I hear growing tea plants can be quite challenging. Looks like I have 6 attempts to figure it out…
I've started by mixing some coffee grounds and some conifer fertilizer into my potting mix in an attempt to lower the pH value. A short pH test says it's still at around 6.0, though, which might still be too high. I'm considering putting a few drops of vinegar into the watering can to lower it even further.
BTW, those are some surprisingly large seeds for that plant.
Update:
After putting them into a glass of water, I found that all six of them float to the top, which some Internet sites tell me means they're not good any more. I will keep on trying, though, because I'm stubborn, but I also did go ahead and order some new seeds from a different vendor.
It's possible, but it is TRICKY. Most nurseries propagate via cuttings because of this. I tried to find a non-slop guide that is close to how I've done it before, and this is as close as I could find.
The one thing I see missing there is stratifying for 60 days prior to planting, and making sure the seed hills crack a bit after soaking.
Once planted, I'd keep them in a hothouse environment, which you can achieve by just putting plastic wrap over the starter seed bed, and keeping near a sunny window indoors.