Urgent care
Up to this point, farmers and gardeners in districts in Can Tho City have planted about 1 million pots of flowers and ornamental plants of all kinds to supply for the Lunar New Year 2025. The types of flowers and ornamental plants that farmers and gardeners focus on producing are marigolds, chrysanthemums, lisianthus, bougainvillea, apricot blossoms, etc.
This Tet season, Ms. Tran Thi Kim Nga (Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City) assessed that the weather has more or less affected the development of flowers and ornamental plants. Ms. Nga is urgently taking care of the flowers in the final steps before handing them over to traders and putting them on the Tet market.
“This year, I planted 1,500 baskets. I sold 1,000 baskets to traders, and the rest I rented a lot on Hoang Van Thu Street (Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City) to sell for Tet. If the flowers bloom as expected, around December 20-23, I will start putting them on the streets,” Ms. Nga shared.
With 500 flower baskets of various kinds, Mr. Truong Van Tan (Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City) is taking extra care of fertilizers and chemicals so that the flowers grow well, bloom beautifully and are ready to be sold on the streets. With the prices of some agricultural supplies increasing slightly compared to the same period last year, Mr. Tan hopes that when the batches are released, the flowers will be supported by many people, sold out early, and have a profit to celebrate Tet.
Affordable sale
With the economic situation still difficult, Ms. Nga mainly grows cheap, low-cost flowers such as marigolds, chrysanthemums, sunflowers, gypsophila, and shooting stars.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have tightened their spending. Our gardeners have also switched from expensive flowers to affordable varieties. Even Taiwanese chrysanthemums are selling quite well, but my family has only grown a small quantity in recent years because of the high price. I hope that when we sell at affordable prices, people will support us more so that we can run out of flowers soon and go home to celebrate Tet with our families,” said Ms. Nga.
Along with marigolds, Mr. Truong Van Tan (Binh Thuy district, Can Tho city) also added short-term mini flower baskets that require little care but are very popular with consumers.
“All flowers are reasonably priced, suitable for customers’ budgets. Marigolds are expected to cost around VND70,000/pair, mini flowers from VND20,000/basket. With this price, I hope everyone, especially workers or low-income laborers, will have flowers to display for Tet,” Mr. Tan confided.
Director of Pho Tho Ornamental Flower Cooperative (Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City) Huynh Van Bang informed that this year, the Cooperative grows all kinds of flowers from mid-range to expensive. In which, the mid-range segment accounts for the majority to meet the needs of many customer groups.
“High prices can easily make people hesitant, so the cooperative focuses on producing mid-range products to reach the majority. We also produce some high-end, expensive products for those in need,” said Mr. Bang.
