While satisfying her own passion, Tien has earned an additional income of 60-70 million VND/year from this thorny tree. ($1=25,000 VND)

Falling in love with cactus after seeing a cactus that someone dumped on the side of the roadside garbage, Ms. Phan Thi Phung Tien (SN 1978), residing in Cai Dau town, Chau Phu district (An Giang) picked it up. About planting and caring in the home garden.

From a discarded cactus, carefully cared for, the cactus has grown, even producing beautiful small flowers.

From the cactus that was picked up in the roadside garbage heap, Tien had a special passion for cacti.

Seeing the intense vitality of this plant, outside of office time, Ms. Tien began to learn and buy new types of cactus to plant.

“Many trees I bought from abandoned gardens, dying trees, some trees because they were so infatuated but didn’t have the money to buy them, so I had to borrow 10 million dong to get a cactus to plant,” Tien shared.

Hundreds of types of cacti are collected by Ms. Tien and planted in her garden.

According to Ms. Tien, for the cactus roots that are neglected by gardeners, she buys them back, cleans them, then cuts off all the black thorns and diseased branches, then replaces the soil and replants.

As if by miracle, from the seemingly irreparable cactus came back to life and sprouted more saplings full of life.

There are trees worth millions of dong.

“My friends know that I like cacti, so a relative or someone who knows me from abroad also asked to buy cactus to bring back. I also researched, searched to buy many new varieties to plant for variety, “said Tien.

Tien said that the cactus has a very strong vitality, is extremely easy to grow and easy to care for. If in the rainy season, it takes about 2-3 days to water once. In particular, there is no need to fertilize, but the cactus still grows well.

Tien and his wife take turns taking care of the cactus garden with more than 500 species.

Although cactus has good drought tolerance, according to Ms. Tien, this plant is very sensitive to rain. Therefore, if planted in large quantities, they must have a roof from the rain but still have to ensure that the light shines throughout the day.

At first, Tien planted cacti just to satisfy her own passion, but gradually that passion spread to her friends and people around her. When visiting her house, many people asked to buy, she started thinking about breeding for sale.

The garden is not only a place to relax after her hard working day, but also attracts many friends to visit.

Each pot of cactus is sold by her for 20-30 thousand dong, even for imported varieties, large sizes will cost a few hundred thousand dongs to several million dong/plant, bringing her income from 5-6 million VND/month.

Therefore, in addition to the busy time with office administrative work, Ms. Tien only needs to spend 30 minutes to 1 hour a day taking care of the cactus garden. From this garden, she can see the trees, relax her mind and earn extra income.

In addition to growing cacti to satisfy her passion, she also provides plants and designs cactus gardens for many people in need.

Having money from the sale of cacti, she sought to buy new varieties of plants to plant. Up to now, Ms. Tien has owned a cactus garden with thousands of roots with about 500 different types.

In addition to supplying cactus to customers for many provinces and cities across the country, Ms. Tien also designs, decorates and supplies cactus for gardeners and cafes, bringing her income from 60-70 million VND/year.

Photo: Internet (Vietnamese.Quest.net)