Cultivation of the Tea PlantThe camellia sinensis plant is cultivated from the equator to Cornwall on the mainland of the United Kingdom, at elevations as low as sea level and as high as 5,000 feet; however, the highest production of the tea plant is in tropical and sub-tropical climates with at least 50 inches of rainfall per year. Tea prefers an acidic soil. Though grown in open fields and mountainsides, the best quality tea is grown in the higher elevations. Cooler weather and misty mornings allow the plant to mature slowly.
Quality tea isn’t harvested by machinery. Though there are companies that use harvesters, in the process of picking leaves, it also cuts branches, twigs and all. This tea ends up being what is known in the industry as C.T.C., cut, torn, crushed. The difference in taste between machine picked tea and hand plucked tea is amazing.
The most widely used method is hand picking. Skilled tea pickers will pick the top two leaves and bud from the ends of each twig. Constant picking will allow a tea plant to produce for 60 years. Besides producing the best resulting tea, hand picking is done in many areas. Because of the steep elevations of the tea plantations machines just could not navigate the steep mountainsides.
Once the leaves are picked and placed in baskets, they are taken to the factory for processing. How they are processed is dependent upon what kind of tea will be made. Thinking of trying to grow your own tea plant? It’s possible. It will grow in regions from the mid-west to the southern states. You may need a greenhouse in the north. Be sure to give your tea plant well-drained, sandy soil. Be patient. Your plant will be at least three years old before you can begin picking the leaves and process your own tea. One well-grown tea plant can produce up to 3,000 leaves a year, but that is only about a pound of processed leaves. My suggestion is find a good reputable tea merchant.
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The tea plant will grow into a tree if left to grow wild, but the cultivated plants are kept pruned to a height of 3 or 4 feet to make the hand plucking easier. Only the top one or two inches of the mature plant are picked. These are called flushes. A tea plant will grow a new flush every couple of weeks during the growing season.