Guavas

[destinduck]

Anybody growing any of these? Or any other varieties even? I bought this small bush from a local nursery and Im giving them a go!

 

[vbgarden]

We grow these in Virginia Beach and love them. The foliage is lovely, evergreen and beautiful today in the snow, the flowers are outrageous and the fruit is absolutely drop-dead delicious. You can eat the outer (pink) petals, which have a cotton-candy flavor and the stamens/pistil in the center will still pollinate and produce fruit. The fruit are about the size of a large egg, always green but ripe when getting soft. The flavor is sort of banana-lime-kiwi. Everyone who tastes a ripe P.G. absolutely loves it. They seem to have no pests but also not good pollinators and we've always gotten our best fruit set when I took a blossom or two and dusted all the other blossoms within reach with it. We now have three large shrub-sized plants, which we started as cuttings from the first plants which grew to be good sized fruit trees. So large, in fact, that despite determined pruning, we had to take them out of the bed right against the house where they started. We had no idea they would do this well here. You will love them! Folks are always asking us for a source for plants - Which garden center had the one you bought?

 

[destinduck]

It was called pineland in milton fl. Thanks for replying vbgarden. Boy evrything sounds great about em sounds great. I may have to get another now LOL! The manager told me about dusting them with a blossum as you mentioned. I would imagine there is some kind of special creature that pollinates them in the wild.

 

[destinduck]

It said they were cross pollination.But I was lead to believe if you did take a flower from only the one plant and " dust" the others from same plant it would bare fruit. Does anyone know exactly wether you HAVE to have two plants?

 

[flgardengirl]

Here is a good link for pineapple guava from calif rare fruit growers. http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/feijoa.html

Here is the main link...they have so much good info on tropical fruit!! http://www.crfg.org/pubs/frtfacts.html

 

[destinduck]

Im glad I dont HAVE to have two plants but it is best. Thanks so much for the links.