Methods of planting and harvesting green and black tea
Herbal tea is an evergreen plant that is kept at a height of two meters when used to cultivate its leaves. Tea has a strong vertical root.
The flowers are yellow-white and 2.5-4 cm in diameter with 7 to 8 petals. The leaves are 15-4 cm long. Fresh leaves contain 4% caffeine. Young and light green leaves are suitable for making tea. The back of these leaves is slightly hairy.
Older leaves are darker. Since the chemical composition of the leaves changes during growth, the age of the leaves can affect the quality of the tea. Usually leaf buds and the first two or three leaves are suitable.
Tea is usually grown in areas with 125 cm of rainfall per year and in tropical and subtropical regions. High quality tea is obtained when the plant is grown at higher altitudes (1500 meters). In these areas, growth is slow and the leaves taste better.
Ecological conditions suitable for tea growth
Herbal tea is acidic and grows better at a pH of about 4.5-5.5. Because tea needs a lot of Al and Mn, it grows better in acidic soils. Tea prefers light soils rich in organic matter and needs a lot of soil moisture, while soil permeability and proper drainage are important. The ideal texture for growing tea is sandy loam to loam.
Research shows that the net photosynthesis of tea leaves constantly rises to 35 degrees with increasing temperature, then decreases sharply and stops when the leaf temperature reaches 40 oc. Soil temperature has been shown to affect the growth rate of tea and consequently the yield of tea plants. The optimum soil temperature in the root zone is 20-25 oc.
Suitable climate for growing tea
The tea plant is one of the plants in the humid tropics, ie in areas where the temperature usually never reaches zero and the rainfall is about 1800 to 2000 mm per year. This plant is somewhat resistant to cold, and thus, if the cold is accompanied by snow, so that the snow covers the plants, it can withstand up to 5 degrees of cold.
The only factor limiting the level of tea planting in addition to soil type, humidity and annual rainfall is the planting site. The high humidity required by the tea plant is more in the humidity than in the soil. From this point of view, the ground should be moist. Heavy and swampy lands are not good at all for planting and yielding crops. Excess moisture around the roots causes it to rot and destroys the plant.
Soil suitable for growing tea
Tea plant is a volatile plant, so in terms of chemical reaction, tea should be planted in acidic soils. The soil acidity limit for this product is about 5.5, and whenever the pH exceeds or decreases this amount, the soil acid level should be increased to 5.5 with appropriate equipment. When the soil acidity exceeds this amount, they correct the soil acidity by applying alkaline fertilizers or mixing lime in an appropriate amount.
When the pH exceeds this value, the acidity of the soil is greatly increased by mixing an amount of sulfur dust that may reach 600 kg / ha. The most suitable soil for planting tea is sandy and clay soils without lime or any other alkaline substance that has a large amount of humus.
Fertilize the tea plant
Nitrogen fertilizers are used more than any other type of fertilizer. In addition to nitrogen fertilizers, all nitrogen, phosphorus and potash salts are needed to strengthen the plant and another fertilizer that is relatively cheap in terms of price and in terms of improving physical properties and Soil chemicals are also considered green manure. In addition to producing humus and releasing a significant amount of nitrogen to the soil, green manure also protects tea plant leaves from burning in the sun during the summer, when the sun is high.
Planting tea plants in the garden and pots
Propagation of the tea plant by seeds, twigs, cuttings or boiling, but the best way to propagate tea is to plant the seeds in the main place, especially in the treasury, and using other methods is almost not cost-effective. In choosing tea seeds, like the ground, one should be very careful, because good quality eggs have a great effect on having good seedlings.
In order to prepare a good seed, special plants should be trained and their leaves should not be plucked, because both leaves and seeds cannot be harvested from one plant, and if they want to lay eggs, they must give up the leaves, and if they want to pick leaves, they must He also gave up eggs. By following these methods, both the tea and the seed obtained will be both good and flawless.
To prepare a good egg, you have to do what is common in countries around the world today. In this way, the tea seeds are planted directly in the main place at a distance of two meters from each other and then thinned so that the distance between the plants is 4-6 meters, and usually to Trees that are planted for seed do not fertilize or prune them. Only once in a while is the ground pruned and weeded until the plants become strong and the flowering and fruiting season arrives at the age of eight. Their flowers are typically large, and the trees will produce a maximum of 185 kg at the age of 15-20.
It should be known that the seeds of trees from this age onwards are unhealthy and of poor quality, and their selection should be abandoned. According to the tests and trials that have been done, it is better to choose seeds from 10-12 year old trees for sowing, and in order for the good or bad seeds to be known, the best way is to pour the seeds in 10% salt water. In this case, the good, healthy, heavy and pitted eggs will settle and the ones that are hollow and light will remain on the surface of the water, which should be discarded and planted.
Spawning time depends on the temperature and climate of different regions. If in China from early January and in Assam Azar and in Ceylon is April. But in Iran, it is usually from the end of October to the middle of December when spawning.
Flowering tea
Unlike most trees, the tea plant blooms twice a year, one in the spring when the fruits of the flowers ripen in mid-autumn and produce tea seeds, and the other in the fall when the flowers bloom fruitlessly.
Fruit tea
The fruit of the tea is light green at first and after ripening, the green mixture turns red and at this time it should be picked and spread in a suitable place so that the skin of the fruit rots and the egg is separated from it.
The seeds are not piled on top of each other because in this case it will be fermented, rotten and oily, and if it is not picked from the plant in time (October-December-December), it will fall to the ground and will rot due to the absorption of soil moisture. The tea seeds, which have been in the fruit for some time, are stored in a place for a while before planting to ripen well.
The potency of tea seeds is not so great and like the potency of date beans, coffee, cocoa is very low and in a short time it becomes windy and thin so that it can no longer germinate.
Tea seeds
Tea seeds can not be planted immediately after picking from the tree and must be carefully stored in a suitable place for some time. This may protect the tea seeds for up to six months. Planted tea seeds should be healthy, strong and free of any disease and should be selected from strong healthy plants for seeds, because as a result of choosing a good and healthy seed and according to many experiments performed from a tea garden for 30 to 50 years. It can be exploited well.
Cultivation of tea in plains or plains
Drainage means maintaining soil moisture to the point of equilibrium and directing excess water to the need for tea plants outside the garden. Usually, after torrential rains, the existing drainage plays an important role in removing excess water. By means of drainage, the groundwater level can be lowered up to a centimeter below the soil surface, this is how tea roots are saved from suffocation due to high humidity.
Drainage not only aerates the soil and increases the permeability and water holding capacity of the soil, but also minimizes root depth. In the plains, the land is divided according to its height and height, and level lines are used for cultivation. Cultivation rows should be from east to west. Until the plants grow, their shade between rows prevents direct sunlight.
Tea making in steep mountainous areas
In mountainous areas, after ensuring the fertility of the land, the following operations should be performed in the following order.
1- Checking the elevation of the ground.
2- Preparing a map of the whole land and determining the level lines.
3- Construction of small streams along level lines.
In order to remove excess water from the ground in order to prevent soil erosion, the distance between the two streams should be about 3 meters. If the groundwater level is lower than cm. After determining the level lines and digging the streams, tea rows should be prepared. The rows should be constructed parallel to the streams but perpendicular to the slope of the land.
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