What Is A Healthy Tea Tree In Natural Farming?

Key

Mr. Ogose Haruo, the owner of the tea plantation, told me about the work he does at his tea garden.

Yoso ( Leaf Layer ) Is Important.

The ideal shape of a tea tree is one where the ratio of the size of the above-ground part of the tree to the underground part is about one to one.

If the tree looks like this, it will grow healthily. The height of the tree should be about 50-80 cm.

It is the shoots that can be harvested for tea. The key to success is to keep the height of the tea tree at 50 to 80 centimeters and to have a thick leaf layer where photosynthesis takes place.

Growing Healthy Tea Trees

There is an ideal leaf shape for natural tea cultivation.　It is called “Gajyugata”, which means the tea leaves are large and thick with a thick leaf layer.

A tea tree can do more photosynthesis if it has a sparse growth of large, thick leaves than if it has many small leaves. And the leaves of such a tree are more vigorous and nutritious.

We can harvest about 500 kg in a field that is one Tan (about 99.174 m2) in size.

The shape of the tea tree is made lower in height, thicker in leaf layer, and larger in bud to grow a tree with strong vitality. With natural farming, tea trees are said to last for more than 100 years.