People who are fond of growing trees and plants often keep planting new varieties of fruits and flowers. Three years ago, Neetu Sunish from Kerala started growing water lilies and lotus flowers, after which she started growing many varieties of flowers by asking from nearby ponds, nurseries and friends. Along with native flowers, he also started planting hybrid flowers. Today he has more than 100 varieties of hybrid lotus and about 65 water lily plants. After seeing his huge collection, many of his friends used to ask him for tubers. That’s when he thought it could become a good side business.
The Better India Neetu says, “Nowadays more and more people prefer to decorate with fresh flowers instead of fake flowers for family functions or festivals. At the same time, these hybrid varieties of flower plants are ready quickly. So its demand is also very high.”
teacher turned businesswoman
Neetu’s husband, a teacher by profession, works as a manager in NHPC Ltd. So she had to change city due to transfer of her husband and that was the reason why she decided to leave her job ten years back and do some online business. She has been doing online clothing business for almost eight years.
But due to her daughter’s studies, she decided to live permanently with her parents in Kerala a few years back. There he got a chance to do gardening at home. She says, “I have been growing lotus and lily for three years. Earlier, I used to bring these flowers from the nearby pond and plant it. But I came to know about its hybrid varieties online, after which I first planted it by importing tubers from Odisha.”
Tubers are called roots or tubers of these flowers, from which many small roots grow. A plant is formed from a tuber, but when the plant becomes large, it is repotted.
Gradually, she started growing many varieties of flower tubes by ordering them online. In just one year, his collection became very big. Today they have lotus varieties like Lady Bingley, Foreigner, Bucha, White Peony Lotus, Little Rain, Buddha Seat, Green Apple, Pink Cloud, Snow White, Peak of Pink and Lily’s Poonsup, Morodabay, Sanamchai, Rishi, Riya. Huh.
Started business with social media
Neetu says, “While repotting these plants, we get three to four tubers from which we can grow new plants. After seeing my collection, many of my friends used to ask me for tubers. That’s when I got the idea of its business.”
He started uploading pictures of his beautiful flowers on social media, after which people from all over the country started demanding tubers from him. She transports the tuber of these flowers and its small roots through courier across the country. He regularly receives orders from Kolkata, Pune and Mumbai. The hybrid varieties of tubers available with them cost in the market from Rs.300 to Rs.15000. Neetu gives these tubes to her customers at market price only.
teach othersor Lotus Cultivation
Neetu is running this business from the roof of her house. Impressed by him, a friend of his, Vinita Manoj, also started growing lilies and lotus during the last lockdown. After this, she is also doing its business now. Vinita says, “The hybrid tuber Neetu gave me the first time to grow lotus, after which she keeps giving me advice related to it from time to time. At present, I am also getting tubers from Bihar. There is good earning from this online business. I easily earn up to 30 thousand rupees in a season.
In the end, Neetu says that every person who is fond of gardening can do it comfortably. It doesn’t even require much care. You can contact Neetu on her Instagram page or 9961936210 to buy tubers.
Editing: Archana Dubey
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