Fertilizer

Green Pest Management Techniques for Tea Trees Main Targets of Control ↑ Tea Blight Disease → Tea Looper Pests: Tea Green Leafhopper, Tea Looper, Tea Caterpillar, Tea Black Worm Moth, Black Scale Psyllid, Tea Red Mite. Diseases: Tea Blight Disease, Tea Anthracnose. Key Control Measures Agricultural Control 1. Timely Harvesting. Harvest young buds and leaves according to the requirements of tea production to reduce the population of pests like the tea green leafhopper, mites, and some bud diseases residing on the canopy surface of the tea tree. 2. Pruning as Needed. Prune tea trees after the spring harvest and in late autumn according to the requirements of tea garden management, reducing pest populations and creating conditions unfavorable for pests. Generally, deep pruning or heavy pruning is done after the spring harvest, and light pruning is performed in late autumn. 3. Garden Tilling. In late autumn, till the tea garden combined with the application of base fertilizer, which is detrimental to the survival of scale insects and weevils overwintering in the soil, thus reducing their occurrence in the following year. 4. Timely Garden Cleanup. Clear and bury leaves and topsoil near the roots of tea plants in late autumn, which can…

Let's start with a chart of the Longjing family relationships. The head of the family is Hang Jiahe, who has a daughter named Hang Pan with his former wife Fang Xiling. In the previous article, we mentioned the love at first sight between Hang Pan and Nationalist pilot Cao Jiayuan. Hang Pan is in charge of overseeing hundreds of acres of tea garden, including the famous Lion Peak Hu Gong Temple area. By "overseeing," it mainly means managing the garden rather than preventing others from stealing tea leaves. During the month or so when Longjing tea is picked and processed, there are many people bustling about on the mountain, making it difficult to steal tea. If it's not the picking and processing season, stealing tea would be pointless because the resulting tea would taste terrible and couldn't even be sold as vegetables. Hang Pan's oversight is essentially garden management. The People's Liberation Army took over ten days to capture Hangzhou, officially announcing its liberation on May 3, 1949. The first third of "Looking South of the River" describes the winter and spring before the liberation of Hangzhou. In her diary, Hang Pan wrote: "The fighting has started again, and everywhere…

1. It's the perfect season for selecting and enjoying fresh green tea. There are many varieties of green tea, and the optimal sales period for high-quality teas is short. You may buy some to try the new season's flavors, stock up on your favorites, or exchange them as gifts with relatives and friends... Before you know it, you've accumulated a good amount of tea. And the typical shelf life indicated for green tea is "one year." Many tea enthusiasts have found themselves with leftovers beyond this timeframe, handling them in various ways. Some continue drinking it as usual, while others believe it can no longer be consumed and dispose of it or use it as fertilizer. Image: Yulü from Enshi, Hubei Can green tea still be consumed after its expiry date (usually one year)? Based on our experience at Tea Encyclopedia: Drink it within the shelf life and as soon as possible; after the expiry date, whether it can still be consumed depends more on the current quality of the tea. In other words, rather than fixating on an uncertain time point, consider the following questions. — How can we store green tea daily to preserve its freshness as much…

Great tea is grown, but it is also well-managed. As the saying goes: "One-third planting, two-thirds management." After three seasons of growth and harvesting in spring, summer, and autumn, the tea plant has expended a great deal of nutrients, and the soil between rows becomes compacted. As winter approaches, proper garden management becomes particularly important for the quality and yield of next year's tea leaves. For this reason, the Tea Industry Development Working Group, in collaboration with Guizhou Broadcasting Station's Ecology & Rural Channel, has produced a teaching video on tea garden management during autumn and winter for reference and learning by tea companies and farmers. The video received strong support from the Guizhou Tea Research Institute and covers four parts: fertilization principles and recommendations, pruning techniques for tea plants, pest and disease control, and cold prevention measures. 1 Winter Fertilization According to the growth and development patterns of tea plants, as they enter autumn and winter, the above-ground parts will gradually stop growing and enter dormancy. However, the underground parts become increasingly active and enter the peak period of root activity throughout the year. At this time, the plant's root system significantly strengthens its absorption capacity and has a…

