cultivation of the tea plant, usually done in large commercial operations. The plant, a species of evergeen (Camellia sinensis), is valued for its young leaves and leaf buds, from which the tea beverage is produced. This article treats the cultivation of the tea plant. For information on the processing of tea and the history of its use, see the article tea.

The natural habitat of the tea plant is considered to be within the fan-shaped area between the Nāgāland, Manipur, and Lushai hills along the Assam–Myanmar (Burma) frontier in the west; through to China, probably as far as Chekiang province in the east; and from this line south through the hills of Myanmar and Thailand into Vietnam. The three main varieties of the tea plant, China, Assam, and Cambodia, each occur in their most distinct form at the extremes of the fan-shaped area. There are an infinite number of hybrids between the varieties; such crosses can be seen in almost any tea field.

The China variety, a multistemmed bush growing as high as nine feet (2.75 metres), is a hardy plant able to withstand cold winters and has an economic life of at least 100 years. When grown at an altitude near that of Darjeeling and Sri Lanka (Ceylon), it produces teas with valuable flavour during the season's second flush or growth of new shoots.

The Assam variety, a single-stem tree ranging from 20 to 60 feet (six to 18 metres) in height and including several subvarieties, has an economic life of 40 years with regular pruning and plucking. The tea planter recognizes five main subvarieties: the tender light-leaved Assam, the less tender dark-leaved Assam, the hardy Manipuri and Burma types, and the very large-leaved Lushai. In Upper Assam, the dark-leaved Assam plant, when its leaves are highly pubescent, produces very fine quality “golden tip” teas during its second flush. (The Chinese word pekho, meaning “white hair” or “down,” refers to the “tip” in tea, which is correlated with quality.)

The Cambodia variety, a single-stem tree growing to about 16 feet (five metres) in height, is not cultivated but has been naturally crossed with other varieties.

The mature leaves of the tea plant, differing in form according to variety, range from 1 ¹/₂ to 10 inches (3.8 to 25 centimetres) in length, the smallest being the China variety and the largest the Lushai subvariety. In harvesting, or plucking, the shoot removed usually includes the bud and the two youngest leaves. The weight of 2,000 freshly plucked China bush shoots may be one pound (0.45 kilogram); the same number of Assam shoots may weigh two pounds (0.9 kilogram). Tea leaves may be serrated, bullate, or smooth; stiff or flabby; the leaf pose ranges from erect to pendant; and the degree of pubescence varies widely from plant to plant.

Three considerations in planning a tea estate are climate, soil acidity, and labour availability.

A suitable climate has a minimum annual rainfall of 45 to 50 inches (1,140 to 1,270 millimetres), with proper distribution. If there is a cool season, with average temperatures 20° F (11° C) or more below those of the warm season, the growth rate will decrease and a dormant period will follow, even when the cool season is the wetter one.

Tea soils (soil) must be acid; tea cannot be grown in alkaline soils. A desirable pH value is 5.8 to 5.4 or less. A crop of 1,500 pounds of tea per acre (1,650 kilograms per hectare) requires 1.5 to 2 workers per acre (3.7 to 4.9 workers per hectare) to pluck the tea shoots and perform other fieldwork. Mechanical plucking has been tried, but because of its lack of selectivity, cannot replace hand plucking.

Scientific study of tea production began about 1890. Most tea-producing countries maintain scientific research stations to study every aspect of the subject, including seed production, clonal selection (for the propagation of single leaf cuttings), tea nursery management, transplanting, development of the bush and subsequent pruning and plucking, soil management and fertilizer use, and the ultimate replanting of the stand. Although procedures in all countries are related, appropriate details must be determined for each area. Since 1900, advancements in tea cultivation have increased the average yield per acre in Assam from 400 to 1,000 pounds (180 to 450 kilograms), with many estates producing over 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms).

The tea plant is subject to attack from at least 150 insect species and 380 fungus diseases. In northeast India, where 125 pests and 190 fungi have been detected, losses from pests and diseases have been estimated at 67,000,000 pounds (30,000,000 kilograms) of tea per annum. More than 100 pests and 40 diseases occur in the tea fields of Japan. Sri Lanka, where estates are close together or contiguous, has recorded many blights and suffered serious losses. Africa has little trouble with blights; the tea mosquito (Helopeltis theivora) is the only serious pest. The Caucasus, with a climate similar to that of Japan, grows the China variety of plant and has no serious pests or blights.

Blight control has become highly developed. Northeast Indian scientists have issued a list of 40 approved proprietary pesticides. Some of these pesticides cannot be applied during the plucking season; others require that the two subsequent rounds of weekly pluckings be discarded.