About Weeding

Cultivating Japanese Tea

Weeding Tea Fields

Weeds are the strongest and most adaptable plants in any given environment. That’s what makes them so persistent. In the world of tea production, the standard practice is the use of chemical herbicides. They are efficient and cheap, but can damage the tea plants and ecosystem. At d:matcha, we take a different path. As organic farmers, we never use herbicides. We believe that the health of the tea leaf begins with the health of the earth, which is why we manage all the weeds in our fields ourselves.

The Challenge: Why We Weed

Resource Competition

Weeds are incredibly adaptable. They are often faster than tea bushes at absorbing water and essential soil nutrients.

Stifled Growth

Fast-growing wild plants can physically block sunlight, causing baby trees to wither.

Field Accessibility

Dense growth makes it difficult for our farmers to walk the rows, monitor our tea plants, and use our portable harvest machines.

Our Labor-Intensive Methods

Manual Hand-Pulling

To protect the delicate root systems of our tea bushes, we remove weeds at the base entirely by hand. This is the most time-consuming task on the farm, but it ensures we fully remove the weeds without damaging the tea.

Strategic Trimming

We use brush cutters for secondary areas such as field edges, rice paddy banks, and between rows of young tree rows. By trimming the weeds at their growing point, we slow down their regrowth as much as possible.

Common Weeds We Manage

Ferns

Spreads via underground rhizomes, and thrives in damp shaded areas.

Climbing Vines

Fast-growing creepers that wrap around tea branches.

Wild Grasses

Rapidly absorbs nitrogen and moisture intended for our tea plants.