Plucking Tea Leaves,Tea Garden, Sreemangal

Pruning and Plucking
When the tea plants reach a height of about one to two feet above ground, it is cut back and pruned to within a few inches off the ground. Trimming back encourages new shoots to form and increases yield. Regular 2 to 3 year pruning cycles encourages a fresh supply of new shoots and further increases yield.

Harvesting fresh young shoots from the mature tea bushes is known as plucking. The location of the leaves relative to the tea bush greatly determines the quality of the finished product. The youngest emerging buds are often reserved for the finest quality teas and are graded as flowery pekoe or more commonly known as tips. The next set of leaves from the end of the growing stem are classified as orange pekoe and pekoe respectively. The older and largest leaves closest to the main stem are called souchong. Although this initial grading during the plucking phase can determine the final product value, it is the handling and manufacturing techniques that will weigh in the most when determining market price at auction.

Harvesting is carried out throughout the growing season and is referred to as the "flush" of a particular tea. The flush of a particular tea is determined at the time of plucking. "First flush" is known as the early spring plucking of new shoots. "Second flush" is harvested from late spring through early summer, yielding teas with more body and fuller flavor. While autumnal flush is the late season harvest. Harvesting is a skilled job traditionally carried out by women and done by hand. Expert care is taken while plucking the shoots. The leaves are carefully pinched and twisted when removed from the tea bush. Handfuls of shoots are then placed into the carrier baskets resting on their backs. After the tea is harvested in the fields, it is brought directly to the tea factory where it is further processed.

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DEAR TONIA,thank you

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Nikos1954.

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shijin0610, THANK YOU

The area has over 150 tea gardens, including three of the largest tea gardens in the world both in terms of area and production. Nearly 300,000 workers, of which over 75% are women, are employed on the tea estates. Employers prefer to engage women for plucking tea leaves since they do a better job and are paid less than the men.these people,locally known as coolies migrated from India during British rule

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Best wishes from Thailand

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