Has anyone tried growing their own tea plant? We bought one from Diggers a year or so ago and it is going reasonably well, although I think perhaps we don’t have it in the best position. We currently have it facing south. I noticed yesterday when we were weeding and mulching it that some if its leaves have developed a narrow pale yellow edge, almost like a variegation. Would this be likely to be a deficiency or perhaps because the soil might not be draining well enough?

It could be a deficiency, but as your post suggests you think it may be poor drainage then I think you have noted a relatively boggy soil. True? If the soil is boggy and the plant is only a year old, you could re-lift the plant, add an organic sand/compost base and then re-plant into a raised position.

This could improve your drainage and improve the plant…

pain master said:

It could be a deficiency, but as your post suggests you think it may be poor drainage then I think you have noted a relatively boggy soil. True? If the soil is boggy and the plant is only a year old, you could re-lift the plant, add an organic sand/compost base and then re-plant into a raised position.

This could improve your drainage and improve the plant…

In summer the bed is actually fairly dry, but at this time of year it doesn’t drain as well. We did add a fair bit of compost when we first planted it.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p70/beaver_album/th_Camelliasinensisleafclose-up.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p70/beaver_album/th_Camelliasinensis.jpg

After removing a heap of chickweed and kikuyu yesterday which was invading the bed I spread some blood and bone before placing the newspaper and coir mulch. I’ll see how it goes for a couple of weeks and if it hasn’t improved I’ll look at relocating it

AnneS said:

pain master said:

It could be a deficiency, but as your post suggests you think it may be poor drainage then I think you have noted a relatively boggy soil. True? If the soil is boggy and the plant is only a year old, you could re-lift the plant, add an organic sand/compost base and then re-plant into a raised position.

This could improve your drainage and improve the plant…

In summer the bed is actually fairly dry, but at this time of year it doesn’t drain as well. We did add a fair bit of compost when we first planted it.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p70/beaver_album/th_Camelliasinensisleafclose-up.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p70/beaver_album/th_Camelliasinensis.jpg

After removing a heap of chickweed and kikuyu yesterday which was invading the bed I spread some blood and bone before placing the newspaper and coir mulch. I’ll see how it goes for a couple of weeks and if it hasn’t improved I’ll look at relocating it

Bummer. Will try that again
http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p70/beaver_album/?action=view¤t=Camelliasinensisleafclose-up.jpg
http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p70/beaver_album/?action=view¤t=Camelliasinensis.jpg

Hi Anne, now I ain’t a tea growing expert, but my guess/advice is that because you maybe growing this plant for consumption, then you may need to change a few things…

Tea is made from the leaves and therefore you will want your leaves to be as fresh and happy as possible, so I would contemplate the removal of the flower buds, that’s wasting the energy of your plant so any boggyness or even deficiency in the soil will be noted earlier, and your tea plant already looks to be growing quite leggy, so I would be tip pruning often to encourage newer growth. I would feed regularly with a seaweed liquid feed and I would clear the mulch from the base of the plant, we don’t want any rot to appear in the base of the trunk.

I would still be thinking of mounding up the area…

pain master said:

Hi Anne, now I ain’t a tea growing expert, but my guess/advice is that because you maybe growing this plant for consumption, then you may need to change a few things…

Tea is made from the leaves and therefore you will want your leaves to be as fresh and happy as possible, so I would contemplate the removal of the flower buds, that’s wasting the energy of your plant so any boggyness or even deficiency in the soil will be noted earlier, and your tea plant already looks to be growing quite leggy, so I would be tip pruning often to encourage newer growth. I would feed regularly with a seaweed liquid feed and I would clear the mulch from the base of the plant, we don’t want any rot to appear in the base of the trunk.

I would still be thinking of mounding up the area…

Thanks PM. Yes it is for consumption so I will try all your tips. Yeah I tried to keep the mulch away from the trunk…even had a disagreement with OH about it…he reckoned there wouldn’t be a collar rot problem; don’t want to keep it too far away though cause we mulched to keep the weeds down. They go mad in that bed…especially chickweed and kikuyu.

