2017 ASHS Annual Conference

The tea plant, Camellia sinensis, was first discovered for brewing tea beverages in China around 4,700 years ago and is the most consumed beverage today only next to water. Tea consumption in the U.S. increased from $1.8 billion in 1998 to $11.5 billion in 2015, an almost six-fold increase, and this trend is projected to be continuing over the next ten years. Additionally, consumers are increasingly interested in where tea is sourced and whether or not it was produced in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner. With the local food movement in the recent years, there is a strong demand for domestically grown tea. This market demand provides an opportunity to growers and investors in the southeastern region to consider tea as a new crop. Several land-grant universities in the southeastern region have teamed up with tea growers and other specialty crop growers interested in adding tea to their production in conducting tea germplasm and production potential evaluations. One important aspect of these evaluations is to document occurrence of arthropod pests, injuries caused by them, and plant responses. A survey was conducted by sampling tea plants at several tea farms, botanical gardens, nurseries, and private properties. Location, surrounding vegetation, identified arthropod pest species and their densities were recorded, plant injuries were photographed, and plant response and recovery was documented during follow-up visits. Results were analyzed by location and surrounding vegetation and were compared to the list of major pests found on tea plants in traditional tea production areas in China.