From a capital of 10 million dong, male bachelor quit his high-paying job to grow lotus in pots. This job helps him sell thousands of products every month.
Looking at the green lotus garden of 2 hectares after 4 years of starting a business, Mr. Vu Thanh Toan (33 years old, from Thai Binh province) said that every month, he supplies 1,000-2,000 plants and seeds to the market.
Particularly for lotus products in pots, customers come to Nuoc Nuoc to help the owner sell 50-70 pots/day. The revenue of the lotus pot model can be up to hundreds of millions of dong per month.
According to Toan, lotus is not only grown in ponds but also brought to pots and displayed in the garden. Therefore, the demand for this ornamental plant is increasing day by day. Above all, lotus is easy to grow, so our customers do not need to spend too much effort.
Mr. Toan said that Sen is very sunny, is often grown under temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius and is suitable for 4-6 hours of direct sunlight or more.
In addition, lotus lives well in clean, chemical-free water. Growers only need to pump a steady amount of water into the pot.
“Sen is known to live near the mud, but the mud must also be clean, taken naturally in ponds and fields. It can be turned into meat, mixed with a little water, then turned into mud and then planted lotuses,” said Toan.
Each year, the garden has 2 harvest seasons, in early May and August. Accordingly, each season will have 30-45 days for lotus to bud, then bloom for 3-4 months. After each crop, the grower will prune the leaves when the lotus has created a tuber, to wait for the new blooming season.
“The lotus rarely suffers from pests and diseases, so it doesn’t have to be sprayed. However, the wrong flower or not depends on the variety,” he said.
It is known that the most popular type of lotus is the Japanese mini lotus. The name is like that, but Toan revealed that the variety was imported from Thailand and China.
“Because the trees in Japan have a small shape, so the lotus world named it like that to have a feeling that the product is somewhat more delicate. But the truth is that it is not made in Japan,” Mr. Toan confided.
The owner of the lotus garden also revealed that there are many people in the market who do not understand well, so they should buy lotus seeds to plant. In fact, those are lotus seeds, but the seller advertised as Japanese mini lotus, which made him extremely worried.
“Japanese lotus is often benevolent from plants and bulbs. People who are wrongly bought and brought back often plant no flowers, and the leaves are big,” the boss revealed.
Previously, Mr. Toan worked as a supervisor at a famous food company. With a salary of 12-15 million VND/month in 2015, the fact that he quit his job to start a business was like a “lightning strike” for his family.
“At that time, my father strongly protested. Even when I came to rent land to grow lotus, he also told the landowner not to rent it to me, because I have no agricultural experience,” said Toan, laughing. .
Love agriculture, high ego and like … arguing with the boss are the reasons that Mr. Toan applied for leave. Above all, he realized that potted lotus is gradually becoming popular, high profit and easy to grow but no one has done it. So, the guy started everything with the accumulated amount of 10 million dong.
Can’t borrow money from his parents, Toan recklessly borrowed 70 million VND from outside. Toan also sells phones and other valuable items to collect money to improve the ground and buy seeds.
“Business has never been easy, I don’t know if it’s successful or not. But if you don’t take risks, you can’t do anything,” emphasized the young man.
The family has a tradition of farming, so Toan both planted and consulted his mother. The first products, Toan posted online and received the support of many people. Each lotus pot, Toan sells for 150,000-500,000 VND. Many pots are expensive, the price can be up to 5 million VND/pot.
More and more visitors are coming, Toan is also open for visitors to visit his 2ha lotus garden. This helps to increase profits, Toan also creates jobs for workers in the countryside. The boy is renovating to expand a 30-hectare lotus garden, aiming at the market of lotus flowers in vases.
($1=24,000 VND)
Photo: Internet (Vinlove.net)