In the flower fields in districts Nghi Loc, Dien Chau and Quynh Luu, over the last two months farmers have been tilling the soil and sowing seeds to serve the 2023 Lunar New Year crop.

For them, Tet is the most important crop of the year. To have bountiful crops, farmers have to work day and night, weeding, fertilizing and spraying pesticides. Lighting lamps at night is one of the important techniques used to help flowers grow as desired.

Tran Thi Van, 52, in Nghi Hoa commune in Nghi Loc district, said it has rained a lot this year, so flowers are likely to get infected with fungi and pests, so they may grow slowly. 

Daisies are a short-term flower, which can flower quickly. But the plants will not have enough light to obtain a suitable height before blossoming.

“We have been using lighting systems throughout the night for a month now. This keeps the plants awake, turns night into daytime, and helps control the harvesting time. This can also help trees obtain a height of 60-80 cm. After that, we will turn off the light so that plants can give flower buds,” Van explained.

Farmers use one lamp 1-2 meters away from each other. The lamps are 1.5 meters higher than the leaves.

The most commonly used lamps here are 15-20W. The lamps are lit from 6 pm to 5 am, and lit for 30-45 days. They are mostly lit during the seedling stage.

Farmers keep close watch over the process of leading and budding. If flowers look like they will bloom later than expected, they spray chemicals to stimulate the blooming process.

When night falls, lamps are lit simultaneously. Flower fields look prominent in the middle of the darkness, creating a shimmering, brilliant scenery.

Floriculture is seasonable. Every Tet season, farmers ‘eat and sleep’ with flowers, taking care to be sure that they blossom on the right schedule so that they can go for good prices. This gives them enough money to have a comfortable Tet.

Quoc Huy - Tran Van Tuyen