What are the conditions for growing tea? A full analysis of the environmental requirements

Tea cultivation what are the conditions? Tea cultivation is mainly concentrated between 16 degrees south latitude and 30 degrees north latitude. The tea plant prefers a warm, humid climate; the buds begin to sprout when the average temperature is above 10°C, and the optimum temperature for growth is 20-25°C; the annual rainfall must be above 1000 mm; it likes light and tolerates shade, and is suited to growing under diffused light. Its life is divided into the seedling stage, juvenile stage, mature stage and old age stage.

[Soil]

Red soil, yellow soil, sandy loam and brown forest soil are all suitable for tea plant growth. The soil structure must have good water retention and good drainage. There must be no hardpan within 1 m of the top layer. The soil must show an acidic reaction, with a pH value of 4.5—6.5 (4.5—5.5 is most suitable). The tea plant is a calcifuge, with a lime content below 0.2%, and the groundwater level below 1 m from the surface. The reason acidic soil is especially suitable for growing tea is first that acidic soil provides the suitable conditions for the tea plant's own growth. The sap in the tea plant's roots contains a variety of organic acids, which provide an ideal symbiotic environment for the root fungi that live symbiotically with the tea plant, thereby improving the tea plant's nutrient and moisture conditions.

[Rainfall]

Under appropriate soil conditions and a certain level of management, tea yield and quality depend mainly on meteorological conditions, and temperature and rainfall have a more obvious effect on tea yield. The suitable annual rainfall for the tea plant is about 1500 mm. In most tea regions of China, the annual rainfall is between 1200--1800 mm, which can basically satisfy the normal growth of the tea plant. Too much rainfall, or rainfall of too great intensity, easily causes soil erosion, affects tea growth, and the tea grown has a weak taste; too little rain, such as a monthly rainfall below 50 mm during the growing season, will inhibit tea plant growth, causing buds and leaves to grow slowly, leaves to become smaller, internodes to become shorter, and leaf texture to become coarse, old and hard, affecting yield and quality.

[Sunlight]

The effect of light on the tea plant is mainly the intensity and nature of the light. The tea plant has a shade-tolerant character and likes weak light and diffused light. From an analysis of the absorption spectrum of chlorophyll, the blue-violet part of the light wave, which is shorter in wavelength, is the most abundant, and diffused light is mainly the shorter-wavelength blue-violet light. Therefore, there is a basis for the tea plant growing well under diffused light conditions.

[Temperature]

Temperatures that are too high or too low both affect tea yield and quality. When the temperature is above 30 degrees, the new shoots of the tea plant grow slowly or even stop; when the daily average temperature is above 35 degrees and lasts for several days, the tea plant's leaves will fall off, the new shoots will also die, and both yield and quality will decline. The tea plant can endure low temperatures of --6---18 degrees, but most tea plants suffer freeze damage at --8 degrees. Because the range, speed and duration of the temperature drop and the air humidity and wind strength differ, the degree of damage to the tea plant differs. After the tea buds sprout, if freeze damage occurs, the effect on yield is very great. After the tea plant is frozen, not only are its physiological functions harmed and its yield reduced, but the anthocyanins in the tea leaves also increase greatly, the leaves turn purplish-brown or the edges of mature leaves turn brown, and sometimes some dried spots appear on the fresh leaves, thereby reducing the quality of the tea. In addition, the size of the day-night temperature difference also affects tea quality. A large day-night temperature difference can maintain the tenderness of the tea plant's new shoots and improve tea quality.

[Terrain]

Terrain conditions mainly include altitude, slope and slope aspect. As altitude rises, temperature and humidity both change noticeably. In mountainous areas at a certain height, rainfall is abundant, there is much cloud and mist, air humidity is high, and diffused light is strong, which is favourable for tea plant growth, but it is not the case that the higher the better; above 1000 m there will be freeze damage. Generally, a south-facing slope is preferred. The slope should not be too great, generally required to be below 30 degrees.