As we all know, the form and management of tea gardens will directly affect the growth of tea plants and the quality of fresh leaf raw materials. At present, the most well-known are the two aspects of terrace and fir cultivation, and as far as oolong tea is concerned, we have done the following research
Terrace tea garden
Image taken from Anxi County
Terrace tea gardens refer to rows of dense planting, arranged in steps on the mountain and slope, managed by modern management models, and pursuing high yield tea gardens. Terrace planting was originally a posture of an advanced tea planting method, which requires tea gardens to concentrate contiguous pieces, flat terraces, ditches and roads, and other high strips, select good seeds, increase fertilizer, rational dense planting, and increase production and efficiency.
The earliest taiwanese tea in China appeared in the 1920s and 1930s, when Wu Juenong, Hu Haochuan and others in China were planted in Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the same high-rise planting method. Planted in the 1960s and 1980s, it is called a contour plantation and is propagated using seeds. In the 1980s, the so-called dense planting rapid tea garden was promoted, and it was mostly propagated with cloned cuttings. Among them, the main root propagated by seeds and with obvious trunk is called a solid seedling, which is semi-arbor type; the main trunk main root propagated by the asexual line of branches is not obvious and is shrub-type.
The management mode of terrace cultivation is to pursue high yields, so the densely planted terrace tea should be regularly pruned every year to make it more germinated, in order to achieve the purpose of multiple germination, it is necessary to increase the degree of illumination, generally no longer retain other plants around the tea plant, so the planting varieties will become monolithic. There are two disadvantages of single varieties: one is that the tea garden lacks sufficient organic fertility; the other is that the ability of tea plants to resist diseases and insect pests is weakened. All of the above, the final fertilization and spraying has become a necessary means. This has become the criticism of some tea lovers at present.
However, realistically speaking, in terms of industrialization and benefit maximization, it is indeed beyond reproach, and fertilization and spraying are within the scope of reasonable control, which is also very scientific and safe and reliable, at least, in line with the scope of modern food safety.
Bush planting
Bush planting is the traditional tea garden planting method, that is, one bush after another, and the interval between the bushes is retained, so that the tree type has enough space for expansion and light, and at the same time ensures the supply of fertility.
Before the 1950s, this old-fashioned tea garden was often accompanied by intercropping, that is, the use of bush spacing to plant one or more crops, mostly sweet potatoes, peanuts, vegetables and beans and even small fruit trees, etc., which did not affect the growth of tea plants. Reasonable intercropping can retain soil and water, inhibit weeds, intercropping planting leguminous crops and nitrogen fixation, improve soil fertility, short-term crop harvest, roots and leaves buried in situ, but also can supplement soil organic matter.
At the end of the 1990s, Anxi Qingxiang Tieguanyin began to be popular in the market, in addition to the excellent characteristics of Tieguanyin varieties, it was the result of the rapid industrialization of the promotion of dense planting and rapid tea gardens. However, the accelerated tea garden uses asexual cuttings, its side roots without main roots can not be deeply rooted in the soil, the root system is weak, coupled with dense planting, after a certain growth period, its root growth will gradually be difficult to support the nutritional needs of the bush, what is more, adjacent tea trees side out of the root system entangled like a spherical shape, the center of the inchless soil, tilting each other.
At this point, the weak roots have led to malnutrition of tea plants, and the quality of tea has dropped significantly, so it can only dig up the old and plant new. This is the reason why the fragrant Tieguanyin emphasizes the new bush. (The growth force is strong in the new bush period, the branches and leaves are sparse, and the nutrients obtained by the fresh leaf unit are more sufficient and the quality is higher)
Cong planted tea trees on the contrary, tea plants after a certain number of years of growth and development, the root system is developed, the tree type upright growth trend is good, the richness of the substances contained in its fresh leaves, the formation of variety flavor, the maturity of the growth state of the tea plant will be reflected in its made tea, and will be under certain conditions, with the increase of tree age, its flavor and taste will become older and more mellow. For example, the current popular Pu'er ancient tree tea, Wuyi rock tea old fir daffodil and so on.
Image taken from Anxi County (team members in the photo)
In our practical experience, we found that in addition to the superior geographical environment, the highest quality teas in various places are basically the old tea gardens planted by a certain group, such as the Lion Peak Longjing of West Lake Longjing, the Huiyuan Old Fir of Wuyi Rock Tea, etc., and the tea king trees around the world, which is not an old fir and an ancient tree? In addition to the age of the tree, there is also an irrefutable quality flavor of the "Youjia Group Tree".
By extension, other agricultural and sideline products also have the concept of old trees, such as the famous old trees in Guangzhou, such as lychee, Musang King, etc., as well as wine regions also pay attention to old tree grapes. It can be proved that a certain growth time is a necessary condition for the maturity and flavor formation of various crops. The so-called high-grade taste requires that the trait and flavor be more prominent, which comes from a sufficient growth cycle. This is the reason why the old fir is precious. This year, the Tieguanyin market fell, the Nei'anxi tea garden has been abandoned, and the industry is looking for a way out of "reproduction", and it is foreseeable that the "barren mountain" and "old fir" may become a new upstart.
Next:Evaluate the old fir Guanyin, and see what other fir you can get, try to talk about the flavor of the old fir, the formation mechanism, different tea species of the old fir similarities and differences. Stay tuned!
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Content Writing: Ding Ding
Editor-in-Charge: Six Yuan
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