TEA: Camellia sinensis

Hi all, I been off the group most of fall and winter and back now.

I got at Portland Nursery yesterday two special rose bushes and a tea plant. I live in zone 8, so they sold a Korean variety that has no special name.

Any tips for planting well?

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They thrive in soils with pH 5.8 to 6.2. I treat them like PNW Vacciniums but without the bloom boost for berries.

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Thank you.

I have never checked my soil type here. I think I will finally have to. I got so many things growing and some not as good as they should.

Because of such compact soil in Hazel Dell, I figure I will also need to buy more dirt/compost to add and make it less swamp/rock.

plant in the same soil you would blueberries. Plenty of organic matter peat moss, pine straw(needles), pine bark mulch(if all else is unavailable). Lower the PH with Elemental Sulfur, activate the soil with Holly Tone.

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The long-term staff at One Green World can help you with that.

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Never add dirt. Unless you need to raise the soil level never add dirt. Only organics. When in doubt go to Starbucks and ask for coffee grounds.

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@lordkiwi -
Perhaps that’s what you need in your location. The best advice for his will come from the long-term staff at One Green World – who have been assisting growers in his location for decades.

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In my area (heck I found a report by the county in depth last year about my region back when it was all fields in 1970s) the soil is hard clay with ROCK. It is really hard to get a shovel into it.

I have managed somehow over 30 years to get a strip of the land in the sunny part to grow things. Even so, some of that area I cannot get a shovel into, and is only about an inch or so of friable soil that shallow-rooted strawberries can get into.

So each time I plant something hopefully permanent I have to really work hard to make not only a hole, but a big hole enough for years of main roots to get through. The rains likely help to compact it more.

I have other spaces with enough sun to be usable for growing more bushes and plants, but the problem again is soil being so hard. It MAY have vitamins enough to make things blossom, but if it the PH is wrong for the plant or it is just too hard to get roots into the soil, then any compost or fertilizer is not going to help it grow well.

I have a few factors like that I am dealing with that makes me think I may need to add both compost AND some extra topsoil, AFTER I try breaking into the ground with my hand tools.

I have a potted green tea… it has been blooming off and on for a few months. My only issue was over the summer it did not like the heat… i think this summer i’ll keep it in a mostly shaded spot (maybe some morning sun).

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I was wondering that too. Sometimes too much sun in some spots here.

I took some photos just now to give idea of what I got and issues.

Here is the sunny side with many plants growing close together. Then the side where a horrible huge tree takes up space with roots.

The side of apt did not upload before so here it is.
There isn’t anything planted on that side due to hard soil. image

Gee! Have no clue why this uploaded sideways