Following the stream of people busy shopping for Tet flowers, we visited Trinh Ngoc Tiep’s lily farm in Ngoc Thanh Township, Kim Dong (Hung Yen). It is known that Tiep just left the garden with 24,000 pots (0.7 ha) of lilies for VND 50-100,000/pot. Tiep still has more than 5,000 pots of this type of flower that were harvested near Lunar New Year, but there are also traders who have all ordered.

Mr. Tiep has calculated that at the above price of flowers, each 360 m2 of lily grown in pots yields a profit of VND 32 million, which is an income of VND 860 million/ha of cultivated area/crop, 1.2 times higher than the income from planting lily blooms in the same period last year on the same area. The reason last year’s lily crop made less money is because Tiep planted it in the field infected with many pests and diseases, the loss rate was almost 20% (compared to just under 2% this year).

Tiep’s farm was very profitable this year, planted more than 24,000 lily pots, now most of them have been sold, some wholesalers are late and have no stock. Last year she did not plant lilies in pots, the bulbs rotted a lot, she had to spray pesticides more often. This year, sowing seeds in pots should reduce many pesticide and spraying costs.

dr Nguyen Van Tinh, director of the Center for Research and Development of Flowers and Ornamental Plants (Institute of Vegetables and Fruits), said that since lily plants are very sensitive to the soil, producing lily flowers in pots is easy to adjust the pine nutrient level, pH value and EC index (dissolved ion concentration) in soil medium to achieve higher cultivation efficiency.

Mr. Nguyen Van Mung of Toan Thang Township (Kim Dong, Hung Yen), one of Tiep’s florists, said that potted flowers are generally selling well this year, as are lilies. The main reason is that potted flowers have a longer playing time (about 15 days) than cut lilies. However, in order for the flowerpot to play for a long time, it is still necessary to water the potting medium daily and keep it moist.

Finding out the fact shows that in order to create lily pots that can satisfy customers, Tiep needs to take care of the plants so that the flowers are disease free, grow and develop in a balanced way when they leave the garden, the Tiep Flower buds on the barely blooming, the color of the flower pot must also be chosen so that the beauty of the lily comes into its own. In particular, it is necessary to choose lily varieties with low trees and a gentle fragrance, such as Sorbonner, Robina, Pavina, Beau, Solei varieties…

“If you decide to plant fragrant varieties of lilies after you buy them and put them in the living room, the space is narrow, the fragrance is too strong, it is easy to cause a feeling of suffocation, and you lose the value of closing the flowerpot enjoy .” Analyzed dip.

Discussing the reason behind the successful switch from field-planted lily plants to pots, Tiep said that he went to Xuan Quan Township in early 2021 to share and learn about models of cultivating flowers and ornamental plants with high efficiency . Hung Yen) and was informed by some gardeners there that the Center for Research and Development of Flowers and Ornamental Plants (Research Institute of Vegetables and Fruits) in some northern provinces is carrying out a project to build a centralized model of flowerpot production. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Tiep immediately asked for a contact phone number and was assisted by the center’s scientists to his home to transfer technical advances in potted lily cultivation.

Tiep doesn’t grow pot gerberas like in Xuan Quan commune because he used to have more or less experience and market capital with lily plants. Accordingly, when he switched to the technique of planting and caring for lily plants in pots, Tiep was less surprised and started earning a large income right from the new production season.

In order to plant potted lilies for harvest in time for the Lunar New Year, the planting season should begin at the end of September of the lunar calendar. It is also possible to plant winter-spring lilies to harvest on March 8th. Growing medium includes soil, coco coir, and rotting manure of any type, about 1/3 the volume. Water the substrate to keep it moist throughout the life of the plant in the pot, but avoid getting water on the leaves and flower buds. To improve flower quality when the plant starts to open its leaves (about 20-25 days after planting), regularly spray a growth stimulant, Atonic or Buffalo Head 502 every 5-7 days/time.

Visited and learned from by many neighboring farmers, Tiep’s model is highly valued by the Hung Yen Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development because it reduces the use of pesticides, reduces and stabilizes pollution, and preserves soil fertility, which helps speed up the development process industrialization and modernization of agriculture and rural areas in the region. Hung Yen’s agricultural sector is also encouraging growers to continue replicating the model, particularly in the southern provinces of the province.