Traditionally, tea shrubs were grown from seeds the size of hazelnuts, gathered in October and stored over the winter in a mixture of sand and earth. In the spring they are sown in a nursery or directly into the field, about four feet apart. After two years the plants will have grown to five or six feet, and are then cut back to one foot. They are then pruned regularly to maintain them at waist height. Plucking can begin three years after sowing at lower elevations, or it may take up to five years at higher altitudes. A shrub can be harvested for up to forty years.
Plants can also be started from cuttings or through layering, which involves transplanting rooted branches. Cloning, which is leaf cutting rather than branch cutting, has become more popular. Layering and cutting methods are the way to ensure true reproduction of a strain, since a plant that grows from a seed may be the result of cross-fertilization.
Most tea plants have a flush (or growth period) and a dormant phase. The leaves are plucked when the young shoots (or flush) are coming out. In hotter climates the plants have several flushes and can be harvested year round.
Leaves from earlier flushes (usually from the spring), are consider the most desirable, with the second flush being the best of all. The reason is that the sunlight is less intense in the spring than in summer or fall.
