Growing Tea at Home

Have you ever wondered where tea comes from, and if you would be able to grow some tea at home? Believe it or not tea can be grown at home, just like any other plant. All that is really required is to learn a little bit about the basics before you begin. Here are a few simple guidelines that are designed to help you begin growing tea at home.

• Select the plants. Probably the single biggest challenge to growing tea at home is choosing the tea to grow. Tea comes from a surprisingly large number of sources. Some great examples that you can use to grow your own tea would be plants such as peppermint, lavender, lemon verbena, and marjoram. All of these are fairly hearty plants which can grow in just about all growing zones. If you want to grow other kinds of plants for tea, then be sure that you know the proper growing zones and their care before planting them.
• Start the plants indoors. When ever you begin growing some plants for tea, you should always start growing them indoors. This will allow you to take better care of them, while also giving them a greater chance at success. If you will be transferring the plants outside, be sure that you begin the plants a minimum of six weeks prior to their ideal growing season. This will allow the plant to get a really great start at life before having to face the harsh outdoors environment.
• Select the location. Whether you are growing your plants indoors or out, you will need to take some time to select the proper location. Most plants require at least six hours of direct sunlight, so be sure to choose an area that will give that amount of sunlight. In addition to this, you should also choose an area that will protect the plant to some extent. For example, if you growing the plants indoors, choose an area that will keep the plant out of direct traffic, but not some place which will allow you to forget about the plant.
• Maintain the plants. Once you have started the plant off, and placed it in its correct location, you will need to maintain it. This means checking to ensure that weeds, bugs, illness, or some other problem isn't damaging the plant. You should also be sure that you are feeding the plant properly, as well as watering it regularly. This also applies if you are growing the plant indoors as well as outdoors.