Where can you buy eagle tea seeds? What are the seedling cultivation methods?
Eagle tea is one of the traditional beverages of the Bashu region. Although its name contains "tea," the raw plant is not of the tea family; eagle tea is a woody plant of the Lauraceae family, an evergreen tree. Its tender branches and leaves are picked and sun-dried, then brewed as a tea, locally called eagle tea, also known as old tea. It is said that eagle tea has been consumed as a folk beverage for hundreds of years and is now one of the important poverty-alleviation planting industries in the Bashu region. So where can you buy eagle tea seeds? What are the seedling cultivation methods? Let's take a look.
Where can you buy eagle tea seeds?
Eagle tea is mainly distributed in some counties, cities and villages in the Wushan mountain area, and the seeds are mostly self-collected. If you want to buy them, you can go to these production areas for inquiries. Of course, some online platforms also sell eagle tea seeds; pay attention to the legitimacy of the platform and make sure to choose high-quality eagle tea seeds.
What are the seedling cultivation methods?
1. Tea garden construction
Tea garden construction should be adapted to local conditions. Generally, choose a place with an altitude between 1200-1800 m, concentrated and contiguous land, deep and fertile soil, good surrounding vegetation, mild climate, moderate slope, and convenient transportation as the site for tea garden construction.
2. Propagation of superior varieties
Generally, two methods are used: short-stem cuttings and direct sowing of tea seeds. The short-stem cutting method uses semi-lignified one-year-old branches as cuttings, with a stem length of 5 cm, bearing one leaf and one axillary bud. The seedbed uses clean yellow soil, and the seedbed should be kept moist and shaded. Cuttings are taken from June to November, and one-year-old tea seedlings are transplanted out of the nursery.
3. Sowing management
Dig planting trenches 80 cm deep and 60 cm wide, and apply sufficient base fertilizer. Generally, apply 2000 kg of farmyard manure or 100 kg of compound fertilizer per mu, using the single-plant planting method, with about 2000 plants per mu.
4. Management of seedlings by tea age
Regularly hoe and earth up, prevent livestock trampling, control pests and diseases, replant missing plants and gaps, ensure full stands, and carry out shaping pruning to cultivate an ideal tea bush.
5. Picking
From March to June, pick from single buds to three leaves with one bud. It is strictly forbidden to pick buds and leaves wet with rain or dew, purple buds and leaves, or buds and leaves damaged by pests and diseases.
In general, eagle tea is an ancient tea species unique to the folk culture of southwestern China. This purely wild ecological tea may not look attractive, but it has a very peculiar fragrance and leaves a lingering aroma in the mouth after drinking. In addition, Compendium of Materia Medica also records effects such as "relieving cough, eliminating phlegm, relieving asthma, and relieving summer heat and thirst." Its wild species are found throughout the mountainous areas of the provinces south of the Yangtze River in China.
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