Plucking consists of harvesting 2 to 3 leaves and a bud. It is the most labour intensive operation in a tea industry and also decides the yield and quality of made tea. Normally, a pluckable shoot takes 60 to 90 days for harvesting since its sprouting from the axillary buds.
When the shoot is plucked upto mother leaf, it is known as light removing and if it is plucked below mother leaf, it is called hard removing. It is essential to add one tier of active maintenance foliage to the bush every year. This is done by mother leaf plucking during January to March.
During the rest of the period level plucking can be carried out.Consequent to plucking, bush height increases every year in the order of 10cm over tipping height in the first year, 7.5cm, 7.5cm, 5cm and 5cm over the previous year height in the second, third, fourth and fifth year respectively.