Severe Infestation of Tea Looper How to Cope, Find Out Here It is currently late summer and early autumn, with cool weather in the morning and evening. This year has seen more rain than usual, resulting in vigorous growth of tea plants with lush green leaves, providing rich food for tea plant pests. According to investigations into the infestation of tea loopers in Longwu tea gardens, various age groups of larvae coexist, with severe overlapping generations. In some severely affected areas of tea gardens, the older leaves have been completely consumed, affecting the growth of tea plants, which requires close attention from tea garden managers. Due to differences in cultivation and management practices among individual households, the timing of infestations and the degree of damage vary across different tea gardens, making pest control challenging. It is essential to strengthen pest monitoring through field observations and the use of trapping devices, promptly understanding the dynamics of pest outbreaks and implementing appropriate measures: 1. Turn on insect-killing lamps, taking advantage of the fact that adult tea loopers are most active between 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM. Set the operating times of the lamps accordingly, ideally using a light-controlled mode where they automatically…

In order to effectively ensure the safe overwintering of tea plants and the high-quality production of Guyu tea next year, on December 19, Professor Ding Zhaotang, a Taishan Scholar and Chief Expert of the Provincial Tea Industry Technology System, led his team to Feixian County to conduct a survey on winter tea garden management and cold resistance technology trials and demonstrations. Experts from the Tea Research Institute of Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Liaocheng University, Shandong Agricultural University, the Municipal Agricultural Technology Center, and the Feixian Fruit and Tea Service Center, as well as technical personnel from tea companies, totaling more than 20 people, participated. The winter management of tea gardens is an important part of annual tea production and is also key to increasing the yield of spring tea and improving the quality of fresh leaves. The Provincial Tea Industry Technology System continues to increase its research efforts on winter tea garden management. Chief Expert Ding Zhaotang's team surveyed the basic situation of winter management, ecological environment, and overwintering of tea plants at the tea gardens of Shandong Chunxi Tea Co., Ltd. They analyzed and discussed factors that might cause frost damage in the tea gardens…

Good tea thrives with proper nutrition; fertilizers are the material foundation for increasing yield and improving quality in tea production. Fertilization plays a crucial role in the growth of tea plants and the yield and quality of tea leaves. While some nutrients are supplied by the soil itself, its nutrient content is limited and subject to environmental factors, leading to significant losses through leaching and volatilization, which greatly reduces nutrient availability. This is insufficient to meet the needs of tea plant growth, let alone high yields and quality standards. Additionally, as a leaf-harvesting crop, the annual harvest of large quantities of buds and leaves removes a certain amount of nutrients. Therefore, most nutrients must be replenished through fertilization. When soil nutrient imbalances occur or there is an extreme deficiency of one or more nutrients, it is necessary to use appropriate fertilizers to correct the nutritional deficiencies to ensure high-yield and high-quality tea production. Therefore, proper management of tea gardens during different seasons is crucial, and fertilization is a key technology in garden management that should receive significant attention. Especially during autumn, a critical period for tea garden management, the focus is on rapidly restoring tree vigor to lay the groundwork…

Tea gardens are characterized by a diverse range of weeds, complex weed communities, and strong stability. According to incomplete surveys and statistics, there are as many as 202 common weed species found in domestic tea gardens, belonging to 49 families and 163 genera. Weeds can impact the growth of tea plants, causing symptoms such as stunted growth, yellowing leaves, leaf drop, and delayed development. They may also carry diseases or pests that affect tea plants directly or act as intermediate hosts, indirectly impacting the growth and development of tea plants. "Grass to suppress grass" is an integral part of the green and efficient prevention and control technology system for Guizhou tea gardens, embodying the concept of "ecology at its root, agriculture at its core, and biological control first." Planting white clover in tea gardens can effectively suppress weeds and resist tea plant diseases and pests. Below are key technical points for reference. White clover in tea gardens and pollinating insects - bees Intercropping white clover in tea gardens Effective "grass to suppress grass" In recent years, research teams from Guizhou University, the Provincial Plant Protection and Inspection Station, the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the Provincial Soil and Fertilizer…

The regional high-temperature drought that began in June 2022 caused varying degrees of damage to tea trees in some areas of our country. During the drought, we recommended not to carry out field operations such as picking, pruning, fertilizing, spraying pesticides, tilling, and weeding. However, with the recent drop in temperature and the arrival of autumn rains, the drought situation in the tea gardens has been significantly alleviated. With the onset of autumn, tea garden management needs to be stepped up, and the main task at this stage is to restore the vitality of the tea trees. Pruning Dead Branches It is now September, and the time for new shoots to grow on the tea trees is extremely limited; therefore, try to prune less and retain more in tea garden management. For those affected lightly, such as only partial leaf scorching, no treatment is needed, allowing the tea tree to self-repair. For severe cases where branches of the tea tree have died, prune off the withered, yellowed, and scorched branches and leaves to reduce water evaporation and the spread of necrotic tissues. Prune 1–2 cm below the dead parts to minimize energy consumption and transpiration in the tea tree. Light…

