Frost Monitoring in Commercial Tea Production

A Mastered Craft

Zealong Tea Estate is a commercial tea farm in Waikato, New Zealand. Using their own developed process that combines ancient traditions with the best modern equipment, they grow, pick, roast, and package 20 metric tons of certified organic tea annually.

To perfect Zealong Tea's proprietary production process, they searched around the world for the best technology. One of the tools they incorporated in their mastered craft is Apogee’s Radiation Frost Detector —a sensor specifically designed to accurately report plant canopy temperatures.

A Vital 1st step: Careful Growing

Like most plants, tea plants have an optimal growth temperature range; if temperatures are too low or high, it will alter the growth rate and flavor. Thus, accurately tracking the conditions of the plant canopy is important for a tea estate. 

However, typical air temperature sensors are not a reliable way to measure canopy temperatures as emission of longwave radiation can cause a plant to frost over even if air temperatures remain above 0 C.

Scottech, Apogee’s New Zealand distributor, explained, “Designing sensors to most accurately measure the parameter of interest is an ongoing challenge. By mimicking the shape of a leaf or bud, the Apogee frost sensor has been shown to provide more accurate measurement of the actual environment vulnerable crops experience than traditionally shaped temperature sensors.”

The Radiation Frost Detector provides a more accurate look at a plant's temperature, giving Zealong Estate the information they need to make consitently luxurious tea. By prioritizing high quality at every stage of production, Zealong delivers aromatic depth, flavor balance, and purity that push the boundaries of tea cultivation.