When the tea trade began, it was transported around China and beyond its borders by caravans consisting of 300-500 horses. The men leading the horses discovered that a tasty orange fluid would come running out of the bags once they became wet. The colonists dumped green tea into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party. The tea plant blooms in early fall. It is very hardy and can survive temperatures as low as 0 degrees F, but cool seasons that differ by 20 degrees F from the warm season will cause the growth rate of the plant to decrease and a dormant period will set in.
Camellias thrive in moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soils and prefer partial shade.
A suitable climate has a minimum annual rainfall of 45-50 inches. During the growing season, the plant is kept pruned to a short bush because only the young, tender leaves and buds are wanted for commercial processing into marketable tea. Camellias can be propagated from softwood cuttings rooted under mist or from seeds. Seed propagation requires no pretreatment, and grafting selected scion wood onto large root stock speeds early growth and promotes early flowering of young plants. As with all crop plants, the tea plant is subject to a host of pests and diseases.