I've been in a regular contact with the managers of various
plantations in Darjeeling and all the gardens will come up with a slow
start this year due to the uneven balance of temperature this year
which makes the growth of new leafs and buds very slow, talking about
the Darjeeling Valley Gardens like Puttabong, North Tukvar, Barnesbeg
etc. which use to start with their 1st invoices of First Flush by
probably the end of 1st week of March will get their first couple of
invoices only by the 10th of March or may be a couple of Days later.
The Kurseong Valley gardens like Castleton, Goomtee, Jungpana, and
Makaibari etc. will start after the 15th of March but the Mirik valley
gardens which are usually late starters like Thurbo, Gopaldhara etc
might be early starter this year as unusually the area is much more
humid this year so leaf growth is expected to be rapid in these
gardens and we can expect early invoices from these gardens.