What is plucking of tea?
Plucking is the first step in the manufacturing process of tea and refers to the harvesting by hand of the tea plant. The plucking process occurs when the tea bush “flushes” or pushes out new leaf shoots. For a fine black or green tea, the pluckers will take the first two leaves and one new bud.
Are the tea leaves plucked every week?
India as the normal plucking round. In most of the tea estates tea bushes are plucked at weekly intervals from April to December and there is a marked dormant season during winter when practically no crop is harvested. Normally towards the end of the season when the growth rate declines the plucking round is extended.
How many times tea leaves are plucked?
The plucking requires a large amount of care as well as skill and is often done by women. The average plucking capacity amounts to approximately 16 – 24 kg of green leaves per day. This amount yields 4 – 6 kg of finished tea. Two to three times a day, the green leaves are transported to the factory on the plantation.
How do you keep a plucking table in tea?
Plucking is carried out by pluckers in the tea gardens and a strict supervision is necessary to maintain the quality of green leaves….Tipping and Plucking.
| Operation/Step | Key points | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.Tipping Pruned and Skiffed teas | vii) | Strictly maintain a flat table. |
| 3.Plucking of Unpruned Tea during Early Season | i) | Pluck close to janam |
What is black plucking in tea?
As a long term policy, standard plucking is considered to be superior to black plucking for tea in the plains of N.E. India….Standard of Plucking.
| Plucking Standard | Types of Shoots to be Plucked |
|---|---|
| Standard Plucking | Large one leaf and a bud shoots; all two leaves and a bud shoots ; small three leaves and a bud shoot; and single banjhies |
What is pruning in tea?
What is tea pruning and skiffing? Pruning is the process by which the planter selectively removes parts of a plant like the branches, roots or buds. Thus, Tea pruning is a horticultural practice which the planters widely use to keep the plants in ideal shape.
How is tea harvested or collected?
The plucked leaves are collected in a basket or bag carried on the back of the plucker and when this is full it is taken to a collection point where the plucked leaf is weighed before being taken to the factory for processing, or “making”, as tea manufacture is known in the tea trade.
What is standard plucking?
Standard of plucking denotes the type of shoots harvested. Or in other words, it refers to the fineness or coarseness of the harvested shoots. Depending on the length of plucking round or type of shoots harvested there are five standards of plucking recognised in N.E. India.
When should I prune my tea tree?
Jane says to “wait until late spring or early summer – that’s the crucial time because then you’re going to get rid of all the sappy growth that happened in spring, which are susceptible to wind damage anyway. Prune off about two thirds over the entire plant.”
How is tea still picked in the traditional way?
Tea is harvested by hand, not all leaves are picked during harvesting but only a few top young and juicy leaves with a portion of the stem on which they have grown and the so-called bud (or tip) – an unexpanded leaf at the end of the shoot. A few leaves, part of the stem and a tip are called “flush”.
Is tea always picked by hand?
Harvesting tea using shears poses a problem in terms of quality, as the stems get cut too, instead of just the shoot and the two next leaves. For a high-quality tea, nothing surpasses picking by hand.
How do you collect tea leaves?
The secret to making great green tea is to harvest just the top two new leaves and leaf bud on the new spring growth. Even commercially, harvesting is still done by hand since machinery can damage the tender leaves. Once the leaves are plucked, they are spread in a thin layer on a tray and then left to dry in the sun.
Can you grow tea tree from cuttings?
Tea trees can be propagated through cuttings.