secondary for cider?

ok before I start, i have searched the forum many hours, so I have done the leg work. I will be doing 3 gallons of cider (3 1gal jugs so I can add passion tea to one, bangle spice to one, and keep one pure) my question is about secondary fermentation.
1. is it necessary?
2. Do I wait till its gravity stays the same like beer?
3. how long in the secondary?
4. is tea a good idea to add at the beginning, or in the secondary?

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't help ya with the tea question, never heard of it before.

But there is no need for a secondary for regular cider. It should ferment till it reachers 1.000, if you use a champagne yeast I think it will go till about 0.998

I let my cider sit for 2 months at 65F, till it gets crystal clear.

I would try adding the tea at the beginning, since it's not a fermentable sugar it's not going to go away.

But even though it is not fermentable sugars, the tea's color and aroma may be scrubbed out by the co2 of a strong fermentation. I am only pointing this out to say that there are benefits to adding flavoring to both primary and secondary, and both will lead to different flavor profiles.

Following the advice on here regarding not xsfering to 2ndary for cider...

I bottled one 5 gal batch after 2-3 weeks in primary and added 5 more gallons of the same musselmen's apple cider into the fermenter with yeast residue and let it go 3-4 months. (just store bought cider and dry beer yeast)

The 1st 5 gallons was awesome...crisp and clean. The 2nd 5 gallons, which I just kegged this week, tastes the same initially, but has an off flavor/after taste. Why? I don't know if it was the residue or the extended time.

So, to be on the safe side, next time I'll transfer to a fresh container after 1-2 weeks to start aging.