Camellia Sinensis is an evergreen shrub, used both for decorative purposes and for consumption, its medicinal properties being well known worldwide. The leaves, buds, and fruits are used to prepare tea, as well as an ingredient in some medicinal preparations.
The history of the tea plant begins in Asia, 22,000 years ago, after the last ice age, but this aspect still sparks intense debates among researchers. Camellia Sinensis has been a subject of medical and even political controversies over time - but its use for preparing tea and other types of refreshing drinks has remained constant.
The tea tree generally appears as a shrub reaching up to 2 m in height in cultivation. Specimens naturally tend to grow taller, but are usually kept to this height by pruning. New leaves are glossy and have a typical caffeine content of 4%, making them ideal for harvesting. As they age, their chemical composition changes, allowing the preparation of various tea varieties with different properties. To preserve the caffeine content, buds and the first 2-3 leaves will be harvested. Under optimal growing conditions, this procedure will be repeated every two weeks.
Care for Camellia Sinensis. The tea tree is successfully cultivated in open-air plantations in areas where temperatures do not frequently drop below -10°C, or in protected areas / cold greenhouses. Although technically it can withstand down to -15°C, long-term exposure to such temperatures can cause significant damage to the plant.
Plants currently available in the horticultural trade are generally descendants with significantly improved cold resistance - currently, plantations exist even in mountainous areas, at very high altitudes, where the weather is not very friendly. Such plantations were established to obtain plants with certain characteristics - for example, due to low temperatures, plants grow more slowly, but the caffeine content is higher and more black tea specialties can be obtained.
The plant tolerates lack of water better than its excess. It is recommended to use a substrate that retains a certain degree of moisture but drains the surplus well, so that water does not stagnate. A universal peat mix improved with pumice and/or perlite can be successfully used.
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