INNOVATION

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month

Bùi Đăng Minh•Tuesday, September 8, 2026•18 min read

Science

(Dan Tri) - By boldly spending half a billion VND to invest in a hydroponic system, a farmer in Hanoi was able to regularly harvest nearly 1 ton of clean vegetables every month.

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 1

Instead of crawling on muddy ground like the traditional method, tens of thousands of pennywort roots at a farm in Chuong My (Hanoi) "climb" onto clean hydroponic tube platforms with large, round, lush leaves.

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 2

By boldly spending half a billion VND to invest in a modern greenhouse system and a specialized hydroponic system, young farmer Le Thi Phuong's family was able to regularly harvest nearly 1 ton of clean vegetables every month.

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 3

To nurture pennywort plants using the hydroponic method, Ms. Phuong invested in a methodical water operation system. All irrigation water for the farm is exploited from a drilled well nearly 100m deep, then put into an underground tank system for filtration and thorough treatment before being piped into the pipes.

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 4

The farm currently owns a total length of cultivation pipes of more than 20,000m, combining horizontal pipe and A-shaped pipe models. Thanks to complete isolation from the ground, the hydroponic pennywort garden eliminates all weeds and minimizes harmful pests.

According to Ms. Phuong, growing pennywort hydroponically is the most difficult thing to do is manage the water source and pH level. Every day, technicians must check each pipe to see if there is a water blockage or a blockage of the nutrient injector to avoid the plant from wilting.

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 5

To maintain a yield of nearly 1 ton of fresh pennywort per month, the farm applies a scientific technical control and operating process. The parallel horizontal truss system helps distribute light evenly and control nutrient water flow effectively.

Every 2-3 days, nutrients must be added and the pH measured accurately within the range of 5.5 to 6.5. Every 25 to 30 days, all water in the tank must be changed to ensure the cleanest growing environment.

The entire care process once the plants are on the farming platform does not use pesticides or toxic chemicals.

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - June

To have the current smooth operating model, Ms. Phuong had to go through an arduous trial process in the early days of starting her business. Initially, by imitating the popular A-shaped truss model in the South to optimize the area, she installed this type of truss simultaneously.

However, the harsh hot climate of the Northern summer has caused the zig-zag circulation of water from the top of the A to the bottom to heat up very quickly. Hot plastic pipes and hot water caused pennywort roots to rot, burn leaves and die en masse.

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - July 7

She had to make a bold decision to destroy half of the technically defective A-frame trusses to completely switch to a parallel horizontal truss design.

At the same time, she redesigned the water line to flow directly into end A and exit at end B of each pipe to avoid heat accumulation. This change has helped the farm officially overcome the crisis and enter a stable production trajectory.

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - August

After each harvest lasting 30-35 days, the farmer will clean the pipes, remove dead leaves, treat the root fungus with safe biological methods, and then let the next crop of vegetables recover and grow on their own.

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - September

Ms. Phuong said that hydroponically grown pennywort brings outstanding advantages: "If grown on traditional soil in the North, pennywort plants often die completely in the winter. But thanks to the hydroponic system in the greenhouse, vegetable plants still grow all year round, even though winter is a little slower than summer, it still ensures a stable harvest of vegetables.

In particular, the taste of hydroponic pennywort is sweet, cool and light, not pungent, bitter or fishy like pennywort grown on soil, making it very easy for people who are drinking the juice for the first time to get used to it."

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 10

To optimize economic efficiency from the hydroponic farm, Ms. Phuong did not choose the path of only selling ordinary raw fresh vegetables. If you only depend on selling original fresh pennywort to wholesalers, the price will be unstable, fluctuating at only about 35,000-40,000 VND/kg, and easily fall into the "good season and lose value" situation when output peaks.

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 11

After spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 12

From that reality, the young farmer sought to close the cycle of products from farm to table, typically pennywort juice.

Spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 13

Juice products not only completely solve the output problem for the farm but also bring a regular cash flow, directly compensating for fixed costs and operating costs of the giant greenhouse system.

Spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 14

On average, 1kg of fresh pennywort can grind 2 to 3 liters of pennywort juice. With the current retail price of 40,000 VND for a 1-liter bottle, each pound of deeply processed pennywort will bring in revenue of about 80,000 to 100,000 VND.

Spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 15

To operate the farm, monthly expenses (including electricity, water, nutrition and basic labor) are controlled at about 20 million VND. To achieve this optimal result is thanks to the consensus and contribution of Ms. Phuong's family members.

On busy harvest occasions that require a lot of manpower, the farm will hire local mothers and grandmothers by day to create more income for people around the area.

Spending half a billion to force pennywort to "wean" the soil, a Hanoi girl collects a ton of vegetables every month - 16

"Doing high-tech agriculture is really difficult, consuming a lot more capital than initially expected. If anyone intends to invest in this model, I advise you to study the technique seriously, carefully calculate the output orientation and above all, have a burning love and passion for clean agriculture to go a long way," Ms. Phuong shared.

Nguồn / Original source: Dân trí