Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
ack01

Pineapple guava aka feijoa

ack01
10 years ago

I bought a feijoa from lowes today. After getting it home and doing a little reading it sounds like most feijoa need a cross polinator and that feijoas grown from seed are usually good only for shrubs. I looked all over the pot and labels it does not list the variety I bought. After 20 mins on the phone I found out lowes has no idea what kind they sell either hehe. So my question is if I posted auckland could it be identified or can you guys segeust what varietys I should buy in the future for fruit production.

Comments (7)

  • Kevin Reilly
    10 years ago

    most seedlings taste good. but you will need another for pollination.

  • larry_gene
    10 years ago

    Most seedlings make little or no fruit. Feijoas fruit best in areas with cool winters and warm but not hot summers. In extreme northern Florida, you have a chance.

    In other areas they make good flowering shrubs and hedges.

    For fruit, purchase named varieties from specialty nurseries.
    The variety Coolidge is often mentioned.

  • steve_in_los_osos
    10 years ago

    I have a seedling that I consider very good, so good that when it had to move I tried my best to save it for another location. So far, so good.

    It's very late and has fruit pulp which is more transparent than many and does not brown when cut open. So don't discount seedlings. The fruit may not be as large as some of the named cultivars, but size is not everything :-)

    You can train a feijoa to be a tree or keep as a multi-trunk "shrub". Your choice, although some seem to have their own idea of how to grow.

    As for pollination, many are at least partly self-fruitful but pollen is not very mobile so the wind is not much help and bees are not much interested in the flowers, although I have seen them visit them when a small tree was parked next to a field of wild flowers in bloom.

    For years my seedling bloomed but never gave me fruit. Then I found the video linked below. It made me laugh, but I tried it and voila! Now I do the pollinating every year, just to be sure.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Hand-pollinating feijoa with the paintbrush

  • AJBB
    10 years ago

    Lowes usually sells Nazmetz or Coolidge. Nazmetz is considered the better tasting of the two, but you'll also need Coolidge if you want more than a couple of fruit on your tree.

  • Kevin Reilly
    10 years ago

    every pineapple guava i've seen (most as sold as ornamental/seedling) give many fruit here in san jose area...i've seen dozens of them in bush/shrub/tree form loaded with fruit in the fall... we do have ideal climate for them..

  • ack01
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    So I went to another lowes close by. They had like 25 plants there. Again no labels at all. However after looking over the plants it looked like there might be 2 varieties. One had round leafs the other one was pointed. The plant with the pointed leafs had a much darker color green. So I am pretty sure I have a cross polinator now. There was a mold on underside of the some of the new growth. The mold was green in color. I hope removal will take care of that issue. I read that the feijoa only requires 50 chill hours but likes around 200. In central Florida I get between 175 to 250 every year so I think I am good there. I have a beehive in a tree in my back yard. Hopefully this will help with pollination. Thanks for everyone's help!

  • larry_gene
    10 years ago

    Not discounting seedlings, they are just a low-percentage gamble in many climates. Central Florida is marginal.
    If you have a dry season there or a drought, keep it watered.

    My unnamed variety produced 618 fruits weighing 63 pounds last autumn, but then that plant is nearly 20 years old and on the edge of the ideal climate range.

Sponsored
Land & Water Design
Average rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars30 Reviews
VA's Modern & Intentional Outdoor Living Spaces | 16x Best of Houzz