For this year’s Tet flower crop, Ms. Phung Thi Trang (Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City) planted 500 pots of marigolds to supply the market. Due to the lack of sunshine and unseasonal rains at the end of December, her flower supply was somewhat depleted. In order to supply the Tet market in time, Ms. Trang had to be busy taking care of the surviving flower batches.
“Although the loss was small, the erratic weather conditions made us gardeners restless. Fortunately, the weather has stabilized and the flowers that survived the unseasonal rain are growing healthily,” said Trang.
Instead of being subjective, this is the time when Ms. Trang takes great care of Tet flowers because they have entered the stage of pepper-holding. If not careful, the flowers may be late in budding and not be able to sell them in time for Tet: “On the 23rd of Tet, I will start selling flowers. Now I have to take good care of fertilizers and chemicals so that the flowers bloom on time and have good quality. There is only one Tet flower season a year to serve people, I hope this year will be a quick and smooth business.”
With many years of experience in growing bougainvillea for the Tet market, Mr. Nguyen Van Truyen (Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City) assessed that this year's weather is somewhat unfavorable for ornamental plants. The unseasonal rains at the end of the year caused some bougainvillea to bloom early. In order to avoid being affected, Mr. Truyen has to regularly monitor and fertilize them every day.
“Every morning, I go out to the garden to check the progress of the flowers blooming to adjust the amount of water accordingly. Some plants bloom a bit early, but if I take good care of them, the impact will not be much, and they will still be ready for Tet to serve the people. I just hope that the effort I put in will help the flowers bloom beautifully, and with the support of the people, I will have money to celebrate Tet,” Mr. Truyen shared.
Up to this point, farmers and gardeners in districts in Can Tho city have planted 1,053,912 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. Agricultural products such as corn, cabbage, chili, etc. are also creatively created by farmers and gardeners into Tet plants.
In Binh Thuy district, the number of Tet flowers planted is estimated at over 200,000 pots, equivalent to last year. To ensure the quality of finished flowers and ornamental plants and attract customers, the district's Agricultural Extension Station has supported farmers and gardeners in the production and consumption process.
Accordingly, the station regularly recommends to farmers and gardeners measures to prevent flooding, and guides techniques to prevent pests and diseases. Training courses on social progress transfer, substrate treatment techniques, pest control, plant varieties, new pesticides that are safe for farmers and gardeners' health are also organized so that people can apply them in actual production.
