Detailed Explanation of Key Points of Tea Plant Fertilization Techniques (Part 1)
Tea Plant Fertilization Techniques (Part 1)
According to the growth characteristics and nutrient requirements of tea plants, tea plant fertilization can be divided into bottom fertilizer, base fertilizer and topdressing, etc.
1. Bottom fertilizer.
Bottom fertilizer refers to the fertilizer applied when opening up a new tea garden or replanting after changing crops, and its main role is to increase the organic matter in the tea garden soil, improve the soil's physical and chemical properties, promote soil maturation, raise soil fertility, and create good soil conditions for the later growth, high quality and high yield of tea plants.
According to research by Yin Daoming (1992), under equal nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium conditions, the effect of organic fertilizer as bottom fertilizer is clearly superior to chemical fertilizer, showing as barnyard manure > cake fertilizer > grass fertilizer > chemical fertilizer. Bottom fertilizer should be applied in layers, with soil and fertilizer blended together, to promote the maturation of deep soil and induce tea plant roots to develop into deeper layers. If the amount of bottom fertilizer is large, it can be applied over the whole area; if the amount of bottom fertilizer is relatively small, it can be applied concentrated in the planting trench. When digging the trench, keep topsoil and deep soil separate, make the trench 40-50 cm deep, then loosen the soil at the bottom of the trench another 15-20 cm, apply fertilizer layer by layer, first filling back topsoil, and after each layer of soil and fertilizer is mixed evenly, apply the next layer.
2. Base fertilizer.
The fertilizer applied after tea picking stops for the year is called base fertilizer. The role of base fertilizer is to ensure the nutrients needed for root activity when entering winter, and also to provide nutrients for tea buds to sprout the following year.
(1) Timing of base fertilizer application.
The suitable timing for base fertilizer application is closely related to the tea plant growing season. In principle, it should be applied immediately after the tea season ends. In particular, note that base fertilizer must not be applied in winter. On the one hand, the damage caused to tea plant roots by trenching cannot recover, affecting the tea plants' overwintering; on the other hand, in winter the absorption capacity of tea plant roots is low, so very little of the applied fertilizer is absorbed. Research by Wu Xun and Ru Guomin showed that applying base fertilizer too late reduces its contribution rate to spring tea. Base fertilizer applied on September 24 had a nitrogen fertilizer utilization rate of 30.8% by the end of the following spring tea, base fertilizer applied on October 25 had a utilization rate of 21.5%, while base fertilizer applied on December 25 had a utilization rate of only 18.1%. However, base fertilizer also cannot be applied too early. If a year has unusually high late-autumn temperatures, it will cause some overwintering buds to sprout, affecting the following year's spring tea yield and also being unfavorable for the tea plants' overwintering. In the South China tea region, the tea plant growth period is relatively long, and aboveground growth stops from mid-November to early December, so the timing of base fertilizer application is from mid-to-late November to early December.
(2) Base fertilizer types and amounts.
As base fertilizer, it is required to contain relatively high organic matter in order to enrich the soil, improve the soil's physical and chemical properties, and enhance the soil's ability to retain and supply fertilizer; at the same time, base fertilizer must also contain certain quick-acting nutrient components so that tea plants can absorb them. Therefore, tea garden base fertilizer should preferably use various organic fertilizers such as cake fertilizer, compost and barnyard manure, and when necessary mix in part of quick-acting nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, or mix in compound fertilizer, so as to make up for each other's shortcomings. The amount of base fertilizer depends on the production level of the tea garden. Generally speaking, for producing tea gardens, the amount of nitrogen fertilizer in base fertilizer accounts for 30%-40% of the annual amount, while phosphate fertilizer and trace element fertilizer can all be applied as base fertilizer. Potassium, magnesium fertilizer, etc., when the amount is not large, can be applied once as base fertilizer; when the amount is large, part is applied as base fertilizer and part as topdressing. Taking the Yingde tea region as an example, in winter the rows can be deeply cultivated 40 cm, and 4000-5000 kg of barnyard manure applied per mu, then covered with grass after application.
