Detailed Explanation of Spring Tea Production Characteristics and Technical Countermeasures

Spring is the beginning of the tea plant's annual growth cycle, and it is also the key season when tea accounts for a large proportion of the year's total output and is of good quality. Usually, spring tea output accounts for 40%-50% of the annual total, and its output value exceeds 50% of the annual total. Therefore, great importance must be attached to spring tea production.

After winter dormancy, by spring the nutrients accumulated in the tea plant reach their highest level; in addition, abundant spring rainfall, mild climate and few pests and diseases constitute the conditions for high yield and high quality of spring tea. Spring tea begins in April and ends in mid-to-late May; in just over 1 month, 50% of the year's tea must be picked. Time is tight and the task is heavy. In addition, this period coincides with the busy farming season. If arrangements are improper, new shoots are likely to grow too large and become old, directly affecting the quality of spring tea. If management cannot keep up at this time, causing insufficient nutrients in the tea plant, it will affect growth and the yield of tea in the next season. In view of the characteristics of spring tea production, the following measures can be adopted in technical management.

1 Timely pruning to promote early sprouting

Timely and moderate pruning can promote and regulate the growth of new shoots, maintain vigorous growth of the tea plant, make the plucking surface neat and uniform, and improve plucking efficiency; however, if pruning is too deep, it will reduce the number of new shoots sprouting and cause a decline in yield. Pruning too early will cause frost damage to tea buds; pruning too late will delay the sprouting of tea buds. Therefore, spring pruning should be light rather than heavy, cutting back about 3 cm of the canopy, removing thin and dead twigs from the tea plant surface, and carrying it out immediately after the freezing period ends. For tea plants whose surface branches are uneven, whose sprouting ability has weakened, whose vigor has declined, and whose yield has dropped significantly, deep pruning of 10-15 cm can be carried out to renew and rejuvenate them and cultivate a broad and flat plucking surface.

2 Apply spring fertilizer early to promote vigorous sprouting

Fertilizer is the material basis for tea plant growth, and high-yielding tea plants have very vigorous vegetative growth. The base fertilizer in tea gardens has a slow effect and cannot fully meet the needs of tea bud sprouting and growth. In order to promote more and vigorous sprouting of tea buds, quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer must be applied once as a top dressing before spring tea sprouting to increase the tea plant's nutrition. The top dressing should be applied in mid-to-late March or earlier, with 25-50 kg of urea applied per mu (667 sq m). The specific amount is determined according to tea yield; the usual standard is that for every 100 kg of dry tea produced, 12.5 kg of pure nitrogen is applied as top dressing. Before fertilizing, carry out a full cultivation and weeding in the tea garden once, then open a ditch about 20 cm deep along the vertical position of the canopy, broadcast the fertilizer into it, and immediately cover with soil.

3 Start plucking in time to suppress the "flood peak"

In spring, when the temperature stabilizes at 10°C, the various nutrient buds of the tea plant begin to absorb water and nutrients and continuously expand and sprout. Because sprouting is rapid and concentrated, a "flood peak" often appears. In order to prevent tea from becoming old, plucking must begin in the garden in time. When 5%-8% of the new shoots on the tea plant reach the plucking standard, plucking should begin to produce tender, famous and high-quality tea; when 10%-15% of the new shoots on the tea plant reach the plucking standard, plucking should begin to produce bulk black and green tea. At the same time, throughout the entire spring tea plucking process, it is strictly necessary to pluck frequently in batches, plucking first what sprouts first and later what sprouts later. In this way, spring shoot growth can tend to be balanced, suppressing or easing the "flood peak," which is conducive to increasing tea yield and improving quality and to adjusting the labor used for tea plucking.