At the World Tea Expo I scored a Ziploc baggie containing seven tea seeds. That’s right, actual Camellia Sinensis! Much to my surprise one of the little beauties had already started germinating. From what I’ve heard getting them to do that in the first place is the hardest part. I live in an urban New Jersey apartment but I do have a bit of a green thumb so we’ll see how this goes.
I did some research before planting and stopped by my local garden center for supplies. Tea likes an acidic soil so I picked up some organic potting soil as well as an acidifier. Robert Fortune discovered that tea seeds did well in a Wardian case when he was smuggling them into India. Not having one handy, I figured that an old fish tank would be the next best thing. They are now all planted and settled on my living room windowsill.
I’ll be sure to post updates on the blog as my seeds (hopefully) grow. They take a very long time to mature so it will be a while before I’m a full fledged tea farmer 🙂
Update: Since this post was written I’ve taken a peak under the soil and there are now three seeds slowly but surely germinating. Exciting!
What is the current status on these once- tea seeds?
They did really well until I moved them outside. A neighborhood squirrel would up destroying them all.