Trey's Tea - Growing Tea Seeds

Before I begin, I would like familiarize you on what tea is. All tea (white, green and black) comes from a single plant, the Camellia sinensis plant. Depending on when the leaf is plucked determines what type of tea it will become, but first, we must grow the tea.

Growing tea takes time and patience as any gardener could tell you. To start, we need seeds. The seeds are marble like by shape and size and come with a brown shell. Living in Missouri, I do not have the best climate for these types of plants so I had to improvise. I went out to my local convenient store and purchased little dirt pods with a plastic casing to give off a green house effect. The entire kit only cost $2.00! Highly recommend them for this project. I planted my seeds on January 4th when it was it was snowing with blizzard like condition s. I would water them only once every
week since the green house container kept most the water. I sat the container full of seeds near a window to receive sunlight; I also had a desk lamp that gave light to the seeds for ten hours a day, everyday. Keep note that I kept the container eighteen inches away to keep the cold drafts from the window.

	When what seemed like a lifetime, two out of the five seeds finally became plants by poking their tiny green heads out of the dirt twenty-six days later. I was flabbergasted! I continued taking the green house container apart by removing the top and leaving the bottom. For five days I watered and kept direct light on the plants and with-in those five days the plants grew like the bean stock fairy tale! Investigating further, massive roots were coming out of the bottom searching for water. I had to replant. Again, I went to the local convenient store and purchased two huge pots, one for each seed. After replanting each seed, they were placed in organic soil and watered. The plants continue to grow.
Dirt Pods
(to be continued…)
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What will happen next! The plants will become mature and it will be time for harvest! Wait though; you have to decide what tea you would like from your plant. If you’re a white tea lover, when the tea leaves consist of a white fuzzy leaf, it is time for harvest. Mellowing down a bit for green you will want to wait a bit longer after most the white fuzzies have disappeared. Now, for the caffeine enthusiasts, when the leaf has fermented to the point at which the leaves have turned black, you will need to pick your leaf! It takes two to three leaves plus a bud to make a good cup of tea. The best tasting tea comes from the top most leaves and degrades as you travel down the stem.
			Tea Leaf Sprout
		While reading, I hope you were questioning how tea bags are able to make tea without ever holding the two leaves and the bud. This is because tea bags consist of tea grounds and dust off the leaf, in other words, the leftovers! Not something I truly care for in my tea! Enjoy growing your tea and I will be excited to hear all about your experiences! Join our newsletter for more upcoming articles!
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