Growing tea?

[tomf]

applestar said.
We need to discuss tea in another thread. I've lots to talk about!

My wife said she wanted to grow some tea and I would like to know more about growing tea. Has any one done it will it grow on Oregon or will I have to grow it in a green house?

[applestar]

Great!
So, you also know *I*m just getting my tea plants this year -- hopefully today.
But [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=106526&highlight=tea+camelia#106526]here[/url]'s the post in which I first started talking about them.
Also, there was [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=56559]this other thread[/url] in the past.

I guess I have to get working on summing up what I've learned about home tea processing!

[StickFish]

Ooooh, tea.

As the son of an avid tea-drinker, I've grown up around the stuff my whole life. We (my mom and I) found a "Grow An Herbal Tea Garden" kit in a catalog, and my mom immediately wanted it.

As far as the tea you're referring to, is it the same 'herbal' type of plant? What kinds of teas are you getting, applestar?

[Ozark Lady]

I have seeds for coffee and tea, so I am watching this thread closely. I really need to research things, before I order them!

So, as you guys and gals learn, I will be planting the seeds! And reading here!

[applestar]

We're talking the true tea -- not herbal tea -- [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camellia_sinensis]Camelia sinensis[/url]. Mine are Camelia sinensis var sinensis ("small-leaf" which is the variety typically grown in Japan), and another one described as a Korean cultivar, and I will be primarily trying to process the harvest as Japanese Green Tea. And within that category, mostly Sencha, though some Hojicha is likely as is Kukicha, and possibly pre-harvest cultivation techniques for Gyokuro. I may also try processing as Chinese Oolong-type, though I believe there are some growing conditions that I won't be able to achieve.

I love English teas as well but I have the feeling most English teas are Camelia sinensis var assamica, which is more cold hardy and likely to be the ones grown in India. But once my little shrubs get bigger and start providing bigger harvest, I'll probably look more into the fermenting process, which is a bit more complicated.

[Sage Hermit]

Aww I was hoping you were going to be talking about mint and sage tea. What ever tea you drink put honey in it.

[applestar]

Some herbal tea posts:
[url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=51356&highlight=herbal+tea#51356]Yummy tea![/url]
[url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=100328#100328]herbal tea recipes[/url]
[url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=27302#27302]Monarda/Bee Balm[/url]
[url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3281&highlight=herbal+tea#3281]Cooking with Lavender[/url]

About bees: You might -- or might not -- want to read this thread:
[url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=34270&highlight=herbal+tea#34270]Native Bees for Pollination[/url]

*****

I prepped the ground for planting my little tea shrubs yesterday. Unceremoniously uprooted a clump of Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and moved it to a less hospitable location so the tea can have the loose, sandy, well drained location. I also planted some Purple Asparagus in the back of the bed as that's the ONLY "loose, sandy, well drained location" I have, except for the 4'x4' extra-high raised bed. (Not sure if that's going to work out later when the tea shrubs are big enough that they're are being "kept at 4' H for [easier] harvesting" especially considering tea shrubs are evergreen.... I wonder if I should've put the asparagus in the FRONT...? )

My tea plants are supposed to be 1 yr, grown from cutting plants and are about 8" tall. I bought my mom a 2 yr plant and it's about twice that size, so hopefully, I can double mine by next year as well. Well, maybe I'll add another shovelful of compost

[applestar]

tomf, I was going to post that I just remembered Territorial Seed has tea plants, but I checked and they are sold out for this year: https://www.territorialseed.com/product/1330/16

[StickFish]

Ah, so it is tea.

Frankly, there isn't a kind of tea I don't like. English herbs, Chinese herbs, Japanese herbs, fruits, you name it.

Hmm...I wonder if a tea plant would be a nice addition to an herb garden?

[applestar]

Here's an informative blog entry on growing tea:
https://1greengeneration.elementsintime.com/?p=1053

[applestar]

Unearthing this old thread to post a photo of my "new" tea plant.

It was actually new when it was delivered in 2012 -- it was kept inside for the winter and out for the summer. It has come inside again for the cold season since the previous plants I talked about earlier in this thread didn't survive our winter....

This is its 2nd blossom. I put the first one in a cup of (store bought organic) green tea
If more than one blossom open at the same time, I'm going to try to hand pollinate them in hopes of getting some seeds.

[rainbowgardener]

I wouldn't have recognized the flower as camellia, it's not much like the ornamental ones, but it is very pretty.

Many camellia flowers look sort of like English roses, they are so petal-iforous



https://flowerpics.net/wp-content/upload ... lowers.jpg

[evtubbergh]

I bought my Camelia sinensis seeds from www.seedrack.com. I'm still waiting for them to germinate because it can take quite a while. Between 1 and 12 months. They have been in for 3 months so far.

I also look forward to making my own tea

[imafan26]

a few years ago I got a Camelia sinensis plant for tea, but I lost it. But we did have a program called yum cha on how to process the tea leaves. It was quite involved

The UH put out a publication on home processing tea. It is a different method, but it seems to be a lot easier than the one we learned.

https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/FST-26.pdf

[applestar]

Today, I decided to prune some of the container plants that will be coming inside in another month or so.

One of the plants was my little tea shrub. It's still very small so I haven't really harvested in spring when you are supposed to pluck the new growing tips, but it needed all the upward and interior growing growths from this summer to be removed for better air circulation and light penetration into the center, especially in preparation for the lower light conditions of winter indoors.

So I ended up with a handful of older tea leaves and some more tender leaves.

I took enough to fill a single cup tea ball, washed them and rubbed them between my palms before putting them in the tea ball, then took one big mature leaf, crushed it and put them in a mug. Poured hot water over them... then I had a single Jasmine blossom that opened this morning, so I floated it and waited. At first, my "tea" wasn't getting much color, but after a reasonable amount of steeping time, I took a sip of it anyway and I was blown away. It was SOOOOO GOOOOD!!!!!

[rainbowgardener]

Oh wow! wonderful!

And guess what, it is cold hardy in zone 7, where I am now! Definitely has to go on my list for next year. ...

[imafan26]

When I was taught to pour tea. I was told to use a ceramic, not metal pot for tea. Warm the pot with hot water first and pour it out. Make the tea and steep it. the longer it is steeped the darker it will become. I was making Japanese tea which is steeped for less than 3 minutes. The first pour is discarded. The best pour is usually the third or fourth, then the tea can get to dark.

[applestar]

I brought my tea plant inside. It's the clay pot to the left in the second row. -- If you follow the branches, you can see the flower buds in various stages of development.

They are only open for a day or two, then fall off, so I collect them before falling to float in my tea, fresh or dried.