I'm curious as to whether anyone here has tried growing their own tea, either in a garden or as a potted plant. If so, what climate zone are you located in, and how did the plant do?
I'm curious to try growing the tea plant just to see how it does. However, I live in climate zone 8b, and most varieties I've been able to find online are rated as best suited for climate zones in the 7 range.
Does anyone have any tips?
I'm trying it now, from seed, and it's DAMN difficult to even get the friggin things started.
They take weeks to germinate.. like 6-10 weeks. And they have to be kept moist for all that time, but then mold starts to grow. Bleach can only be used for part of the process, because when they germinate they still go extremely slow and must be kept moist. I'm used to annuals and everything about this plant feels like it's in slow motion.
Out of 10 starting seeds, 2 were bad outright and if I get one to grow I'll be thrilled. After that you have to wait for at least a couple of years before you can start to harvest. It's tricky and you won't see anything for years.
For this very reason, I was considering buying a plant instead of attempting to grow it from seed. However, finding one in my area is proving exceedingly difficult, which makes me doubt the suitability of the climate here... please keep me updated on your plant.
Well if you can find someone who ships small clones or something let me know. There's almost nothing on the 'net about growing tea plants and abosolutely zero tea plant sellers I've found in my area (southern california).
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