Tea in Hawaii

[allensylves]

Catz,

You posted a while ago on GardenWeb about your tea plants didn't you?

How have they done for you since then?

I plan to grow some when we retire to the Big Island in a few years and am trying to find out what I can in advance, so I make as few mistakes as possible.

I tried to send this directly to you, but Hotmail said your mailbox is unavailable.

Allen
Baton Rouge, LA & HPP

[Hotzcatz]

Aloha Allen,

I forget to sign into Hotmail often enough to keep the account there active. If you use the same name at yahoo mail, then I'll get the email. I did reactivate my account with hotmail so it will be good again until the next time I forget to sign in for over a month but I don't check it often at all.

I've planted some tea plants - camellia sinensis - next to our house, but the results have not been all that spectacular. The plants are still alive, but they haven't grown much at all. I think they may need higher elevations - we are only at 350 to 400 feet or so. They might do better with slightly cooler and damper weather. I suspect that if you can grow lavender or protea well, then tea plants would also grow well.

There is a fellow named Francis Zee who has been doing a lot of work with growing tea plants in Hawaii. He was somehow associated with the Hilo university I think, but I'm not sure exactly when or how.

There is a big plot of tea plants up by the research ag station in Waimea. That is cooler temperatures and higher elevations that what I have available here.

The tea plant is a shrub and the part that is picked is the new leaves. It is part of the camillia family, so if you are good at growing camellias then most likely you'd be good at growing tea, too.

I would think from Mountain View to Volcano would also be good tea growing area. It seems to grow in Waimea, maybe Kealakehe would be high enough as well although I'm just guessing on that one.

A hui hou,
Catz

[allensylves]

Catz,

Back when you posted to GardenWeb I looked up tea a little and posted this, for what it is worth:
>>>
I grew tea in a pot here in Baton Rouge, where it is definitely not cool in the summer. I used a pine bark based mix and fertilized fairly often.
I checked the Sunset Western Garden Book and it says camellias need well-drained soil that is rich in organic matter and mulched. They need partial shade, especially when young. That is, treat them like an open-forest understory plant. Sunset suggested planting them on the north side of a house, keeping them mulched and fertilizing with an acid-loving-plant fertilizer (azalea fertilizer).

I would guess your plants need less midday sun, mulch (compost if you have it) and a little fertilizer - assuming you have them in well draining soil.
>>>
Since my tea plant did OK here in Baton Rouge in the summer and ornamental camellias are a very common plant here, I would guess the heat where you are is not the problem. More likely drainage or insufficient organic matter, particularly on the surface of the soil.



Allen
Baton Rouge, LA & HPP

[Les C]

Are you both discussing tea plants or ti plants? If it's tea, there was an article in the Hawaii Island Journal in the past few months and it mentioned tea growing clubs or societies on the Island, I think on the east side. These groups are about promoting the growing of tea and I'm sure they are glad to provide info.

[Royall]

I saw a program on TV the other day about tea. It said it grows in only hot and humid areas.
As far as the US goes it only grows in either NC or SC (can't remember which) and in HI. It also takes 5-6 pounds of leaves to make 1 pound of tea!

The plants on the east coast have been growing there for over 200 years. They came from 1700 year old plants from China by a Frenchman.

Royall

What goes around comes around!

[Robin C]

Here's a link to the Hawaii Tea Society.
http://www.hawaiiteasociety.org/

The article in the Hawaii Island Journal mentioned a few people in Volcano growing tea.

[Hotzcatz]

I guess I can dig up one of the tea plants and move them to a different location to see if they grow better.

The research station is up in Waimea and the growing conditions in Volcano would be similar. However, there are some folks in Onomea who are growing them and unless they are at a higher elevation, then their growing conditions should be similar to here.

The tea plants are in a half day of sun, but they are on the windy side of the house so I think that affects them.

A hui hou,
Catz