Fertilizer prices have skyrocketed over the past two years. Common 20 kg bags of soybean meal fertilizer have jumped from just over NT$500 to nearly NT$700—an increase of about NT$150 per bag. Assuming a 1-chia (approx. 0.97 hectares) tea garden uses 200 bags, that’s an extra NT$60,000 a year just for fertilizer. Many tea farmers are feeling the heavy pinch.
High-mountain tea gardens typically apply base fertilizer twice a year, corresponding to the spring and winter tea harvests, with additional top-dressing applied as needed in between. With the major spike in fertilizer prices over the last two years, our shop manager noticed that some tea gardens “seem to be using a bit less.” Some farmers even skip fertilizing during the autumn harvest season because profit margins are lower.
Predictably, the quality of tea from these unfertilized gardens has dropped significantly. It’s not just the autumn tea—our manager feels even the winter tea isn’t up to previous years’ standards. After all, if you starve the tea plants all autumn, it would be a miracle if they produced a great winter harvest!
In contrast to the farmers cutting corners, meticulous managers stick to the philosophy of “applying as much fertilizer as the plants can take.” Of course, they complain about the high costs too, but they know that whatever you feed your tea plants, they’ll pay you back in quality. As a result, their tea quality keeps improving, and their tea factory’s revenue continues to grow. Our manager genuinely believes you can cut costs on almost anything, but never on tea garden fertilizer. Skimp on that, and you’re finished.
Our manager heard about a tea garden in Lishan that uses the heaviest fertilization rate: a staggering 200 bags per 1-chia. The payoff of those 200 bags shows clearly in the quality—the pectin is exceptionally thick and rich, and the brew has a wonderful, syrupy mouthfeel. That’s why buyers practically fight over this factory’s tea, and you have to pre-order to get any. Their business is thriving to an incredible degree.
Tea lovers might ask, “Why not just push it to 500 bags?” Well, you can’t just apply fertilizer recklessly. You have to consider whether the tea plants can actually absorb it, whether the soil is healthy, and if the nutrients are balanced. For young seedlings or plants with weak root systems, too much fertilizer will cause fertilizer burn instead of helping. Furthermore, if a tea garden lacks good ventilation, excessive fertilizer will make the plants sick. This brings us back to overall tea garden management—which is truly crucial. A good manager knows how to help tea plants grow stronger and absorb more nutrients, which in turn makes the tea taste better and better!