1. Bottom fertilizer.
Bottom fertilizer refers to the fertilizer applied when opening up a new tea garden or replanting after changing crops, and its main role is to increase the organic matter in the tea garden soil, improve the soil's physical and chemical properties, promote soil maturation, raise soil fertility, and create good soil conditions for the later growth, high quality and high yield of tea plants.
According to research by Yin Daoming (1992), under equal nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium conditions, the effect of organic fertilizer as bottom fertilizer is clearly superior to chemical fertilizer, showing as barnyard manure > cake fertilizer > grass fertilizer > chemical fertilizer. Bottom fertilizer should be applied in layers, with soil and fertilizer blended together, to promote the maturation of deep soil and induce tea plant roots to develop into deeper layers. If the amount of bottom fertilizer is large, it can be applied over the whole area; if the amount of bottom fertilizer is relatively small, it can be applied concentrated in the planting trench. When digging the trench, keep topsoil and deep soil separate, make the trench 40-50 cm deep, then loosen the soil at the bottom of the trench another 15-20 cm, apply fertilizer layer by layer, first filling back topsoil, and after each layer of soil and fertilizer is mixed evenly, apply the next layer.
2. Base fertilizer.
The fertilizer applied after tea picking stops for the year is called base fertilizer. The role of base fertilizer is to ensure the nutrients needed for root activity when entering winter, and also to provide nutrients for tea buds to sprout the following year.
(1) Timing of base fertilizer application.
The suitable timing for base fertilizer application is closely related to the tea plant growing season. In principle, it should be applied immediately after the tea season ends. In particular, note that base fertilizer must not be applied in winter. On the one hand, the damage caused to tea plant roots by trenching cannot recover, affecting the tea plants' overwintering; on the other hand, in winter the absorption capacity of tea plant roots is low, so very little of the applied fertilizer is absorbed. Research by Wu Xun and Ru Guomin showed that applying base fertilizer too late reduces its contribution rate to spring tea. Base fertilizer applied on September 24 had a nitrogen fertilizer utilization rate of 30.8% by the end of the following spring tea, base fertilizer applied on October 25 had a utilization rate of 21.5%, while base fertilizer applied on December 25 had a utilization rate of only 18.1%. However, base fertilizer also cannot be applied too early. If a year has unusually high late-autumn temperatures, it will cause some overwintering buds to sprout, affecting the following year's spring tea yield and also being unfavorable for the tea plants' overwintering. In the South China tea region, the tea plant growth period is relatively long, and aboveground growth stops from mid-November to early December, so the timing of base fertilizer application is from mid-to-late November to early December.
(2) Base fertilizer types and amounts.
As base fertilizer, it is required to contain relatively high organic matter in order to enrich the soil, improve the soil's physical and chemical properties, and enhance the soil's ability to retain and supply fertilizer; at the same time, base fertilizer must also contain certain quick-acting nutrient components so that tea plants can absorb them. Therefore, tea garden base fertilizer should preferably use various organic fertilizers such as cake fertilizer, compost and barnyard manure, and when necessary mix in part of quick-acting nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, or mix in compound fertilizer, so as to make up for each other's shortcomings. The amount of base fertilizer depends on the production level of the tea garden. Generally speaking, for producing tea gardens, the amount of nitrogen fertilizer in base fertilizer accounts for 30%-40% of the annual amount, while phosphate fertilizer and trace element fertilizer can all be applied as base fertilizer. Potassium, magnesium fertilizer, etc., when the amount is not large, can be applied once as base fertilizer; when the amount is large, part is applied as base fertilizer and part as topdressing. Taking the Yingde tea region as an example, in winter the rows can be deeply cultivated 40 cm, and 4000-5000 kg of barnyard manure applied per mu, then covered with grass after application.