Growing bonsai lemons for Tet

Hai Phong After 5 years of pursuing, Tuan Anh, 36 years old, successfully grafted the four-season lemon variety onto a grapefruit root, bent it into a bonsai shape, and plans to sell the tree for Tet 2024.

Nguyen Tuan Anh’s four-season lemon garden is located among abandoned fields in Ngoi field, Thuan Thien commune, Kien Thuy district. In the garden, a group of workers water, weed, and shape the lemon trees, which have juicy fruit but still green skin.

Before starting his business with the four-season lemon tree, Mr. Tuan Anh spent 7 years as a tour guide. When he went to many rural areas, he saw that motorbike repairmen lacked professional tools, so it took a long time to repair. Because he loved mechanics, he researched and created a tire removal machine. The product was in high demand, so he decided to quit tourism and switch to mechanics.

Having settled into his new career, in 2018, he suddenly told his family to invest in agriculture on a large scale. "The whole family was surprised because the mechanical engineering profession was bringing in a good income, while returning to farming was hard and risky. Actually, I just wanted to take advantage of the abandoned land in my hometown," Tuan Anh explained. His hometown was low-lying, had a lot of rats, and was ineffective for growing rice, so it had been abandoned for many years.

Mr. Tuan Anh and the bonsai lemon pots with still green fruit. Photo: Le Tan

After many days of researching agricultural models and seedlings, Mr. Tuan Anh decided to choose the four-season lemon. "Not only for fruit, in feng shui, lemon trees also help eliminate negative energy sources, bring positive energy, and bring luck to the homeowner, so they can be grown as ornamental plants," he said.

He hired someone to renovate three acres of his family's fields and then went to Hung Yen to import 5,000 four-season lemon seedlings. This variety of tree originated in America, bears fruit all year round, is sour, and juicy. When ripe, the fruit is bright yellow, suitable for ornamental purposes.

The garden owner divides the seedlings into two categories. 3,000 are grown for harvesting fruit, leaves and creating seedlings later. The rest are grafted onto grapefruit roots to create stronger trees, easier to create bonsai, and sold during Tet at high prices.

To have lemons with both ripe yellow and green fruits, flowers and leaves for Tet, Mr. Tuan Anh has to calculate the time to prune the branches and split the leaves. The first batch of fruit comes out in the second lunar month and will ripen after 8 months. Mid-year is when the bonsai lemon tree produces the second batch of fruit, and when sold, the fruit is still green. After Tet, the lemon tree only needs to be watered and fertilized periodically to continue growing, producing fruit for use all year round.

Tuan Anh only uses biofertilizers, composted manure, and soaked soybeans instead of chemical fertilizers. An automatic watering system is designed for each tree to help the lemon garden stay healthy and beautiful. "This method will cost more and require more care, but the trees will be durable and strong, and players can eat the fruit and leaves without worrying," he explained.

After two years of creating the embryo, he put the lemon tree in a pot and bent it into a shape. The lemon branches are easy to break and have many thorns. He and his family members could not bend them themselves, and hundreds of seedlings were ruined, so they had to invite professionals to help, accepting the high cost. Every year, the Nam Dinh group of workers will come twice to bend and adjust the shape of the tree, each time for two months, with a salary of 700,000 VND per person per day.

By Tet, the bonsai lemon pots give bright yellow ripe fruit. Photo: Le Tan

It takes 4-5 years to sell bonsai lemons, while all the assets accumulated from his mechanical career and several billions borrowed from the bank, Mr. Tuan Anh invested in the lemon garden. "Taking care of the garden is hard work, and I haven't made any money yet. I wanted to give up at least 10 times. Fortunately, my family and friends have always encouraged and supported me," he shared. Currently, he still makes tire removal machines to earn income and cover the cost of growing lemons.

Currently, the lemon garden has been expanded to 10 acres with 2,000 potted bonsai trees, ready for Tet. The garden owner is building additional promotional channels on Youtube and other social platforms to let customers know about this new product.

The leaders of Thuan Thien Commune People's Committee assessed that bonsai lemon growing is a new model, unique in Kien Thuy district, with great potential for development. This model has taken advantage of abandoned land, so it has received attention from all levels and support for policy loans.

Le Tan

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