The Rain Water solar term has passed, and temperatures are rising rapidly in many places. Many Tea plants are now in the budding stage. Around the time of the Awakening of Insects, overwintering insects become active, and pathogen resting bodies begin to emerge. From the perspective of the plant protection principle of “prevention first, integrated control,” this period is also optimal for immune inducer resistance technology and the control of the first generation of overwintering adults. Implementing relevant measures can significantly increase the yield and quality of Spring Tea raw materials while reducing the occurrence of diseases and pests throughout the year, lessening the pressure on later control efforts, and is a critical step for improving the quality and efficiency of the tea industry.
I. Spring Tea Garden Management Techniques
Shallow tillage to remove weeds, loosen the soil, and apply additional fertilizer. Shallow tillage helps to loosen the soil, raising ground temperature and promoting early growth of spring tea. This is typically done from late February to early March. After shallow tillage, trenches are dug, fertilizers applied, and soil covered. Apply Bacillus subtilis and earthworm humic enzymes to increase the number of beneficial microorganisms in the soil, improve fertilizer utilization, and prevent disease outbreaks.
II. Immune Inducer Resistance Technology
Immune inducer resistance enhances the tea plant's ability to resist disease and withstand adverse conditions, promoting healthy growth and defense against late spring cold snaps, increasing production and improving quality. Timing: at the initial budding stage of spring tea. Chemicals: use 5% oligosaccharide amino acid water solution diluted 800 times or 0.136% gibberellin-indole acetic acid-chlormequat wettable powder diluted 7500 times as foliar sprays. Immune inducer resistance agents such as oligosaccharide amino acids and chlormequat not only inhibit and prevent white spot disease, red spot disease, and tea blister blight (diseases that occur under low temperatures and high humidity) during the spring tea season but also promote tea plant growth, improve the quality of spring tea raw materials, and increase yields.
III. Control of the First Generation of Adults
In conjunction with immune inducer resistance technology, simultaneously control the first generation of adults (primarily leafhoppers and thrips). Based on local conditions, when tea plants start to bud, most pests that overwinter as adults have emerged from hibernation, and overwintered eggs are preparing to hatch; pathogens and pests hiding within bud scales are exposed, while young buds have yet to appear, making them more resistant to pesticides and less likely to suffer damage. This is the optimal time to apply pesticides. When using immune inducer resistance agents like oligosaccharide amino acids or chlormequat, add chlorfenapyr or indoxacarb to control the first generation of adults, strictly observing safe intervals between applications.
IV. Prevent Late Spring Cold Snaps
A late spring cold snap refers to a weather phenomenon where after an initial rapid rise in temperature in early spring (usually in March), there is a sudden and significant drop in temperature, sometimes even snowfall, in the later part of spring. Tea plants in the growing stage do not have strong resistance to severe cold, and tea buds are even more vulnerable, making them highly susceptible to frost damage, often causing significant economic losses. Closely monitor weather forecasts and use rice straw, crop stalks, seedless weeds, etc., for covering to protect against disasters. Use rice husks, wood chips, etc., to cover the ground surface to reduce losses. After frost damage occurs, perform light pruning once the weather warms up to control vegetative growth. Combine the use of immune inducer resistance agents to enhance resilience, speed up wound healing, promote photosynthesis, and increase cell sap concentration, encouraging the tea plants to quickly recover and preventing secondary diseases.
V. Harvest Instead of Managing
Timely prepare factory repairs, purchase equipment, prepare fuel, organize production processing technical personnel, and secure pickers. Ensure timely opening of the garden, harvest according to standards in batches, picking whenever possible, harvesting all that can be harvested, and using harvest as a form of management, increasing the rate of removal from the tree, reducing populations of tea thrips, leafhoppers, and tea aphids, and avoiding outbreaks.
