How did the Hanoi gardener make the "Buddha's hand" bonsai tree that brought it out to the street and attracted so many people to see?

According to a survey by Dan Viet Online Newspaper reporters, due to the impact and damage after storm No. 3, many Buddha's hand gardens in Hanoi have lost their crops, making the source of "Buddha's hand" bonsai trees for Tet quite scarce. Currently, the bonsai gardens with beautiful fruits are almost all booked, some gardens have no more to sell.

Clip: Up to this point, many gardeners growing Buddha's hand bonsai, also known as "Buddha's hand" bonsai trees in Hanoi, have almost "sold out" for Tet.

Not enough trees to supply customers

At noon on January 9, we visited the garden at the exact time that Mr. Nguyen Quang Thach in Dac So, Hoai Duc district (Hanoi) was making Buddha's hand bonsai trees for customers in the Central region.

Mr. Thach said: Compared to previous years, this year's Tet customers bought bonsai trees earlier. Although the supply of products has decreased sharply and the prices of trees have increased, gardeners still do not have enough goods to supply customers.

Due to the impact of the recent storm No. 3, Mr. Thach's garden was damaged by over 70%, most of the trees that were bearing young fruit were devastated by the storm and fell everywhere.

"My family has 200 old Buddha's hand trees, but now only 1/3 of the fruits remain on the trees, most of which are bad quality, the kind that are weighed for Chinese traders to dry and make traditional medicine," Mr. Thach confided.

Mr. Thach grafts and trims Buddha's hand bonsai trees to prepare to send to customers.

According to Mr. Thach, after storm No. 3, the "Buddha's hand" fruit orchards in Hanoi such as Trung Chau, Hong Ha (Dan Phuong), Nhat Tan (Tay Ho), Thach Da (Me Linh)... suffered very heavy damage, some orchards were wiped out, causing the supply of products to decrease further.

"Currently, Dac So people have expanded their gardens in provinces such as Vinh Phuc , Thanh Hoa... but by this year's Tet holiday, people still do not have enough products to sell. Many newly planted gardens only have young, small, and ugly fruits.

As for the first-class "Buddha's hand" fruits, which are as big as a pith helmet and cost over 500,000 VND, they are very rare, so even if customers want to buy them, the gardens still don't have any to sell. In particular, up to now, the gardens have almost "sold out" of "Buddha's hand" bonsai trees, Mr. Thach revealed.

Prices are skyrocketing.

Speaking further to Dan Viet, Mr. Thach said that if in previous years, small Buddha's hand fruits like a drinking cup cost 5,000 VND/fruit, this year, the price of this type of product has increased to 20,000 VND to 30,000 VND/fruit, large fruits like a water cup with many tendrils and handles costing several hundred thousand VND is normal.

"In other years, the fruit and bonsai market becomes active around December 15, but this year, due to the scarce supply, traders have been hunting and collecting goods earlier, from November 25. Up to now, gardeners have almost run out of bonsai," Mr. Thach affirmed.

As a person with many years of experience in growing Buddha's hand in Dac So, with gardens in many provinces, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Bien in Tien Yen (Hoai Duc) still has to go out to find and buy bonsai tree remains to supply to customers.

"Bonsai products are very scarce this year. There is a lot of demand from customers, but we have very few products to sell. Since the beginning of the season, I have only sold a few hundred Buddha's hand pots, including products priced at over 40 million VND/pot," Mr. Bien revealed.

Mr. Bien's family has several hectares of Buddha's hand, mostly in Dan Phuong and Hoai Duc, but after the storm, over 60% of the area was lost, with estimated damage of up to billions of dong.

"After just one storm, all of the Buddha's hand gardens were devastated. Now, even if people want to restore their gardens, they no longer have money to invest in buying seeds, fertilizers... So in the coming years, the supply of Buddha's hand products for the Tet market will be scarcer," Mr. Bien added.

Ms. Hac Quynh Nhung in Dac So commune said: This year my garden has 2 products to provide for customers to enjoy and worship during Tet.

Among them, the bonsai pots are the best sellers, and now the gardeners are packing the last pots to ship to customers in the provinces and cities. We also have to keep the remaining embryo trees for the following years.

"The price of bonsai pots this year has increased a lot compared to previous years. On average, pots cost from several hundred thousand dong to several tens of millions of dong, depending on the type of tree, the size of the fruit, the number of hands...", Ms. Nhung added.

According to Ms. Pham Thi Phuong, a Buddha's hand trader in Hanoi, more and more people are favoring this fruit to display on the five-fruit tray during Tet and for worship.

Buddha’s hand fruit resembles Buddha’s hand, bringing luck and peace to the family. Luxury customers often choose large, long-handled fruit with the meaning of bringing wealth, prosperity and luck in the New Year.

"I heard from the elders that offering Buddha's hand fruit will bring you enough food all year round. If you use this fruit on Tet holiday or to worship your ancestors, you will receive blessings, luck, and peace. Accordingly, the demand for Buddha's hand fruit and bonsai trees to play with and give as Tet gifts is very high," Ms. Phuong affirmed.