Here is a link to a recent video where Mark talks about the history and breeding of feijoa.
This past weekend I was lucky enough to pick up one of his Albert Supreme seedlings at the Bay Area CRFG scion exchange.
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Thanks for the link, I watched most of the video.
Wish I could try them/ grow them. Pineapple-guavas are pretty much a non-starter outdoors in Central Maryland. I’m dubious even pot culture would work here.
They sound delicious. Minty pineapple? Yum.
Patrick Schafer usually sells young grafted feijoa trees of great varieties (including those bred by Mark Albert) during the annual CRFG exchange meeting in Santa Rosa. The next one is this Saturday: http://crfg-redwood.org/events/scion-exchanges. I bought seven trees from him last year, all are doing great.
I have had a pineapple guava bush planted in my front yard for about 3 years now, it has slowly put on growth and is a bit spindly, but I have never got any flowers or fruit from it. It is watered by the sprinklers that water that area, and I dont plan to change anything. I have occasionally given it a bit of fruit fertilizer but no luck.
Most probably, what you have is a seedling, they take much longer to start flowering and fruiting than named varieties propagated by rooted cuttings or grafting. Also, the fruit quality from a seedling is… well… variable.
I bought it in a 5 gal pot, and it was about 1.5 feet tall. It’s now 3.5 feet. I’ll take a pic.
Okay I take it back, it’s actually 5 feet tall lol. It’s winter and lots of rain has yellowed the leaves, but besides being Spindly and no flowers it seems healthy.
Rain alone will not yellow feijoa leaves; there may be an issue with the soil.
Tried my first pineapple-guavas today. Found a few of them at the My Organic Market (MOM) in Frederick.
The rind is like a cucumber. The interior flesh has an oily juicy grainy texture like a kiwi married the gritty parts in the middle of a Bosc pear; the little bits get stuck in your teeth. The cavities have the texture and appearance of an overripe watermelon.
The flavor is guava-like but with a slightly caustic overtone reminiscent of spearmint. They have a minty smell paired with a vegetative odor like a cucumber or an unripe fig or kiwi berry (they smell like the “green bean” flavor @scottfsmith sometimes finds in certain varieties of kiwi berries).
Come to think of it— the fruit cuts, peels, and eats similar to a kiwi.
Definitely something worth trying, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever buy them again. Not that impressive to me. And at $9.99 a pound, they are still an expensive oddity here. They were shipped from California.
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Although the fruit pictured looks to be of proper ripeness, it is remarkably late in the season for feijoas, especially ones from California. Perhaps these were in cold storage for some weeks; the quality deteriorates when I keep mine in the fridge for weeks.
Nice produce label, though. I collect these and have never came across a feijoa label. One advantage of this fruit over a kiwi–kiwi labels come off with furry backs.
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Flesh of good feijoa varieties is not grainy/gritty at all. Among the varieties that I have Nazemetz is a bit gritty, but that’s an old variety; newer ones are much better. Best ones have completely smooth texture (I eat them with a spoon) and great flavor. Feijoa is one of my favorite fruits — extremely easy to grow, they require zero attention until harvest time, and then I have almost three months of great tasting fruit.
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My feijoa season lasts from mid-October to late December, as different varieties ripen one after another. My latest ripening variety is Albert’s Supreme, it’s in season right now.
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I see; and you are in California. I used to try and leave some on the bush until New Year’s, but the ripening time in the past 5 years has advanced by nearly a month (Portland). Squirrels chewed up the last of them a couple of weeks ago.
Stan, what’s your earliest, good Feijoa?
Nikita is the earliest one, some years it is very good, some years the flavor is affected by hot weather. I guess the heat should not be a problem in your climate.
Okay, that’s good. I think I have Nikita and Mammoth.