Late afternoon of February 15th (ie, the 28th of Tet), the streets of Buon Ma Thuot ward (area of 10/3 Square, Dak Lak province center) are still bustling with scenes of buying and selling ornamental plants for Tet. This year, the ornamental plant market is more diverse and rich. Many small traders are willing to import goods in large quantities, hoping for a bumper crop.
Traveling more than 230km from Tuy Hoa ward to Buon Ma Thuot ward, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh (name of the character changed) only hopes to sell nearly 200 kumquat trees to earn a profit to take care of her family for Tet. This year, Ms. Hanh "plays big", hiring a truck to transport trees from the sea to the mountain. The kumquat tree she sells is priced at 700,000 VND/small tree, and the large tree is about 1.7 million VND.
Ms. Hanh shared: "In the evening of February 15th, I still had about 50 trees unsold. Although people's purchasing power is quite slow, basically I am not losing money. If by the night of the 29th of Tet there are still many trees, I will bring them back to Tuy Hoa instead of selling them cheaply to create a bad precedent. This Tet I am not losing capital, but still hope that in the remaining few hours I will earn a little more money to bring back for my husband and children.
Similar to Ms. Hanh, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huy (resident of Binh Dinh province) also traveled far to bring more than 70 beautiful apricot trees from his hometown to sell to people in the mountain town.
Mr. Huy said: "The purchasing power of Dak Lak people this year is equivalent to last year. However, transportation costs and arising expenses have increased sharply, so my apricot blossoms have to increase slightly in price. Each apricot blossom has a original price of 800,000 VND (including fees), so I have to balance it reasonably so that buyers can open their wallets.
On the afternoon of February 15th, I decided to sell at the same price of 1.2 million VND/pot and hoped that by the afternoon of the 29th of Tet I could pack up and return to my hometown to celebrate Tet with my family. I sell at this price because I am a tree player, knowing how to plant and care for each type.
According to records, the Tet ornamental plant market in Buon Ma Thuot ward this year is quite diverse and rich. Many types of plants such as orchids, chrysanthemum morifolium, peach blossoms... are chosen by consumers because the price is not too high, easy to display indoors during the spring days. By the evening of February 15, many lucky traders with good sales had cleaned up the display area to return home.
Mr. Phan Quang Toan (resident of Buon Ma Thuot ward) said: "My family bought a pot of apricot blossoms to display for Tet. Because the house is small, we chose a small pot, priced from 1 to 1.5 million VND. Although Tet is approaching, many small traders this year are determined not to lower prices deeply, only reducing from 100,000 to 200,000 VND. Perhaps they have learned from experience, so they are determined to trade with friends, sell with wards. After a while of bargaining, I bought a fairly beautiful apricot blossom tree for 1.1 million VND, including the cost of transporting it home.
