Key Cultivation Techniques and Management Methods for White Tea
White tea is a precious new tea tree variety introduced to Huangjiabu Town, Yuyao, Zhejiang. The rare white tea made from the buds and leaves of this tea tree as raw material is beautiful in form, excellent in quality and unique in style; the tender buds and leaves are like jade and orchids, and the finished dry tea has a emerald green color with golden edges; when brewed, it is like jade dancing; after brewing, the aroma is elegant and lasting, the taste is sweet, mellow and refreshing, the liquor color is clear and bright, the infused leaves are white as jade with emerald green veins, and the buds form clusters like newly opened orchids, which is very peculiar. The cultivation techniques for white tea in our town are introduced as follows:
I. Cultivation techniques for white tea
(1) Choose a good site. To build a white tea garden, choose a gently sloping area that is sheltered from wind and facing the sun, with flat terrain and deep soil. The total soil layer should be 0.80-1.00 m, and the loose soil layer should be about 0.50 m. The groundwater level should be low, and the soil should have good aeration and fertilizer retention. Soils that are acidic, such as yellow earth, sandy yellow earth and red-yellow earth, are best.
(2) Deep plowing and land preparation, with sufficient base fertilizer. The land for planting white tea should be deep plowed to 0.45-0.50 m, with drainage ditches opened around it, and after leveling the land, apply base fertilizer in layers, with about 3,000 kg of livestock manure per mu. Add 150 to 200 kg of cake fertilizer and 20-25 kg of potassium sulfate compound fertilizer (double the amount for tea-specific compound fertilizer). The base fertilizer should be applied deeply in three dimensions, so that when transplanting, the roots do not directly touch the fertilizer, to avoid fertilizer burning the roots. This affects the survival of the tea seedlings.
(3) Planting scale. To improve efficiency, appropriate close planting may be used. For single-row strip planting, the row spacing is 1.33 and the clump spacing is 0.33 m, with 2-3 seedlings per clump; for the double-row type, the small row spacing is 0.33 m, and the rest is the same as single-row.
(4) Transplanting: When the tea seedlings are planted, open the transplanting ditches or planting holes according to the row and clump spacing determined by the planting scale. It is best to open them and plant immediately. Keep the soil in the ditches (holes) moist. White tea seedlings are all propagated by asexual cuttings. They have no main root and a relatively shallow root system, so they should be planted somewhat deeply at planting. Generally, planting to the point where the root collar (mud gate) is buried is appropriate.
(5) If there is a long period of clear weather, water several times to make up for it, and do a good job of drought resistance and freezing prevention. Also replant missing plants; same-age seedlings with soil may be transplanted to fill gaps and complete the stand. To achieve a full and uniform stand.
(6) Control diseases, insects and weeds, and apply fertilizer frequently. During the young period, the tea garden should use manual weeding. Fertilization in the tea garden should be light and frequent, with multiple applications according to the growing season; apply one bud-promoting fertilizer before spring tea sprouts, and then apply 3-5 topdressings during summer and autumn tea, with quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer as the main topdressing. In late autumn and early winter, apply sufficient base fertilizer, which may be livestock manure, cake fertilizer or compound fertilizer. The fertilization method is the same as for conventional tea gardens.
(7) Pruning and picking: The methods of formative pruning and light pruning in white tea gardens are the same as those in conventional tea gardens. However, the degree of pruning should be appropriately lighter. Picking during the young period should leave more and pick less. Cultivate a good high-yielding canopy.