Key Technical Points for Pollution-Free Tea Plant Cultivation and Management

I. Cultivation and Management of Tea Gardens in the Young Stage

1. Deep plowing to improve soil. Water is an important component of the tea plant organism. Deep plowing to improve the soil can store water and retain moisture, ensuring good root growth and development of tea plants. During deep plowing, do not mix up the topsoil and subsoil; place them separately in the inner side and outer trench. When backfilling, put the topsoil at the bottom of the trench and spread the subsoil on top. The depth of deep plowing must be more than 50 cm.

2. Transplanting. The transplanting time should be determined according to local conditions and varieties, generally from late February to mid-March in early spring, or from mid-October to early November in late autumn and early winter. It is advisable to transplant on cloudy days or when the sky just clears after rain, and avoid transplanting in dry, hot weather with northwest winds or in rainy weather. Use the single-row strip planting method, with a row-to-plant (cluster) spacing of 1.5-0.33 m, using more than 4,000 seedlings per mu (3 plants per cluster). Apply 400 kg of rapeseed cake fertilizer and 2,000-4,000 kg of decomposed livestock and poultry manure per mu in the planting trench. Choose grade 1-2 seedlings. Water thoroughly once 1-2 days before lifting the seedlings to keep the seedbed soil moist, so as to reduce root damage during lifting. When lifting, keep soil around the roots and transplant with the soil ball. Plant appropriately deep (burying the root crown is suitable), without exposing fibrous roots, spread the roots out, press down appropriately, water to settle the roots, cover the base with loose soil, and mulch with straw.

3. Management during the seedling stage. Weed frequently, irrigate frequently, apply light fertilizer, and promptly control pests and diseases so as to ensure seedling survival, uniform seedlings, and strong seedlings. Young tea gardens must be weeded manually, and chemical pesticides are prohibited. Weed 4 times a year. For perennial tea seedlings, as far as possible first pull weeds by hand within 30 cm of the plants to prevent loosening the tea seedlings and affecting growth, and then hoe weeds between the rows.

4. Formative pruning. This mainly suppresses the apical dominance of tea plants, promotes branching growth, increases the number of branch layers and branches, and cultivates a full canopy. This is one of the basic measures for high-quality and high-yield tea cultivation. Young tea plants must undergo three formative prunings. Different varieties have different growth habits, so the pruning techniques also differ. Generally, the first pruning cuts the main branch at 20 cm above the ground; the second cultivates scaffold branches, and when the plant height exceeds 35 cm, the cut is 30-35 cm above the ground; the third forms the framework of a high-yield canopy, with the pruning height raised by 15 cm on the basis of the second cut, requiring a level cut and removal of weak, diseased, and pest-damaged branches.

II. Cultivation and Management After Entering Production

1. Fertilize scientifically according to yield. Promote the application of organic fertilizers and balanced fertilization methods. The application of chemically synthesized fertilizers, municipal waste, and the like is prohibited; apply organic compound fertilizers. Generally, for every 100 kg of dry tea produced, 12-15 kg of pure nitrogen fertilizer, 4-5 kg of pure phosphorus fertilizer, and 4-5 kg of pure potassium fertilizer are needed, converted into organic fertilizer amounts according to their nutrient content. Apply base fertilizer heavily. Generally, for every 100 kg of dry tea, apply 1,000 kg of barnyard manure, compost, or waterlogged compost, or 90-120 kg of cake fertilizer, applied in trenches from August to October and covered with soil. Topdressing is applied one month before tea picking, mainly with quick-acting organic fertilizers such as decomposed human manure and urine and biogas slurry.

2. Timing of light pruning. Change the conventional timing of light pruning before spring tea to: ① Light pruning before summer tea, that is, light pruning after spring tea, ending spring tea appropriately early and promptly carrying out light pruning; otherwise, a large amount of summer tea will have already sprouted, affecting summer tea yield. The pruning degree should mainly be light level cutting. ② Light pruning after autumn tea, which can be carried out in October after autumn tea. This can promote earlier budbreak and earlier garden opening for the following year's spring tea. The pruning degree should preferably be light level cutting.