Changes in pick beginning date and frost damage risk of tea tree in Longjing tea-producing area

We analyze the pick beginning date and frost damage risk trends of Jiukeng, Longjing-43, and Wuniuzao tea trees with time, using meteorological data from 12 station pairs over the period 1971–2010 in the Longjing tea-producing area. The pick beginning date of Jiukeng, Longjing-43, and Wuniuzao varieties had no statistically significant trends before 1990. The pick beginning date of Jiukeng variety had statistically significant decreasing trends after 1990, and there were no statistically significant trends in the start date after 1990 for Longjing-43 and Wuniuzao varieties. The average pick beginning dates of Longjing-43 and Wuniuzao varieties before 1990 are later than those after 1990 by 3.8–4.8 and 2.0–3.1 days, respectively. We used the trend of difference between beginning date of tea plucking (BDTP) and 0 °C terminal date to analyze frost damage risk trends. Eleven counties had no statistically significant frost damage risk trends for Jiukeng, Longjing-43, and Wuniuzao varieties, leaving only one county with statistically significant trends.