Farmers take care of peach and kumquat trees to prepare for Tet sale

(Baonghean.vn) - There are still nearly 2 months left until Lunar New Year, but currently many households growing kumquat and peach trees in Con Cuong are busy entering the peak care period.

Mr. Pham Hoang Tai is taking care of his family's kumquat garden. Photo: Ba Hau

This is the 12th year that Mr. Pham Hoang Tai's family, Quyet Tien village, Chi Khe commune (Con Cuong) has grown kumquat trees to sell during Tet. With nearly 1 hectare of garden land, he has developed the profession of growing kumquat trees with over 100 trees each year.

Mr. Tai said that he started growing kumquat trees in 2005. In the first 3 years of planting, due to lack of experience, he failed. After that, he traveled all the way to Hung Yen to visit and learn from the experience to apply to his model. From the initial success until now, his garden has over 200 kumquat trees. Compared to growing other crops, growing kumquat trees requires a lot of effort from the time the tree is planted until it flowers, how to produce many fruits, many shoots. Kumquat growers must take care of them every day, detect diseases on the trunk and leaves and prevent them immediately. The last 3 months of the year are the hardest time. In addition to manure, the main fertilizer for the trees is crushed soybeans soaked in water for 1 month and then watered, watering 3 times a month and stopping in the 10th lunar month. When the weather is cold and foggy, anti-frost chemicals must be sprayed promptly to preserve the fruit.

This year's kumquat season is said to have even and beautiful fruits. Photo: Minh Hanh

Mr. Tai shared: “Since the 11th lunar month, many kumquat players and some agencies in the district have come to the garden to order. Some large, beautiful trees are sold for 700,000 - 800,000 VND/tree, the lowest is 200,000 - 300,000 VND/tree. In previous years, my family earned over 30 million VND from more than 100 kumquat trees. This year, my family has prepared over 200 trees to sell during Tet, including 170 small and medium-sized kumquat trees, in addition to 50 bonsai kumquat trees. If the weather is favorable, this year the family is estimated to earn about 70 million VND after deducting expenses.”

To ensure peach blossoms bloom on time for Tet, people have stripped the leaves off the peach trees, stimulating them to bloom and sprout. Photo: Ba Hau

As for Mr. Lo Hong Van's family, Trung Chinh village, Yen Khe commune (Con Cuong), these days they are also taking care of and pruning 130 peach trees to bloom and bud in time for Tet. According to Mr. Van, peach trees are used as decorations during Tet, with outstanding characteristics such as wide canopy, double red flowers spread evenly across the branches, large flowers, thick petals, blooming very beautifully.

Mr. Van also shared: “Peach trees are quite difficult to grow. I have to plant them so that they grow well, and at the same time, I have to fertilize and prune them at the right stage so that they bloom at the right time. The time from planting to harvesting takes about 3 years. Thanks to applying the right technical care process, the peach garden is now growing well, some trees have buds in time to sell this Tet holiday"./.

Ba Hau - Minh Hanh