Ben TreNearly 150,000 pots of Tet raspberry chrysanthemums in Long Thoi and Cho Lach were slow to flower, and many gardeners were impatient to throw them away to avoid spending more on investment.
In mid-November, the raspberry chrysanthemum growing area in Long Thoi commune bustles with scenes of workers taking care of the flowers. While most of the flower areas in the area have lost branches and buds, some raspberry chrysanthemum gardens, although lush and green, still have bare leaves and no signs of flowering.
Having just finished watering his 5,000-pot chrysanthemum and raspberry garden, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huy, 32 years old, said that the past few days have been like sitting on a fire. The garden owner said he has been growing raspberry chrysanthemums for nearly 10 years. 4 months ago, he and his uncle bought 5,000 seedlings from a familiar facility in the area to grow and sell during the Tet season.
Hundreds of slow-blooming raspberry chrysanthemums were thrown away along the road in Long Thoi commune. Image: Hoang Nam
The tree then grew green, nothing unusual compared to the surrounding gardens. However, for about a week now, even though his family has been fertilizing and spraying chemicals to treat flowers as usual, the garden is still bare of leaves. Mr. Huy later discovered that dozens of households buying seedlings from the same facility also encountered the same situation.
DUp to this point, each flower pot costs about 20,000 VND for fertilizer and labor. For 5,000 pots, the garden owner has spent 100 million VND, including about half of the loan. “Many people advised me to remove the flowers to avoid spending more money, but it was a pity, so I tried to anchor the garden, still watering it, hoping the plants would bloom,” Mr. Huy said.
Two kilometers away, in the past few days, Ms. Le Thi Bich, 50 years old, has also been watering in the hope that the garden will soon bloom. This year’s Tet flower crop, Ms. Bich borrowed nearly 30 million VND from an acquaintance to invest in more than 1,000 pots of raspberry chrysanthemums. However, because the garden does not bloom, her family is at risk of losing Tet.
“I water every day, and fertilize every 6 days to stimulate blooms, but with the current situation, the possibility of the tree blooming is only about 20%,” Ms. Bich said, adding that if in the next 10 days the tree continues to not bloom. Buds will have to be thrown away.
Pots of slow-blooming raspberry daisies were left to wither on the trellis. Image: Hoang Nam
3 km away, Not patient enough to wait and worried about losing more investment costs, in the past few days, Mr. Nguyen Van Nhut Em has been leaving nearly 1,000 pots of raspberry chrysanthemums withered, piled up and scattered in the garden.
With 5 years of experience growing chrysanthemums and raspberries to sell during Tet, Mr. Nhut Em said that each year he sells about 3,000 flower baskets, earning hundreds of millions of dong at the winning price. This year’s Tet flower crop, he bought more than 1,500 pots of raspberry chrysanthemums like yellow flowers from a facility he has known for many years in the commune. The trees grow quite well and are green, with traders placing a deposit for nearly 160,000 VND per pair. However, up to this point, the tree has not yet produced any buds.
Worried that the tree wouldn’t bloom in time for Tet, Nhut Em had to call and pay the deposit back to the trader in the past few days. To avoid having to spend more on investment, the garden owner decided to throw away more than 800 flower pots, keeping the rest in the garden to continue taking care of them in the hope that the plants will bud soon.
“Not including the land rent, the cost of fertilizer, the cost of taking care of each flower pot is about 25,000 VND. With 1,500 flower pots, I have lost more than 25 million VND. This year is considered the end of Tet,” Mr. Nhut Em said. I’m cleaning up the garden to continue planting the marigold crop, hoping to salvage some profit.
Many gardeners in Cho Lach district said they are asking the government to intervene so that the seedling supplier is responsible for partially repairing the damage.
Thousands of pots of Tet raspberry chrysanthemums were thrown away because of slow flowering. Video: Nam An
Mr. Le Thanh Khoan, Vice Chairman of Long Thoi Commune People’s Committee, said that the entire area has about one million pots of Tet raspberry chrysanthemums. Of these, there are about 145,000 pots of raspberry chrysanthemums that have slow blooming. Initial verification, these flower varieties were imported by a facility in the commune, the growth cycle may be slower than traditional flowers.
Working with the Commune People’s Committee, the seed supplier said they imported this variety from another locality, of unknown origin. “The seed supplier himself also said he did not know this was a long-lasting variety, so he planted thousands of pots,” Mr. Clause said, adding that he would continue to clarify the case as well as the responsibilities of the parties involved.
Also according to Long Thoi commune leaders, due to frustration with slow flower blooming, a few households threw away the pots, then recorded videos and posted them on social networks. The locality has urged people to stay calm and try to keep the flowers and take care of them until the end of the month, hoping the plants will bloom to sell to the market in the province near Tet.
Cho Lach district, Ben Tre province is considered the “capital” of Tet flowers with 13,000 households growing flowers and fruit trees on more than 600 hectares, 15-17 million flower and ornamental plant products for Tet each year, specifically all kinds of flowers. About 8 million products bloom.
Hoang Nam