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Grow Your Own Tea Plant at Home

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Jonathon Engels, a long-time vegetarian turned vegan, is currently on a trip from Guatemala to... Read More

Most households in America keep tea in stock, and in recent decades, the number of us who are drinking tea has doubled a couple of times over. It is a multi-billion-dollar-a-year business here, and the trend seems to be continually swinging upward.

Now, for those who are into tea, there might be some good news on the horizon. It turns out that a good chunk of the continental United States is suitable for growing tea, and it’s even produced commercially in Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southeast United States.

In other words, some of us might be able to grow this stuff at home. Wouldn’t that be grand!

Well, for those who are in the right USDA growing zones, 6-9 (Hello, New York, Washington DC, St. Louis, Atlanta, Dallas, Portland!), the news will only get better. So, get the kettle boiling, settle down and dive into how to grow your hedgerow tea.

Tea as a Plant

Source: HortTube with Jim Putnam/Youtube

The tea plant, Camelia Sinensis, originated in China and India. It’s a hardy evergreen with glossy leaves and white flowers that bloom in autumn. When planted outdoors, tea plants can grow up to 15 feet tall, or they can be grown in pots indoors and top out at about six feet.

There are two main varieties of this species grown today, and the same species of tea are used to make black, green, white, and oolong tea. It’s just a matter of when the leaves are harvested and how they are processed.

The roots do not withstand freezing, but they can be grown in cool temperate climates when mulched well.

Growing Tea

Source: Mountain Gardens/Youtube

Tea shrubs enjoy a mild climate, with no huge swings into cold or hot. That’s why USDA Zones 6-9 are ideal. In addition, they like bright yet sheltered locations with at least partial shade from the sun in the hottest parts of the day.

Tea plants like acidic soil and can survive down to a pH of 4.5. The soil should drain well (this is critical), and it is ideally loose and loamy. Each plant should get adequate space, leaving about 4-5 feet between plants used to make a hedgerow.

When transplanting seedlings, it’s best to do so in spring after the year’s final frost has passed. While the plants can handle a frost, the young plants appreciate some extra care in the first year.

Tea can be grown in a container, and it will work as an indoor-outdoor houseplant in climates that get too cold in the winter. It will need to be repotted every couple of years, either resizing the pot to fit the plants or trimming the roots to fit the pot.

Harvesting Tea

Source: BBC Studios/Youtube

It takes a tea plant three years to reach maturity, which is to say, three years before we can start harvesting the leaves to make our tea at home. However, once harvesting is a thing, it’s good to do it regularly to encourage the plants to grow bushy.

Then, it’s deciding what kind of tea you’d like to make. Regardless, green, oolong, and black tea all start with the youngest leaves and even leaf buds.

Green tea should be blotted dry and left in the shade to dry slowly for a few hours more.
Oolong tea should be wilted in the sun and left inside at room temperature for a few hours.
Black tea should be rolled between your hands to crush the leaves before leaving the teas on a tray in a cool place for a couple of days.

The final step to making any of these teas is to finish drying them in the oven, low and slow: 20 minutes and 250°F. Then, the leaves should be stored in an air-tight container.

A Nice Cup of Tea

Source: Great Big Story/Youtube

Of course, a cup of tea can be made just with hot water and tea leaves; however, there are many ways to go about making it work well. Regardless, the consensus is that loose-leaf teas are the right choice, and from there, it’s just a matter of finding the right tradition for you.