To ensure the sustained and vigorous growth of tea plants, it's essential to maintain a well-structured canopy over time. This not only supports efficient management and harvesting but also extends the high-yield period of the tea plantation. While proper fertilization is crucial, annual pruning plays an equally important role in optimizing growth and productivity.
In densely planted tea gardens, once the canopy closes, lower leaves receive insufficient light, and the density of production branches stabilizes, limiting further yield increases. To promote faster and longer bud growth, it's necessary to enhance the growth rate of new shoots while leveraging apical dominance. This ensures stronger shoot development and higher yields. During annual light pruning, care must be taken to minimize damage to developing buds. Utilizing overwintering apical buds and strong axillary buds formed in autumn and winter helps maintain continuous yield improvement.
Branch pruning is an effective technique that involves cutting only the weak or leggy branches, such as "chicken claws." This method causes minimal leaf loss, preserves wintering buds, and increases both the number and weight of buds. It also allows for earlier germination—up to 5–7 days earlier—and can advance spring harvests by more than 10 days, boosting overall production by more than 20%. This type of pruning can be done at any time of the year and is especially useful in dense plantations to balance individual and group growth conflicts.
If tree height becomes too tall after years of pruning, deep pruning can be used to adjust the structure. Due to the large canopy, dense plantings may hinder farming operations and reduce air circulation. Therefore, pruning should be done annually in autumn or winter, or even before the spring harvest.
For regular tea gardens, light pruning is performed to level the canopy, ensure uniform bud emergence, regulate bud numbers, control tree height, and stimulate the next round of growth. The depth of pruning depends on factors like tea variety, tree age, climate, and overall vigor. Stronger trees require shallower cuts (3–5 cm), while weaker ones may need slightly deeper cuts (5–10 cm). Light pruning can be done yearly or every other year, depending on the goal. In alpine areas where early spring harvest is desired, pruning may be delayed until late spring or early summer (around May) to optimize timing.
Pruning tools typically include hedge trimmers from Hangzhou or Sichuan, with electric models (using Japanese parts) being preferred when available. Curved trimming is ideal for promoting better germination and picking efficiency.
Deep pruning is used when the crown becomes too dense and thin after repeated light pruning. This involves cutting back the green layer by 10–15 cm, removing all previous year’s leaves. For large-leaf varieties, it may go up to 20–30 cm. Deep pruning reduces current-year yield, so it should not be done too frequently—once every three years is typical. In Guizhou, deep pruning is often done after the spring harvest, as this minimizes yield loss and allows for faster recovery during the hot and rainy summer months.
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