How to Grow a Matcha Plant

Choose a place to plant your matcha. The plant will eventually grow into a bush around 5 feet in diameter, so choose a location that is at least 12 feet away from other plants. Select a location where the plant will receive full sun.

Dig a hole for your matcha plant. The hole should be at least three times as wide and three times as deep as the matcha container.

Plant your matcha tea plant in sandy soil. You can grow the plant from seed as well, but it will take an additional two years for the plant to reach maturity.

Add a few inches of mulch around the matcha plant. Matcha plants require moist soil and mulch will help maintain the moisture of the soil.

Add fertilizer to the soil when you initially plant and no more than once every six months after that. Too much fertilizer can lead to root rot.

Four weeks before harvesting, begin to shade your plant. Traditional matcha tea production calls for the plant to be shaded by bamboo mats or vinyl sheets. By cutting off sunlight from the plant, the tea leaves retain more amino acids, and the plant is left with softer buds.

Harvest your plant leaves. Traditional matcha harvesting is performed once a year at the beginning of May. Harvest only the youngest leaves and buds, typically the three terminal leaves and the terminal bud.