Farmers in Hoang Mai town actively take care of flowers to serve the Tet market.

Quynh Xuan Ward, Hoang Mai Town is a long-standing flower growing area. This year, people here still grow local flowers that are strong and popular with consumers such as lilies, yellow chrysanthemums, gladiolus, yellow orchis, etc.

At Ms. Ho Thi Huan's house, block 3, Quynh Xuan ward, at this time, the lily garden is growing very well: The trees are lush green, 0.5 m - 1 m high, each tree has produced 5 to 7 buds, guaranteed to bloom right on the occasion of Lunar New Year 2024. Although it has only been planted for 3 years, thanks to actively learning the care process as well as the selection of seeds, she has succeeded in growing this "aristocratic" flower.

The lily garden of Ms. Ho Thi Huan's family, block 3, Quynh Xuan ward, is growing well and is expected to bloom in time to serve Tet sales. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Lilies have the advantage of being beautiful, fragrant and especially very long-lasting. From the time the flower blooms until it fades, it must be from 15 to 20 days. The lily variety grown by the family is a double lily, imported from the Netherlands, priced at 25,000 VND/bulb. The time to plant lilies is at the end of the 9th lunar month, after about 3 months of caring for the lilies, they can be harvested. The wholesale price of lilies at the time of Tet is about 50,000 VND/branch, retail is about 60,000-70,000 VND/branch.

Sharing with us, Ms. Huan said: “This year I planted 700 lilies in yellow, red, and pink. Due to the erratic weather, some of the early blooming plants were sold to people to buy and display on the full moon day. The rest are being cared for and covered with nets to prevent the flowers from blooming in time for Tet. Compared to other types of flowers, growing lilies requires higher techniques, but in return, the economic value is also higher and it is easier to sell.”

Lilies are covered with netting to prevent blooming. Photo: Thanh Thuy

At the family of Mr. Vu Van Trach, block 12, Quynh Xuan ward, more than 3 sao of flower land of the family is also being actively cared for in time to serve the Tet market. Of which, he grows more than 50,000 chrysanthemums. The rest are gladiolus, yellow chrysanthemums, mini chrysanthemums. For more than 10 years, he has grown flowers to sell during Tet, every year, at the end of the 9th lunar month, he concentrates on family labor to prepare the land and plant seeds.

Mr. Vu Van Trach, block 12, Quynh Xuan ward takes care of the chrysanthemum garden. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Mr. Trach shared: "With 3 sao of land, I grow flowers all year round but most in the last 3 months of the year. In addition to the usual farming methods such as fertilizing, watering, spraying pesticides to prevent pests, we also have to pinch the tops, prune branches, prune buds, and use lighting to adjust the flowering time. It is expected that my family will earn over 300 million VND for the flower crop before, during and after Tet this year."

As for Mr. Nguyen Van Hai's family in Tien Phong residential group, Mai Hung ward, the "money-making" business during Tet is selling ornamental peach trees. His family has about 1,000 peach trees, of which about 400 will be sold during Tet, most of the large, beautiful trees have been pre-ordered by customers. This year is a leap year and the weather is erratic, so if the peach blossoms want to bloom on time for Tet, the gardeners have to be more diligent.

Growing peach blossoms for sale during Tet brings in a large source of income for many farming households. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Mr. Hai said: “To have a beautiful peach garden with many buds, growers must be meticulous and careful in every step of care such as fertilizing, topping, shaping, girdling, stripping leaves... The step of stripping leaves is very important, if done at the right time and in favorable weather, the tree will produce as desired. Currently, there is only half a month left until Tet, so I and other peach growing households in the ward are monitoring the weather to take care of the flowers so they bloom in time for Tet.”

Not only do flower growers actively take care of their plants, many gardeners and businesses also import flower and ornamental plant varieties from all over the South and the North to serve the Tet holiday needs of the people. Because it brings quite good profits, in recent years, the flower and ornamental plant business has been increasingly expanded by some local households such as Quynh Xuan, Quynh Thien, Quynh Vinh...

Gardeners import more types of flowers and ornamental plants to meet people's Tet needs. Photo: Thanh Thuy

There are now more than 20 shops specializing in selling flowers, ornamental plants and accessories such as vases, pots... To prepare for this year's Tet flower season, each business has invested hundreds of millions of VND to get flowers from domestic and foreign sources. At this time, the number of customers coming to see and buy has begun to increase. However, this year, due to the impact of the economic recession, shops do not dare to import many expensive flowers such as orchids, apricot flowers... but must gradually import more depending on the actual market situation.

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