Just hoping to keep the capital
In the days leading up to Tet, Mr. Nguyen Van Nam - a gardener who grows 2,000 pots of chrysanthemum mums in Cho Lach commune (Vinh Long province) - said that no year has flower gardening been as difficult as this year. Erratic weather has caused many pots to bloom early, not the time for high-priced consumption.
According to Mr. Nam, the pairs of chrysanthemums blooming right on Tet are currently sold for about 160,000 - 180,000 VND. “This price looks okay, but in fact it is only enough to compensate for the early blooming flowers before. Materials increase, care labor is prolonged, so this crop is considered taking labor as profit,” Mr. Nam said.
Sharing the same sentiment, Mr. Tran Van Hai - a gardener who grows 1,500 pots of chrysanthemum mums - said that more than 60% of pots in the garden have bloomed early. The remaining ones that meet Tet sales standards are not many, making it difficult to recover capital.
I waited all year for the Tet crop to have surplus money, but early blooming flowers are considered a loss of profit. Now I just hope to sell as much as possible, enough to rotate the next crop to be happy," Mr. Hai shared.
According to many farmers, the biggest concern is not heavy losses, but shortage of cash flow. When capital does not rotate in time, continuing to invest in the next flower crop becomes difficult, and the pressure to stick to the profession is also increasing.
Many flower growers believe that in the context of increased input costs and unpredictable weather, maintaining capital is already a realistic goal. Profit is no longer the top priority, instead, production is maintained to avoid losing long-standing livelihoods.
300,000 pots bloom early, 20% of households suffer minor losses
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi My Van - Standing Deputy Secretary of Cho Lach Commune Party Committee, the whole commune currently has about 1.2 million chrysanthemum pots serving the 2026 Lunar New Year market. Through review, about 300,000 pots have bloomed early due to weather impacts.
Ms. Van said that with the large rate of early blooming flowers, the income of many gardeners is directly affected. Preliminary statistics show that about 50% of flower growing households only reach the level of return on investment thanks to consuming both early blooming and seasonal flowers.
About 30% of households make a profit thanks to applying good care techniques, controlling the flowering rate and optimizing input costs. Meanwhile, about 20% of the remaining households fall into a situation of slight losses, mainly losing their long-term care work for many months.
Losing households do not lose too much cash, but almost have no income after the whole flower crop. The main reason is still unpredictable weather fluctuations and increased costs of fertilizers and pesticides," Ms. Van assessed.
According to Ms. Van, the locality is advising farmers to proactively connect with traders, be flexible in selling prices, and find early outlets for flowers to bloom before Tet to reduce inventory pressure. The general view is to prioritize preserving capital to continue production.
Despite many worries, Cho Lach flower growers still expect that in the days leading up to Tet, increased purchasing power will help consume more remaining flowers, partly reducing difficulties after a risky Tet crop.
