Pu 'er tea collection is generally divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Harvesting spring tea in February-April, taking the spring tea harvested within 0/5 days after Tomb-Sweeping Day as the top grade, picking one more bud and one more leaf, and the bud core is thin and white; Summer tea is picked from May to July and is called rain tea. If properly made, the quality of tea is similar to that of spring tea. Autumn tea is collected in August-10, and is called scented tea. The quality of tea is inferior to that of spring tea and summer tea. Winter tea is rarely harvested, and only tea farmers collect it for their own use.
The characteristics of Pu 'er tea harvesting are: planting once, picking for many years, and harvesting according to different seasons and tree ages. The implementation of "centralized collection, centralized retention, large harvest of spring tea, middle harvest of summer tea, less harvest of autumn tea or greenhouse cultivation; The harvesting system of "harvesting in batches, leaving leaves in batches, and leaving leaves in batches for many times". The harvesting of young tea gardens should focus on cultivation, combine harvesting with cultivation, and pay attention to cultivating wide, dense and high-yield crowns to lay the foundation for high yield and high quality. The harvesting of adult tea gardens is mainly based on harvesting, combining harvesting and breeding, and effectively implementing the standards of harvesting and leaving leaves in each season.