How to Grow Tea? A Detailed Guide to Tea Plant Cultivation Methods and Techniques

As for tea, in our China tea is divided into six major tea categories, namely green tea, black tea, oolong tea, white tea, yellow tea and dark tea. So how do you grow tea?

1. How to grow tea

1. Land clearing

For tea gardens on gentle slopes below 15°, the land can be directly cleared. The turning depth is 50 cm. For slopes above 15°, build terraced steps along contour lines at equal height, and the terrace surface width should be greater than 1.5 m, then turn the soil. For cultivated land, after deep plowing and leveling, rows can be marked out for planting; for virgin wasteland, carry out primary and secondary clearing in two stages. The primary clearing depth reaches 50 cm; after deep plowing, there is no need to break up the soil clods, to help retain water. When turning the soil, be careful not to turn the sod into the lower layers, so that it can be cleared out of the garden during secondary clearing. Once primary clearing is complete, secondary clearing can be carried out, with a depth of 25-30 cm. Secondary clearing requires breaking up the soil clods and removing all roots of brush and grass. Never turn densely matted sod blocks into the lower layer, to avoid weeds rotting and forming holes that affect the tea seedlings' root uptake of water and nutrients.

2. Planting

Planting should be done during the period of underground growth activity, which is beneficial for root elongation and development, and also helps absorb soil nutrients for the nutrients needed for the aboveground part to begin growing. In high mountain areas, the planting period for tea seedlings should be in February each year (around the Spring Festival).

In the planting ditch of the cleared tea garden, use planting tools to dig holes 10-12 cm deep, with a hole diameter of more than 10 cm, plant the tea seedlings vertically in the holes, fill with soil, and press firmly, or use tools to tamp the soil layer on three sides of the seedling stem, then cover with 1-2 cm of fine soil, and water thoroughly. When planting, the seedlings should be set 1-2 cm deeper than normal. It is ideal if planting can be done before rain. Tea seedling planting should use the “double-row single-plant” method, with a plant spacing of 30 cm, and plants arranged in a triangle between plants. In the tea rows of the planting ditch, spread 3-5 cm thick rice straw or other grasses for mulching, which helps maintain temperature and moisture, and also inhibits weed growth.

3. Pruning

The pruning period should be in late May or early June, or after the autumn tea is finished in mid-October.

The pruning methods are as follows:

Formative pruning: its purpose is to cultivate a reasonable tree framework and high-yield canopy during the young stage of the tea plant. Generally carried out 4 times, and the cut point on the new shoots must be woody or semi-woody each time. The first pruning is combined with planting, cutting at 15-18 cm above the ground; the second, third and fourth prunings require cutting 15 cm above the previous cut. After four formative prunings, the tree height has reached 60 cm, with a 2-3 level branching structure, initially forming a reasonable plucking canopy, and can then be put into production.

Light pruning: the purpose of light pruning is to adjust the canopy and cultivate a good plucking surface. Carried out once a year, the degree of light pruning is based on cutting off 3-5 cm from the canopy surface, mainly to cut off small stubs and useless new shoots on the canopy surface.

Deep pruning: for trees that have undergone years of plucking and light pruning, the deep pruning method should be used to cut off a layer of branches and leaves 10-15 cm from the upper part of the canopy, so that the tea plant sprouts new branches again, improves the tea plant's sprouting ability, and extends the number of years of high and stable yield.

Heavy pruning: for half-aged and prematurely aging tea trees, it is generally appropriate to cut off 1/2 of the original tree height, combined with tidying (selective pruning), to re-cultivate strong branches and a plucking canopy.

Frame pruning: for very old tea trees, it is appropriate to saw (or cut) off all branches and trunks at a height of about 10-15 cm above the ground, and re-cultivate the tree framework structure and plucking canopy.