Have you ever wondered how to grow tea on a windowsill? If not, now is the time to think about it. Because, it turns out, to do this, although not quite easy, but quite possible. Keeping a tea bush at home as a houseplant and enjoying freshly picked tea - isn't this the dream of every drink lover?
Tea varieties
Tea is grown in different countries. Although if you ask the question, where is the birthplace of tea, for some reason, many answer that it is in India. In fact, tea came to us from China. And until now, this country is the leader in the production of all kinds of varieties. In addition to these countries, the tea bush is grown in Japan, Sri Lanka, Kenya and other countries. Tea is grown in almost all former English colonies. Russia also did not stand aside and, although no one believed in it before, at the beginning of the 20th century, the first tea crop was harvested in Sochi. Since then, Sochi's tea plantations have continued to grow and expand. Today, their area is calculatedhundreds of hectares.
There are many ways to classify tea:
- origin: Chinese, Ceylonese, Indian, etc.;
- by leaf type: whole leaf, medium grade, low grade;
- according to the method of mechanical processing: extracted, long leaf, pressed;
- by composition;
- by degree of fermentation.
This is not a complete classifier of varieties. Each item is further subdivided into several sub-items. But we are interested in what kind of tea can be grown at home. The plant should be suitable for growing in a flowerpot and should not be too large. Most often in stores you can find seeds of Chinese camellia or Chinese tea, as well as its various hybrids.
Actually, one has only to wonder how to grow tea at home and you will see that shops offer tea bush seeds in huge quantities. Most likely, you just never paid attention to them. But there are more than three hundred varieties of this plant on sale for home cultivation.
When choosing a variety, be guided by both your taste preferences and the weather conditions in which you live - there is northern and southern tea. Northern tea or small-leaved tea is a more compact bush with small leaves. The southern one, on the contrary, is quite large, has a dense crown and large leaves.
Lighting Requirements
It may sound strange, but not only owners of large and lightapartments. The tea bush is quite shade-tolerant and can feel great even on the floor. Of course, provided that it is not in absolute darkness and the sun's rays still fall on it.
Camellia sinensis feels best on windows that face east and west, but does not like direct sunlight. In addition, the plant must be periodically turned to the light source. During the period of the ovary of buds and flowering, the bush, on the contrary, is strictly forbidden to move. Otherwise, it will drop the buds.
Temperature requirements
The ideal option is to place the tea bush for the winter in a room with a temperature regime of 8 to 12 degrees above zero. But if this is not possible, then the plant can overwinter at room temperature - for this it is necessary to increase the humidity of the air and adjust its care.
During growth, the plant feels comfortable at room temperature, if it does not exceed +25 degrees. But, on the contrary, it does not tolerate intense heat - it dries quickly and fades.
In summer it is better to take the tea bush to fresh air, you can even dig it into the soil. The only condition is the night temperature - it should not fall below 13 degrees Celsius. At a temperature of +12, the tea bush must already be brought back into the room.
Care Requirements
Before you think about how to grow tea, decide for yourself if you can provide it with proper care. He constantly needs care andattention, regular feeding and proper pruning, instantly responds to both a lack of watering and its overabundance. It is quite difficult for lovers to "cope" with this whimsical plant.
Irrigation Requirements
It is necessary to water the tea bush often, but little by little and only after the top layer of the soil has dried. With the slightest excess of moisture, the roots of the plant immediately rot. And with insufficient watering, tea begins to lose leaves.
When the bud formation process begins, as well as during the flowering period, watering is slightly reduced, but the soil should still not be dry. In winter, the ground should only be slightly damp.
In addition to watering, it is necessary to loosen the soil regularly. You do not need to do this every watering, but, for example, make it a rule to loosen the upper layers of the soil every fourth or fifth watering. Be careful not to touch the roots of the plant.
In addition to periodic watering, the plant must constantly maintain high humidity. The tea bush does not tolerate placement near radiators or under air conditioners. It must be constantly sprayed. The installation of a humidifier next to the plant is welcome. When spraying and watering, only soft and thoroughly purified water is used.
Feeding Requirements
The tea bush needs to be fed year-round, except when you were able to provide it with a cold winter. In the spring and summer months, top dressing is carried out every two to three weeks, andin autumn and during warm wintering every five to six weeks.
Mineral fertilizers for the tea bush should include phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. In this case, nitrogen should slightly dominate. Fertilizers are purchased either universal or for camellias. The use of organic fertilizers and their derivatives is allowed.
Pruning requirements
The main task of pruning is to form the most dense wide crown. Regular pruning is performed from the second year of the tea bush's life or when the plant reaches thirty cm in height. To do this, the upper shoot is cut to 10-15 cm and the side shoots are waiting for the growth. If growth is inactive, then pruning is enough to carry out once a year. When forming bonsai, pruning is carried out as it grows. Make sure that when pruning, those shoots that are damaged or weakened are removed first of all.
The most suitable pruning period is the dormant period that falls during the winter months (November - February). This is also the time to transplant the plant.
Harvest Requirements
You can harvest from bushes that are four years old and older. Harvest tea in the summer (May - September). In this case, you need to cut off the kidney and two or three leaves under it, which have a light color.
To get green tea, tea leaves need to be steamed, allowed to dry completely and left to dry.
It will take more time to prepare black tea. harvested leavesit is necessary to scatter in the shade with a thin layer and dry them until softened for 5–18 hours. After that, the leaves must be carefully twisted between the palms into tubes until a white foam appears. Then they must be fermented for 4-5 hours at a temperature of 20-23 degrees, laying a layer of ten centimeters on a damp towel. When the leaves take on a reddish-copper color and the aroma inherent in tea, then the fermentation process is over and all that remains is to dry the tea leaves either in the oven or in the sun.
Conclusion
You can write a lot about how to grow tea at home. We have tried to cover only the most basic aspects in order to give you a direction for further movement. If you have a desire, then you can easily master this business and delight yourself in the morning with freshly brewed tea of your own production.
