Visiting the 5,000 m2 garden in Thuong Thanh ward (Cai Rang district, Can Tho city) of Mr. Nguyen Pham Minh Chau, we could not help but admire the 10,000 South American pineapple plants of 150 different varieties. In particular, what caught our attention even more were the "air plants" - which can still thrive and flower without soil.
Chau said he graduated from the Construction Department of Can Tho University. However, due to his passion for ornamental plants, he decided to start a business with South American pineapples and air plants in a garden of only 80 square meters with his savings.
“At first, I mainly grew South American pineapples, then, seeing the market demand, I decided to import more air plants. From South American pineapples to air plants, I got them all from abroad. Because I started out as a construction engineer, all the knowledge to take care of these plants was researched and learned by myself through many different channels,” said Mr. Chau.
Chau said that at first, he had some difficulty finding customers. However, pineapples and air plants are both low-maintenance and have beautiful shapes, so after a while, this young man's bonsai garden became popular with many people.
“While South American pineapples are mainly grown from coconut fiber and coconut blocks, air plants only need a substrate and can still grow and develop well without soil. Therefore, many customers such as office workers or coffee shop owners are very fond of them,” Chau shared.
Boldly starting a business, Mr. Chau has "turned" an 80 m2 plot of land into a 5,000 m2 garden with about 10,000 South American pineapple plants and nearly 5,000 air plants of various kinds. Accordingly, on average, each month, Mr. Chau's garden sells from 400 - 600 air plants of various kinds. Of which, the price of hairy orchid ranges from 300,000 - 400,000 VND/kg, and the price of golden swallow's nest is 15,000 - 20,000 VND/plant. South American pineapple is also consumed in similar quantities, but at a higher price, from 250,000 - 400,000 VND/plant. Thanks to that, he has a good income, from 30 million VND/month.
At first, when his son started his business, Mr. Nguyen Van No (Chau's father) and his wife also supported and helped with the care.
“Seeing my son’s passion and starting a business with these plants, I also helped. Through the process of helping, I found that these plants are easy to grow, require little care, but have a more stable income than the family’s fruit garden. If I stop gardening in the future, I will think about letting my son expand the area for growing South American pineapples and air plants,” Mr. No shared.
Currently, Mr. Chau has a stable source of customers, the largest consumer markets are Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, etc. Accordingly, to reduce production costs, the engineer has researched and self-propagated South American pineapples as well as air plants. The self-propagated seedlings are evaluated by Mr. Chau as having the same quality and growth as imported varieties from abroad.
