How often can you harvest tea leaves?

Question:.

Answers:
The answer depends upon the specific plant and the stage of growth at harvesting. You need to pick the bud, and second and third leaves only. Taking more is known as a coarse plucking and results in lower quality tea. If you are fine plucking, the frequency of the harvesting. Typical tea bushes produce around 3000 tea leaves a year, which will make only about one pound of tea.

Japanese green tea follows this pattern:

First harvest of Spring (Bancha) including a pruning of the bushes. Towards the end of Spring, there is the Shincha and pruning.

In Summer, from about June to July, the second harvest occurs, and these teas are known as Nibancha.

And in the end of Summer, beginning of Autumn, the Sanbancha is harvested.

Autumn, which is critical season for tea farmers, leads to harvest and pruning by about October or November. This is important for ensuring the survival of the bushes over winter.
This harvest is known as Yonbancha.

Your seasons depend upon the soil conditions, weather conditions, and the expectation on plant growth and vitality based upon your pruning scheme.

Here is a link to the Green Tea information. I hope it helps:
http://www.hibiki-an.com/readings/four-s...