i had camellia sinensis but like Paul mine died from under watering
sort of my fault.. at this time of year i stop watering to make the pots lighter to carry inside and down to the basement for winter
once in the basement i did not get it thoroughly re hydrated
i bought a coffee tree at the same time and it is still alive although i have had it for many years i have only had it flower and fruit twice so far
scale and mealy bug infestation ruined the one crop
the other i was able to brew a cup of my home grown coffee but i botched the roasting process
i tried doing it in a frying pan and flipping the beans a lot but still ended up with beans burnt on the outside and raw in the middle
a better way to roast on a small scale is with an air popper for popcorn... you get a good even roast
hopefully i get a crop indoors this year and i will try that
the tree is fairly happy at the moment and both times it flowered before was over the winter inside
i plan to build a subtropical greenhouse as well and i think you would get consistent production with consistent growing conditions
i would like to get tea and a few others which i killed over the years again but cant justify buying plants until the greenhouse is built
oh yeah if you do end up with scale and mealybug on youre plants a good predator is Lindorus Lophanthae
or spray distilled water with a small amount of dish soap and 10- 20% alcohol... over and over until it clears up
physical squishing first to knock the population down helps
thanks for the tips on substitutes everyone because it might be a while before i am able to produce my own