New flower colors for Tet

In addition to traditional flowers, farmers in Da Nang city also grow many new and strange hybrid flowers and ornamental plants to meet customer needs and Tet market trends.

To meet market demand, Ms. Le Anh's flower garden has increased the number of hanging flowers planted during this year's Tet holiday. Photo: TRAN TRUC

According to records in many large flower growing areas such as Hoa Chau, Hoa Lien, Hoa Phong... (Hoa Vang district), flower growers are busy taking care of the flowers so that they bloom on Tet. Besides the main flower type with a large quantity of chrysanthemums, mini hanging flowers and carpet flowers have been planted more than in previous years. On an area of ^4,000m2 , Mr. Phan Dinh Phung (Van Duong flower village, Hoa Lien commune) is planting more than 20,000 pots of flowers of various types such as deer eyes, firecrackers, begonias, sunflowers... Of which, 3,000 pots of deer eyes, 3,000 pots of firecrackers, 2,000 pots of rough-leaf chrysanthemums, 2,000 pots of pico chrysanthemums, 2,000 pots of sunflowers...

Mr. Phung shared that he does not grow chrysanthemums like most other households in the area because he has no experience, so his direction is to grow new varieties with less risk. These flowers are taken from the West with the characteristics of being easy to grow, less susceptible to diseases and do not need to be sprayed with pesticides. In particular, deer eyes are the newest type of flower to be grown in the garden with bright colors, long lasting, still fresh after a month of Tet. In addition to deer eyes, other types of flowers also have good consumption and have been a market trend for about 2 years now. Accordingly, consumer tastes are leaning towards flowers with bright colors such as yellow, red, purple and the characteristics of being colorfast, long lasting; compact shape can be placed on the table, hung, suitable for campuses, narrow spaces.

At Go Giang flower village (Duong Lam 2 village, Hoa Phong commune), thousands of Tet flower pots are being diligently cared for by gardeners. In the garden of more than 1.5 hectares of Ms. Le Anh (Thuy Du Garden), there is a model of growing hanging flowers using high technology with brilliant colors. To serve the increasing demand of the market during Tet, her garden had to increase the number to more than 70,000 pots (an increase of 30% compared to last year) with more than 20 types of flowers such as primrose, apricot blossom, cannonball, begonia, diễm châu...; each type is planted from 5,000 to 15,000 pots.

Ms. Le Anh said: “This year, I have planted Korean chrysanthemums with outstanding red color to serve customers. This is also a new flower in Da Nang, while it has been popular in the Western market for 2 years now. The garden has planted 5,000 pots but still cannot meet customer demand. Therefore, next year the garden plans to increase the quantity and invest in a hose irrigation system for this type of flower. On the other hand, in the current market, hanging flowers are increasing rapidly in consumption and are loved by customers. To have beautiful and long-lasting flowers, gardeners must choose high-quality flower varieties as well as master the technical process of each type. Currently, mini hanging flowers of all kinds are priced from 30,000 to 50,000 VND/pot.”

Meanwhile, in the concentrated flower production area of the Duong Son Flower Production Cooperative (Hoa Chau Commune), flower growers have added many types of flowers. Members of the group regularly innovate quality flower varieties such as Mokara orchids, hanging primroses, roses, bougainvillea, bellflowers, portulaca, feng shui decorative plants, etc.

Mr. Ly Phuoc Dang, Head of the Duong Son Flower Production Cooperative, informed that the group has 21 flower growers, of which 3 households make hanging flowers, however, the number of households still does not grow much. Growing flowers with high technology requires households to have knowledge and experience in applying science and technology so that the flowers grow well and bloom at the desired time. This season, about 10,000 hanging flower baskets of the cooperative will be exported to the market and in the long term, some new types of flowers will continue to be researched, tested and expanded such as: cat tuong, man dinh hong, thu begonia... Thereby, new types of flowers will gradually replace some popular types that are no longer favored by the market.

Currently, the market for kumquat trees in Da Nang is mainly supplied by gardeners in Hoi An. This is a type of tree that is not widely grown and is difficult to grow successfully in Da Nang due to the weather. However, Mr. Nguyen Ba Minh (Khuong My village, Hoa Phong commune) is known as a successful kumquat grower with a quantity of 100-150 trees in the past 5 years. This Tet season, Mr. Minh planted more than 150 kumquat trees on an area of about ^500m2 .

“Although growing kumquat trees in Da Nang will be more difficult than in other places, if I succeed, it will be a source of motivation for other households in the city. I learned from my relatives who are growing kumquat trees in Hoi An - considered the capital of kumquat trees in the Central region. This year, I planted more trees than in previous years, but due to unfavorable weather, about 30% of the total number of trees were damaged. I expect to supply the market with nearly 100 kumquat trees this Tet holiday with the highest price of 3 million VND/pot,” said Mr. Minh.

According to the Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hoa Vang district, Le Dinh Ca, this year's Tet crop, chrysanthemums are still the main flower grown locally, along with that, the production scale of other flowers and hanging flowers has increased by 20% compared to last year. Specifically, the number of chrysanthemums is more than 114,000 pots, other flowers with nearly 120,000 pots and hanging flowers is nearly 50,000 pots. The flower production areas in the locality mainly supply the city market and neighboring areas. The district's agricultural sector is very interested in and supports varieties as well as focuses on investing in infrastructure such as greenhouses, net houses... for households growing hanging flowers. At the same time, the district also encourages people to grow new types of flowers and ornamental plants suitable for the weather and climate factors... of the locality to catch up with market tastes and bring economic efficiency.

TRAN TRUC - THANH NHAN

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