Since February 22, most areas of our province, except some tea regions in Qiandongnan and Qiannan such as Qiannanwest, have suffered from a sudden drop in temperature and extreme weather conditions of low temperature and freezing. Preliminary investigations indicate that tea trees in various tea regions have shown varying degrees of symptoms of low-temperature stress, with more severe impacts in higher altitude tea gardens, leading to reduced yields or delayed picking. To mitigate the effects of low temperatures and freezing on spring tea, experts from the Tea Special Task Force, Guizhou Tea Research Institute, Zunyi Comprehensive Test Station of the National Tea Industry Technology System, and Guizhou Province Tea Industry Technology System have jointly studied and proposed the following remedial measures: 1. Timely and Moderate Pruning After temperatures stabilize, prune according to the degree of freezing damage to the tea plants, removing frozen branches and leaves promptly. Pruning should be carried out after the temperature rises and will not cause further serious freezing damage. The depth of pruning should vary depending on the severity of the freeze, ideally cutting 2-3 cm deeper than the dead tissue. For lightly frozen tea plants where only the edges of mature leaves or winter…

To strengthen the management of tea gardens during summer and autumn and ensure production of teas during these seasons as well as the following spring, the Department of Plant Industry Management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, together with the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, the Expert Advisory Group on Tea of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the National Tea Industry Technology System, have proposed technical guidelines for tea production in summer and autumn 2024. Strengthen Fertilization Management of Tea Gardens 1. Top-Dressing Fertilization in Tea Gardens (a) Root Fertilization: Top-dressing fertilization for summer tea should be carried out after the spring tea harvest, and for autumn tea after the summer tea harvest. For tea gardens in production, about 15-20 kg of urea or 20-30 kg of specialized compound fertilizer for tea (with a formula of 18:8:12 N:P2O5:K2O) is generally applied per mu, with higher-yielding gardens receiving slightly more. Image Source: Anji White Tea Website Fertilizer should be applied in trenches dug vertically below the edge of the tree canopy, with a depth of about 10-15 cm. Broadcasting of fertilizer is prohibited. In young tea gardens (1-2 years old), fertilizer should be applied 5-10…

The main goal is to improve the soil condition, increase nutrient availability, and create favorable conditions for tea plant growth, with tasks including soil cultivation, weeding, fertilization, and moisture retention. I. Garden Cultivation Reasonable cultivation is an important measure to improve the soil condition in tea gardens, which can enhance the micro-ecological environment of the soil and provide good conditions for the growth and development of tea plants, improving their vigor. 1. Shallow Cultivation and Weeding The purpose of shallow cultivation in tea gardens is to remove weeds, loosen the surface soil, and improve the micro-ecological environment of the surface soil layer. The depth of shallow cultivation is generally around 5 cm, and it can be combined with top-dressing and soil mounding. It's also essential to clear weeds and brambles around the tea garden promptly. For young tea gardens that are not yet closed row, cultivation should be done whenever weeds appear, requiring six to seven weedings per year. Since the root system of young tea gardens does not penetrate deeply in the planting year, shallow cultivation before the high-temperature season should be done early to avoid drought immediately after cultivation. For mature tea gardens, cultivation is divided into spring,…

There’s a folk saying: “When the hoe digs deep, there’s no lack of gold or silver.” Winter management of tea gardens is crucial for laying the groundwork for a bountiful harvest the following year, ensuring high-quality tea based on the “heaven, earth, human, and seed” foundation. The tea garden should be pruned into a cockscomb shape or uniformly flat, with the choice of heavy pruning or light trimming of side branches depending on the growth status of the garden. The appropriate height of shrub-like tea plants benefits both their growth and the ease of picking fresh leaves. After pruning, the old leaves can be buried through deep cultivation to ferment into organic fertilizer, which loosens the soil and promotes the growth of tea plants. Weeds along the edges or nearby can also be used to cover the garden, providing insulation, water retention, nutrient conservation, and support for microorganisms. Once these weeds decompose, they too become organic fertilizers for the tea garden. Many tea gardens in my hometown are terraced in ridges. For those with low embankments, adding a layer of turf and garden soil can help reduce soil erosion and nutrient loss, maintaining the vigorous vitality of the tea plants.…