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.
They were technically shipped internationally, but it was within the EU. The appropriate websites by my own government tell me I don't need a phytosanitary certificate in this case.
Though, to be honest, none of this would have even crossed my mind if you hadn't pointed it out.