about 3,800 hectares of various types of flowers, mainly in Da Lat city and the districts of Don Duong, Duc Trong, Lac Duong, and Lam Ha. Of this, about 7 million potted flowers for Tet and about 1.5 billion cut flowers.
With just over a month left until Tet (Lunar New Year), flower growers in Lam Dong have been urgently planting gladiolus seedlings for the past 10 days. This is the province with the largest gladiolus cultivation area, approximately 195 hectares, enough to supply the Tet market.
According to the Da Lat City Economic Department, the entire city has approximately 859 hectares of various types of flowers for the Lunar New Year. The demand for flowers for the Lunar New Year is expected to increase by 10%-15% compared to the same period in 2024, with the main markets remaining Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces.
However, since the beginning of December, Da Lat and other localities have experienced heavy rainfall. Instead of planting all the flowers at once for Tet (Lunar New Year), many gardeners have divided their land in half and planted twice. Flowers harvested from the first planting will be sold during Tet, while those harvested from the second batch will coincide with the full moon of the first lunar month.
"It's still raining now, so many people are worried. We have to put all our effort into caring for the plants and divide the work into two phases. If the first phase doesn't yield high productivity, we hope the flowers from the first phase around the 15th day of the first lunar month will make up for it," shared farmer Nguyen Van Thang (Ward 5, Da Lat City).
In Lam Ha district, Mr. Nguyen Van Nhuong's family (Tan Ha commune) plans to release over 1,000 Nhat Tan peach blossom trees onto the market for Tet (Lunar New Year), priced from 500,000 VND to 6 million VND per tree. "The current weather is quite unfavorable, so I'm focusing on pruning branches, cutting leaves, and adjusting the amount of fertilizer and water to ensure the trees bloom in time for Tet," Mr. Nhuong said.
The Da Lat Flower Association predicts that the area dedicated to Tet flowers this year will not fluctuate significantly compared to previous years. To diversify products for the market, companies and nurseries are also importing some varieties of mini potted flowers and new flower varieties such as multi-colored calla lilies and mutated phalaenopsis orchids for sale during the upcoming Tet holiday.
Developing flower villages in combination with tourism.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc, Head of the Economic Department of Sa Dec City, said that in the coming time, the locality will develop a flower village combined with tourism to help gardeners increase their income.
According to Ms. Ngoc, the local authorities are encouraging people not to expand the area for Tet flower cultivation, but mainly to develop annual ornamental flowers and bonsai trees, improving the quality of ornamental flowers, especially the growing medium, so that they can be exported in the future. In particular, they are improving the quality of seedlings and new varieties, increasing the production value of the ornamental flower industry as well as the income of gardeners.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/ky-vong-vao-vu-hoa-tet-196241215220510495.htm
Comment (0)