Key Points and Methods of Tea Plant Canopy Management

1. Tea plant pruning

Tea plant pruning is an important measure in canopy management. Pruning includes formative pruning during the young stage, light pruning and deep pruning of mature tea gardens, and heavy pruning and collar pruning of aging tea gardens.

(1) Formative pruning of tea plants during the young stage:

Carrying out 3 to 4 formative prunings during the young stage of tea plants can suppress the apical dominance of the main stem of young tea plants, promote axillary bud germination, increase the number of main framework branches, and rapidly form a robust plucking surface with a certain height and width.

① The first formative pruning is carried out after transplanting the cutting seedlings. When the transplanted seedlings reach a height of 25 cm or more, keep 1 to 2 branches at 15 to 20 cm above the ground and cut off the top new shoots. When some tea seedlings are less than 25 cm in height, they can be left until mid-May. The pruning tool should be sharp branch shears, pruning each plant one by one. Only prune the main branches, not the side branches; the cut should be smooth, and the remaining stub after pruning should be short.

② Second formative pruning: Generally carried out from late February to early March before the spring tea buds break the following year. For tea seedlings with relatively good fertilizer and water management conditions and growth vigor, it can also be carried out around October after the dry season ends.

Use branch shears to cut 15 to 20 cm above the cut of the first formative pruning, removing the upper branches and shoots; after pruning, the tea plant height is 30 to 40 cm. When pruning, pay attention to cutting off inner-side buds and retaining outer-side buds, so as to promote the tea plant to branch and spread outward, and at the same time cut off drooping branches and weak small branches at the root crown.

③ Third formative pruning: Carried out one year after the second formative pruning; if the tea seedlings grow vigorously, it can also be done earlier. Use hedge shears to cut 10 to 15 cm above the second cut, that is, horizontally cut off the upper branches and shoots at 40 to 55 cm above the ground, and use branch shears to cut off drooping branches and weak branches at the root crown and inside the bush, promoting normal growth of the main framework branches.

After three formative prunings, young tea plants can form a plant height of 40 to 55 cm and a bush width of 60 to 100 cm, with a certain number of thick main framework branch layers; then adopt the technical measures of "light plucking by tipping in spring and summer tea, accumulating branches to build the bush." After autumn tea, carry out light pruning, that is, cut 5 to 10 cm above the previous cut, using hedge shears to cut into a flat-topped shape or a slightly curved shape. After two years of tipping, light plucking, and bush building, when the tea plant reaches 60 to 80 cm in height and the bush width reaches more than 100 cm, it can officially enter production and be managed with mature tea plant pruning.

(2) Pruning of mature tea plants:

Mature tea plants need pruning once a year to ensure that the tea plant continuously sprouts and grows relatively thick new shoots.

① Light pruning is carried out once a year, generally from mid-to-late October to early-to-mid November after autumn tea plucking stops, but for tea gardens that close later and mountain tea gardens with freeze damage, it should be carried out before spring tea, and should be early rather than late, so as not to delay the spring tea plucking period and affect spring tea benefits. In order to control the plucking surface, promote neat tea plant sprouting, and improve yield, fresh leaf quality, and tea plucking efficiency, generally use hedge shears to cut 3 to 5 cm above the original cut; pruning should be light rather than heavy, otherwise it will delay the spring tea opening period and cause spring tea yield reduction.

② Deep pruning: Carry out deep pruning every 3 to 5 years. Through deep pruning, appropriately reduce tree vigor, cut off thin and weak productive branches on the canopy surface, cultivate robust tree vigor, and improve bud cultivation capacity. Deep pruning is generally carried out after autumn tea ends; in order to reduce economic losses in the same year, it can also be carried out after spring tea ends. Use hedge shears or a pruning machine to cut off thin and weak branches 10 to 15 cm from the upper part of the canopy, then use branch shears to remove weak branches, diseased branches, dead branches, and drooping branches in the tea bush.

2. Tea plucking

Rational plucking is one of the important measures for obtaining stable yield, high yield, and high quality in tea. Rational tea plucking means plucking tea leaves according to factors such as tea plant variety, climatic conditions, tree age, growth vigor, and different levels of fertilizer management, combined with market demand, combining plucking and retention, so as to harvest tea leaves while ensuring normal growth of the tea plant, achieving the goal of sustained high yield and high quality.

(1) Plucking of young tea plants:

Under normal fertilizer management conditions, young tea plants after two formative prunings can reach a height of more than 45 cm in the late spring tea period; after the third formative pruning, the tea plant reaches about 60 cm in height. In both cases, the method of "tipping and retaining leaves" can be used for tea plucking. The plucking and retention standard is: for spring tea, retain two or three leaves and pluck one bud with one or two leaves; for summer tea, retain two leaves and pluck one bud with one or two leaves; for autumn tea, retain one leaf and pluck one bud with one or two leaves. During the plucking process of young tea plants, attention should be paid to the principles of "pluck the top and retain the sides, pluck the high and retain the low, pluck the dense and retain the sparse." After three formative prunings and tipping with leaf retention plucking, when young tea plants reach 60 to 80 cm in height and about 130 cm in bush width, they can be managed with mature tree plucking measures.

(2) Plucking of mature tea plants:

Mature tea plants should adhere to the principles of "plucking as the main practice, combining plucking and retention, and timely plucking" so as to obtain relatively high economic benefits over a longer period. Spring tea for famous and high-quality tea raw materials is mostly single buds, one bud with one initially unfolded leaf, or one bud with one unfolded leaf; when 5% reaches the plucking standard, tea can be plucked. Plucking famous tea requires tender, fine, and uniform raw materials; generally, pluck one bud with one initially unfolded leaf, one bud with one unfolded leaf, or single buds. Large-volume black strip tea, green tea, and broken black tea require raw materials of medium tenderness; generally pluck mainly one bud with two or three leaves and pluck tender opposite leaves. For oil tea and Liubao tea, basically mature new shoots and two to three opposite leaves are required. Generally, the methods of "retain fish leaves throughout the year" or "retain fish leaves for spring and summer tea, retain one leaf for autumn tea, and pluck and retain in a timely, batch-wise manner according to standards" can be used for tea plucking.

(3) Mechanical tea plucking:

In recent years, the tea plucking machines promoted and trial-used in large tea farms in our country include two types: the two-person stretcher-type, motorized, spiral rotary cutter cutting-type tea plucking machine and the horizontal rotary blade cutting-type tea plucking machine. These two tea plucking machines have good plucking quality, are convenient to operate, can adapt to tea garden operations on various terrains, and improve work efficiency by about 10 times compared with manual tea plucking. In tea gardens where tea plucking machines are trial-used and promoted, fertilizer management measures also need to be appropriately strengthened.

(4) Fresh leaf management:

The plucked fresh leaves should be transported to the tea processing factory in a timely manner, and after acceptance by specially assigned personnel, spread as soon as possible indoors in a clean and shaded place. The containers for transporting fresh leaves should be clean bamboo woven baskets with good air permeability; the capacity of the baskets is preferably 50 to 100 kg. Avoid squeezing during transport to reduce damage. Generally, fresh leaves are required to enter the factory within 4 hours after plucking. If they cannot be delivered to the tea factory in time, be sure to avoid sunlight and rain, spread them in a clean and ventilated place to keep them fresh, and then send them to the processing factory as soon as possible.