A Complete Guide to Fertilizing Tea Gardens: Timing and Methods
Tea culture is one of China's traditional cultures, and tea is one of the three major beverages of humankind; drinking tea regularly is good for human health. There are many varieties of tea, each with its own unique flavor, and their prices vary widely. Let's take a look below at what time tea gardens generally fertilize? How is it done?
1. What time do tea gardens generally fertilize?
Base fertilizer for tea gardens should be applied early. Generally, after entering autumn, when the aboveground parts of the tea plant stop growing, it is applied together with winter plowing and weeding; earlier is better than later. This is because the base fertilizer used in tea gardens is mainly organic fertilizer (decomposed farmyard manure), whose nutrients are released relatively slowly. In order to provide nutrients to the tea plant in time, the base fertilizer must be applied appropriately early, so that it decomposes and releases nutrients in the soil early, thereby improving the tea plant's fertilizer use efficiency, increasing the tea plant's absorption and accumulation of nutrients, and helping the tea plant resist cold and overwinter, as well as ensuring sufficient nutrition for the formation and sprouting of new shoots for next year's spring tea, thus improving the yield and quality of tea leaves.
2. How is fertilization carried out in tea gardens?
1. Apply base fertilizer heavily
From October each year to March of the following year, the tea plant enters dormancy, but its roots are still absorbing and storing nutrients from the soil. During this period, applying base fertilizer heavily can promote earlier sprouting of next year's spring tea and can also improve the quality of spring tea leaves.
Generally speaking, the amount of base fertilizer applied must not be less than 50% of the annual fertilization amount. For base fertilizer in tea gardens at the mature stage, if cake fertilizer is used, it must be no less than 150 kg per mu; if compost is used, it must be no less than 1,000 kg per mu. It is best to fertilize in early October each year.
When fertilizing, the deep fertilization method should be used, digging fertilizer trenches about 25 cm deep. In different regions, the timing of fertilization can be chosen according to local geographical and climatic conditions, and may be appropriately advanced or postponed.
2. Apply sprout-promoting fertilizer early
To make spring tea sprout early and seize the market, in addition to paying attention to base fertilizer, sprout-promoting fertilizer should also be applied early. The fertilization time is generally chosen from late February to early March each year, and the specific timing needs to be chosen according to the tea plant variety and temperature: tea plant varieties that tolerate high temperatures and sprout early should be fertilized earlier; otherwise, the fertilization time should be delayed.
3. Apply summer and autumn topdressing well
If summer tea and autumn tea are picked in the tea garden, summer and autumn topdressing needs to be applied well to meet the nutrient needs of summer and autumn tea. Generally, topdressing should be carried out immediately after spring tea and summer tea are picked. The summer fertilizer time is best in late May, while autumn tea fertilization needs to avoid “summer drought” weather to prevent fertilizer from burning the tea plant.
4. Apply foliar fertilizer skillfully
According to the growth conditions of the tea plant, especially the growth conditions of the tea leaves, apply foliar fertilizer skillfully. If the tea plant is found to have poor nutrition or a deficiency of certain nutrient elements, root-external fertilizer needs to be applied for remediation.
The various trace elements and scarce elements required by foliar fertilizer need to be applied by spraying. If foliar fertilizer is sprayed in pollution-free tea gardens or organic tea gardens, it needs to be registered with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
After spraying foliar fertilizer during the tea season, tea leaves can only be picked after ten days; if organic foliar fertilizer is sprayed, tea leaves can only be picked after twenty days.