Have you ever wondered if you could grow your own tea? Believe it or not, you can grow a tea plant right at home. Tea comes from a shrub that with the proper care will grow in Henderson County.

The shrub from which tea is harvested is called Camellia sinensis. There are two kinds of tea shrubs Camellia sinensis and Camellia sinensis var assamica. The Camellia sinensis is the more cold hardy of the two and likely the best choice for Western North Carolina.

Growing a tea shrub is not difficult. Tea plants grow best in the USDA Hardiness Zones 7 through 9. We are in the in northern edge of Zone 7 in Henderson County so Camellia sinensis should survive our winters. However, as you climb in altitude or move north the climate gets colder making tea plants unlikely to survive the harshest winters.

Growing conditions for tea plants are very much the same as blueberries; they like ample water but well drained soils. They can tolerate some shade but prefer full sun. The plants need acidic soils so some manipulation of the soil towards acidity may be necessary. If you can grow blueberries then you can grow tea!

Pests like aphids and scale can be a problem but are easily dealt with if caught early.  Treatments with biorational insecticides are acceptable when plants are too young to harvest. Pesticides should be avoided when plants are near to harvest. Weeds should be controlled in plantings to reduce competition for nutrients and water. There are biorational herbicides available as well.

Pruning tea shrubs should be performed frequently to induce branching. The more branch tips you have, the more tea you can harvest. Pinching branch tips induces branching to increase the number of harvestable leaves produced.

Tea harvest consists of plucking two leaves and a bud off each young branch. Leaves are dried, rolled then cut to produce tea for table use. As long at the tea stays dry it should last for months. Learn more about processing tea leaves at this University of Illinois website.

Commercial tea production is labor intensive, costly and special knowledge is needed. If you are interested in learning more about growing tea commercially contact Henderson County Extension Agent Steve Pettis .

There is actually a tea farm in the area! Table Rock Tea Company offers locally grown tea and agritourism farm tours.