I used to follow this group years ago, and forgot about it until recently.

I am growing two varieties of tea plant in San Francisco proper - an
Indian varietal (var Assamica, three years old) and a younger plant from
Guangzhou (two years old). Both flowered well in the late Fall through
the first weeks of Winter; now I have some new leaves and buds showing.

This is my first year growing them - does anybody have advice on
pinching the buds or other husbandry? I'd like to be able to harvest
enough for a small stash of homegrown tea, probably trying to do a mix
of white/green/oolong/black if I have enough to harvest and brew :-)

Side note: I couldn't find the newsgroup rec.food.grow.tea :-)

On Mar 11, 12:40*am, Carlo Milono > wrote:
> I used to follow this group years ago, and forgot about it until recently..
>
> I am growing two varieties of tea plant in San Francisco proper - an
> Indian varietal (var Assamica, three years old) and a younger plant from
> Guangzhou (two years old). *Both flowered well in the late Fall through
> the first weeks of Winter; now I have some new leaves and buds showing.
>
> This is my first year growing them - does anybody have advice on
> pinching the buds or other husbandry? *I'd like to be able to harvest
> enough for a small stash of homegrown tea, probably trying to do a mix
> of white/green/oolong/black if I have enough to harvest and brew :-)
>
> Side note: I couldn't find the newsgroup rec.food.grow.tea :-)

Dear Carlo

I too grow a few tea plants in my backyard in the UK to remind me of
tea plantations when I am not travelling. Don't expect to get very
much more than a taste from two plants if they are in pots - but with
care and in the right soil in the ground you might get enough to
process after a few years. In the commercial woyrld tea bushes mature
after 5-6 years and each full grown bush - a yard across - will give
about a pound and a half of green leaf - that's just 5 oz of made tea
per year. I've been pruning tea bushes on and off for 30 years.
Incidentally flowering is a sign of bad tea husbandry! - but If you
let me have photo of your plants I'll gladly give you some guidance.

Nigel at Teacraft