Key Points and Detailed Operation Methods of Tea Plantation Harvesting Techniques

(2) Tea harvesting: The object of tea plantation harvesting is the new shoot, which is the main nutritional organ of the tea plant and the "factory" where the tea plant manufactures nutrients. To resolve this contradiction well, the key is to implement rational harvesting. Rational harvesting means, according to the growth characteristics of the tea plant, correctly resolving the relationship between harvesting leaves and retaining leaves on the tea plant. Through harvesting, achieve the combination of increasing yield and improving quality; the combination of increasing production in the current year and current season with extending the economic age of the tea plant. Tea harvesting requires mastering the following links.

1. Harvest timely according to standards. Generally, as new shoots grow, leaf weight increases, but some chemical substances beneficial to tea quality, such as tea polyphenols, amino acids, catechins, etc., decrease; that is, quality declines. Therefore, fresh leaves must be harvested timely according to the requirements of the type of tea being made. Generally, large-volume black and green teas require harvesting one bud and two or three leaves; oolong tea requires harvesting small open-face shoots; famous teas have higher requirements for fresh leaves, generally requiring harvesting one bud and one leaf or one bud and two leaves just beginning to unfold.

2. Retain leaves rationally. When is the best time for the tea plant to retain leaves should be comprehensively considered together with the tea plant's growth condition, climatic conditions, and economic returns. Generally, leaves can be retained during the late spring tea harvest. And according to the leaf retention situation in spring tea, then appropriately retain leaves in summer tea. Some high-mountain tea gardens or tea gardens with poor growth in low mountains may also adopt the method of not harvesting or harvesting little autumn tea, implementing early garden closure to retain leaves. As for the number of leaves retained, too many or too few are both bad. If too many leaves are retained, there are few branches, sparse sprouting, many flowers and fruits, and yield is not high; if too few leaves are retained, although in the short term there is early sprouting and more sprouting, and higher yield can be obtained in the near term, because few leaves are retained, the photosynthetic area is reduced, nutrient accumulation is insufficient, and the tea plant is prone to declining before growing old. The experience of the people in tea regions is: the number of retained leaves is generally appropriate when "the branches are not exposed," that is, when the leaves of the canopy are closely connected with one another and the branches and trunks cannot be seen.

3. Master well the start of harvest, harvesting cycle, and garden closure period. The start of harvest refers to the date when the first batch of fresh leaves is harvested in each tea season of the year. Experience from various places is that the start of harvest should be early rather than late, and slightly early is better. Generally, in famous and high-quality green tea areas, under the condition of manual harvesting in batches, spring tea can begin to be harvested when 5%-10% of the new shoots on the canopy surface reach the harvesting standard. For summer and autumn tea, because new shoots sprout not very uniformly and the tea season is longer, harvesting generally begins when about 10% of the new shoots reach the harvesting standard. For fresh leaf materials for finely tender famous tea, the start of harvest should be even earlier. The harvesting cycle refers to the interval between harvesting batches. The harvesting cycle should be determined according to the growth condition of new shoots and in combination with the harvesting standard. Generally, for large-volume black and green teas harvested manually, spring tea is harvested once every 3-5 days, and summer and autumn tea once every 5-7 days. If machine harvesting is used, because existing tea harvesting machines have no selectivity and it is very difficult to harvest in batches, generally only 1-2 batches are harvested per tea season. The garden closure period refers to the date when harvesting stops. Whether the garden closure period is early or late mainly affects tea yield and tea plant growth, and specifically should depend on environmental conditions and the growth condition of the tea plant. If the winter climate is mild, the fertility level is high, the tea plant grows well, and an appropriate amount of leaves has already been retained that year, then in principle harvesting may continue until the last batch of new shoots; otherwise, garden closure should be earlier.

4. Collection and transport of fresh leaves. After fresh leaves are picked, they must first be inspected and accepted from the three aspects of tenderness, uniformity and cleanliness, and freshness, and then, referring to representative samples, the grade is assessed, weighed, and registered. However, leaves must be piled separately by grade. Even for fresh leaves of the same grade, fresh leaves of different varieties should also be separated, sunny-day leaves and rainy-day leaves separated, normal leaves and deteriorated leaves separated, leaves from mature tea plants and leaves from aged tea plants separated, and leaves picked in the morning and leaves picked in the afternoon separated. If these fresh leaves are mixed together, because old and tender leaves are not uniform, it will not only bring trouble to tea processing but also reduce the quality of the finished tea. In order to maintain the freshness of fresh leaves and prevent heating and reddening, the picked fresh leaves should be quickly packed and quickly transported to the tea factory for processing according to different grades and different types. The utensils used for holding and transporting fresh leaves should be kept clean and well ventilated. In this way, it can both prevent bacterial reproduction that causes off-flavors and allow air circulation to prevent the tea leaves from heating and turning red. Practice shows that the bamboo woven mesh baskets widely used at present are a relatively good tea-holding utensil. When filling, never press tightly; transport promptly to the processing factory, and spread them out for storage according to requirements by category and grade, to prevent rotting and deterioration. This is an important link in fresh leaf management.