OBSERVATIONS ON WINTER DORMANCY OF TEA (CAMELLIA-SINENSIS L) IN MALAWI

In Malawi, over 80% of the tea yield is harvested during the 5 mo. of the hot, wet, tropical summer. Characteristics of shoot growth were examined to define the nature of the fall in yield during the subsequent winter months of May-Aug. Slower shoot extension and more apical bud dormancy reduced the rate at which shoots reached harvestable size in winter. No changes were observed in other characteristics of shoot growth such as individual shoot weight, shoot death or dormancy of the axillary buds in their initial state. During the winter there was a stimulation of root growth, and the low yield was possibly related in part to a redistribution of assimilate. Altering the photoperiod had little effect on yield, but maintenance of warm night temperatures (20.degree. C) during parts of the cold season accelerated the rate of shoot growth to a level as high as that of the hot, wet season.