I was curious, does anyone know if a Tea plant will actually grow in
Connecticut? I'm not looking to actually process the leaves for
drinking, just a plant for show, but i'm not sure if it would even
survive the climate. Any insights?

Viðrar Vel Til
anews.com4/20/04


> I was curious, does anyone know if a Tea plant will actually grow in
> Connecticut? I'm not looking to actually process the leaves for
> drinking, just a plant for show, but i'm not sure if it would even
> survive the climate. Any insights?

Well, they appear to be doing fine in New York City. And "Connecticut Shade"
is a great best tobacco for cigar wrapper. It's highly sought after. Don't
know if there's a crosover here, but you wouldn't expect tobacco to grow in
Connecticut either. Those are my insights.

Michael

Michael Plant > wrote in message >...
> Viðrar Vel Til
> anews.com4/20/04
>
>
> > I was curious, does anyone know if a Tea plant will actually grow in
> > Connecticut? I'm not looking to actually process the leaves for
> > drinking, just a plant for show, but i'm not sure if it would even
> > survive the climate. Any insights?
>
> Well, they appear to be doing fine in New York City. And "Connecticut Shade"
> is a great best tobacco for cigar wrapper. It's highly sought after. Don't
> know if there's a crosover here, but you wouldn't expect tobacco to grow in
> Connecticut either. Those are my insights.
>
> Michael

I do not have specific data for Connecticut but the following are
typical requirements for growing Camellia sinensis commercially:

1. Average air temperature 20 to 30 °C but bushes become dormant if
night temperatures drop below 13 °C
2. Dormant season temperature minima should be above minus 5 deg C
3. Soil temperature between 16 and 25 °C
4. Annual rainfall between 1,500 and 3,500 mm, well spread through the
growing season
5. Soil pH between 4.5 and 5.5 - death occurs at ph 7.0 and above.
6. Soil structu well drained but retentive.
7. Soil water deficit less than 40-100 mm (SWD = difference between
field capacity and the actual water in the soil. Tea crop can
evaporate 3 to 6 mm per day = 1,000 to 2,000 mm per year. Rainfall is
therefore marginal below 1,500 mm.)
8. Water table below 2 metres
9. Humidity: high enough not to limit growth (a saturation deficit
below 2.3 kPA, this can rise for example to 7 kPA in the hot dry
unproductive period in Malawi).
10. Light intensity: at least 700 to 800 W per m2 – that is typical
winter sun intensity in tropics = 75% of summer levels. Interception
is extremely high in tea grown commercially - only 40 w/m2 will reach
ground under healthy monoculture bushes.

All of these requirements are important, though in true Orwellian
fashion, some are more important than others.

Nigel at Teacraft
www.teacraft.com
www.nothingbuttea.co.uk

Nigel,

Thank you very much for this information. New York is a cold place in
Winter. Am I to understand from the points you make that the trees will be
evergreen in warmer climes, but desiduous where the winter temperature
drops? Is the data below applicable to all subspecies? I was under the
impresssion -- probably wishful thinking and just plain wrong -- that there
were subspecies that tolerate a much lower temperature range.

Michael

Nigel at 4/21/04


> I do not have specific data for Connecticut but the following are
> typical requirements for growing Camellia sinensis commercially:
>
> 1. Average air temperature 20 to 30 °C but bushes become dormant if
> night temperatures drop below 13 °C
> 2. Dormant season temperature minima should be above minus 5 deg C
> 3. Soil temperature between 16 and 25 °C
> 4. Annual rainfall between 1,500 and 3,500 mm, well spread through the
> growing season
> 5. Soil pH between 4.5 and 5.5 - death occurs at ph 7.0 and above.
> 6. Soil structu well drained but retentive.
> 7. Soil water deficit less than 40-100 mm (SWD = difference between
> field capacity and the actual water in the soil. Tea crop can
> evaporate 3 to 6 mm per day = 1,000 to 2,000 mm per year. Rainfall is
> therefore marginal below 1,500 mm.)
> 8. Water table below 2 metres
> 9. Humidity: high enough not to limit growth (a saturation deficit
> below 2.3 kPA, this can rise for example to 7 kPA in the hot dry
> unproductive period in Malawi).
> 10. Light intensity: at least 700 to 800 W per m2 – that is typical
> winter sun intensity in tropics = 75% of summer levels. Interception
> is extremely high in tea grown commercially - only 40 w/m2 will reach
> ground under healthy monoculture bushes.
>
> All of these requirements are important, though in true Orwellian
> fashion, some are more important than others.
>
> Nigel at Teacraft
> www.teacraft.com
> www.nothingbuttea.co.uk

Michael Plant > wrote in message >...

