Will Tea grow in Connecticut?

Michael,

I have not so to speak destructively tested tea varieties at extreme low temperature but from bitter experience Assamica types will not go below +3 deg C. Hybrid Assamica x Sinensis types I have worked with split their bark at -4 deg C (in Pakistan). True Sinensis accept around -5 dec C (Turkey, Georgia, Pakistan, UK) and come back OK (remaining in the evergreen state). I heard that many of the South Carolina clones were long ago tested down to low temperature (in cold rooms) at Clempson University - but the data is confused in my mind as to whether it was 7 degrees F of frost or -7 deg C. Certainly tea bushes look better after cold weather if they have had an insulating covering of snow - as they often receive in Turkey and Georgia. I would expect -10 deg C to be an absolute minimum for survival, with leaf drop and stem damage occurring at this temperature. If just a one off occurrence there will be compensatory spring re-growth, but if it was continously cold at this temperature or experienced many times during a dormant season, or occurred every dormant season, then death would ensue. Thus New York would not be a very good area for a tea plantation - but for individual bushes you can keep them overwinter, as I do, in a greenhouse. Nigel at Teacraft

Nigel at snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com4/21/04

Thank you again. My plan is to bring them inside during the winter. We shall see what we shall see. BTW, I ordered a couple Kenyans from your company, as well as one Georgian (white tea), but was a bit sad that an oxidized Georgian was not available. I understand you are in the process of whipping their tea industry into shape as we speak. Parenthetically, I found a Viet Nam government web site that stated that the country's tea production was something like 7th in the world and 5th in acreage. They also mentioned that quality was far from where it needs to be. Maybe a new place for you to explore.

Michael