AnneS said:

Thanks PM. Yes it is for consumption so I will try all your tips. Yeah I tried to keep the mulch away from the trunk…even had a disagreement with OH about it…he reckoned there wouldn’t be a collar rot problem; don’t want to keep it too far away though cause we mulched to keep the weeds down. They go mad in that bed…especially chickweed and kikuyu.

AnneS, would it be worth your while to put some bricks or similar around the trunk of the plant. This has been suggested for citrus trees to keep the mulch away from the trunk. It would keep the weeds manageable whilst allowing a nice heap of mulch to be applied…

maybe I don’t grow the right plants for it but I have never had collar rot on any plant from mulching up to the stem. I’ve even used hot grape marc up to 400 mm thick. If you have snails in your area, rocks or bricks around the trunk will be harbour for them.

Camelia for tea is constantly clipped and grown as a hedged plant. Obviously to grow tea plants to make tea, there must needs to be a lot of feeding to help replace the leaves. From all the photos I have seen of tea plantations, elevation is a common key so that drainage is obviously an essntial.

Dinetta said:

AnneS said:

Thanks PM. Yes it is for consumption so I will try all your tips. Yeah I tried to keep the mulch away from the trunk…even had a disagreement with OH about it…he reckoned there wouldn’t be a collar rot problem; don’t want to keep it too far away though cause we mulched to keep the weeds down. They go mad in that bed…especially chickweed and kikuyu.

AnneS, would it be worth your while to put some bricks or similar around the trunk of the plant. This has been suggested for citrus trees to keep the mulch away from the trunk. It would keep the weeds manageable whilst allowing a nice heap of mulch to be applied…

Not a bad idea Dinetta..might try that as well as PM tips

roughbarked said:

maybe I don’t grow the right plants for it but I have never had collar rot on any plant from mulching up to the stem. I’ve even used hot grape marc up to 400 mm thick. If you have snails in your area, rocks or bricks around the trunk will be harbour for them.

Camelia for tea is constantly clipped and grown as a hedged plant. Obviously to grow tea plants to make tea, there must needs to be a lot of feeding to help replace the leaves. From all the photos I have seen of tea plantations, elevation is a common key so that drainage is obviously an essntial.

I would speculate that your plants, RoughBarked, far from being the “wrong plants for collar rot”, are extremely healthy and very likely to be resistant to collar rot…because you take such good care of their nutrition requirements for a start…just speculating, mind you…

maybe I don’t grow the right plants for it but I have never had collar rot on any plant from mulching up to the stem.
———- i have never had collar rot despite mulching onions – but we live in a dry climate – so those in wetter areas might have different experiences.

Dinetta said:

AnneS said:

Thanks PM. Yes it is for consumption so I will try all your tips. Yeah I tried to keep the mulch away from the trunk…even had a disagreement with OH about it…he reckoned there wouldn’t be a collar rot problem; don’t want to keep it too far away though cause we mulched to keep the weeds down. They go mad in that bed…especially chickweed and kikuyu.

AnneS, would it be worth your while to put some bricks or similar around the trunk of the plant. This has been suggested for citrus trees to keep the mulch away from the trunk. It would keep the weeds manageable whilst allowing a nice heap of mulch to be applied…

I use old plastic pots – cut the base off and a split up the side.

bluegreen said:

Dinetta said:

AnneS said:

Thanks PM. Yes it is for consumption so I will try all your tips. Yeah I tried to keep the mulch away from the trunk…even had a disagreement with OH about it…he reckoned there wouldn’t be a collar rot problem; don’t want to keep it too far away though cause we mulched to keep the weeds down. They go mad in that bed…especially chickweed and kikuyu.

AnneS, would it be worth your while to put some bricks or similar around the trunk of the plant. This has been suggested for citrus trees to keep the mulch away from the trunk. It would keep the weeds manageable whilst allowing a nice heap of mulch to be applied…

I use old plastic pots – cut the base off and a split up the side.

good idea