> Nigel,
>
> Thank you very much for this information. New York is a cold place in
> Winter. Am I to understand from the points you make that the trees will be
> evergreen in warmer climes, but desiduous where the winter temperature
> drops? Is the data below applicable to all subspecies? I was under the
> impresssion -- probably wishful thinking and just plain wrong -- that there
> were subspecies that tolerate a much lower temperature range.
>


Michael,

I have not so to speak destructively tested tea varieties at extreme
low temperature but from bitter experience Assamica types will not go
below +3 deg C. Hybrid Assamica x Sinensis types I have worked with
split their bark at -4 deg C (in Pakistan). True Sinensis accept
around -5 dec C (Turkey, Georgia, Pakistan, UK) and come back OK
(remaining in the evergreen state). I heard that many of the South
Carolina clones were long ago tested down to low temperature (in cold
rooms) at Clempson University - but the data is confused in my mind as
to whether it was 7 degrees F of frost or -7 deg C. Certainly tea
bushes look better after cold weather if they have had an insulating
covering of snow - as they often receive in Turkey and Georgia. I
would expect -10 deg C to be an absolute minimum for survival, with
leaf drop and stem damage occurring at this temperature. If just a
one off occurrence there will be compensatory spring re-growth, but if
it was continously cold at this temperature or experienced many times
during a dormant season, or occurred every dormant season, then death
would ensue. Thus New York would not be a very good area for a tea
plantation - but for individual bushes you can keep them overwinter,
as I do, in a greenhouse.

Nigel at Teacraft
www.teacraft.com
www.nothingbuttea.co.uk

Nigel at 4/21/04


> Michael Plant > wrote in message
> >...
>
>> Nigel,
>>
>> Thank you very much for this information. New York is a cold place in
>> Winter. Am I to understand from the points you make that the trees will be
>> evergreen in warmer climes, but desiduous where the winter temperature
>> drops? Is the data below applicable to all subspecies? I was under the
>> impresssion -- probably wishful thinking and just plain wrong -- that there
>> were subspecies that tolerate a much lower temperature range.
>>
>
>
> Michael,
>
> I have not so to speak destructively tested tea varieties at extreme
> low temperature but from bitter experience Assamica types will not go
> below +3 deg C. Hybrid Assamica x Sinensis types I have worked with
> split their bark at -4 deg C (in Pakistan). True Sinensis accept
> around -5 dec C (Turkey, Georgia, Pakistan, UK) and come back OK
> (remaining in the evergreen state). I heard that many of the South
> Carolina clones were long ago tested down to low temperature (in cold
> rooms) at Clempson University - but the data is confused in my mind as
> to whether it was 7 degrees F of frost or -7 deg C. Certainly tea
> bushes look better after cold weather if they have had an insulating
> covering of snow - as they often receive in Turkey and Georgia. I
> would expect -10 deg C to be an absolute minimum for survival, with
> leaf drop and stem damage occurring at this temperature. If just a
> one off occurrence there will be compensatory spring re-growth, but if
> it was continously cold at this temperature or experienced many times
> during a dormant season, or occurred every dormant season, then death
> would ensue. Thus New York would not be a very good area for a tea
> plantation - but for individual bushes you can keep them overwinter,
> as I do, in a greenhouse.
>
> Nigel at Teacraft
> www.teacraft.com
> www.nothingbuttea.co.uk

Thank you again. My plan is to bring them inside during the winter. We shall
see what we shall see. BTW, I ordered a couple Kenyans from your company, as
well as one Georgian (white tea), but was a bit sad that an oxidized
Georgian was not available. I understand you are in the process of whipping
their tea industry into shape as we speak. Parenthetically, I found a Viet
Nam government web site that stated that the country's tea production was
something like 7th in the world and 5th in acreage. They also mentioned
that quality was far from where it needs to be. Maybe a new place for you to
explore.

Michael