When Hanoi eased its lockdown, Nguyen Thu Anh did not go out to enjoy indoor dining like many of her friends did. Instead, she bought 10 potted plants. There are a dozen plants like pothos, fern, ivy, and shatavari in her 15-square-meter room. "My mother said my room is like the Amazon jungle," the 20-year-old student says.
While her family might be astonished at her collection, it is nothing compared to other plants enthusiasts. In Hanoi's Cau Giay District, Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc’s garden has more than 70 kinds of plants. Dinh Hoang Giang says he has lost count of the number of plants he has in his three-story house in Ba Dinh District, though he only moved there a year ago.
The 25-year-old businessman says: "My plants grew very fast. The balcony on my third floor is already filled with pots and so I put new ones on the roof".
Growing plants at home is now a popular trend among young Vietnamese. On social media, groups on houseplants have attracted thousands of passionate members. The owner of a plant shop on Hanoi's Kim Ma Street says, though the city has just eased out of a two-month lockdown on Sept. 16, sales have doubled from last year.
A shop selling pots on Vu Trong Phung Street has even run out of stocks and is waiting for new shipments to arrive. Nguyen Xuan Huynh, an employee at a plant shop on Dang Van Ngu Street, says most of her customers are people in their 20s.
The store says demand for plants has increased sharply, especially since last year. Five employees have to take turns replying to messages on Facebook since "there are lots of customers contacting us to buy plants." Huynh says: "Hundreds of customers have also sent plants to our shop, asking us to take care of them. But we cannot accept all requests since our shop is not that big".
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