I unwrapped my feijoas about a month ago and this is what they look like now. The tips are clearly toast but I haven’t cut into the stronger wood. My guess is they are gone but will see in few months If they survive I will attach detailed temperature statistics for the coldest winter we had in the last 70 years.
By the way I received a msg in another forum, there is a person and he said his feijoa survived -6.1F in unheated greenhouse (no wind or ice but still worth noting).
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My two plants lost all their leaves for the first time this year.In times past,they were moved to a heated and then unheated greenhouse and did okay,but stayed outside this time.The coldest temperatures were about 15F or slightly less.Mine are in containers.
They are probably still alive and leaves should grow again. Brady
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Brady’s plants will likely re-leaf, but those pictured above are much worse off. I think I can see a tiny amount of green remaining. Plants that have their leaves frozen to a dull green and drop leaves gradually will recover and even fruit the same year. Brown clinging leaves are a bad sign. If they don’t show multiple points of re-growth by 1 June I would start over, you may get to fruiting point sooner with new plants.
Today I broom-beat my feijoa bush to hasten leaf drop. There are still a fair number of dark green leaves attached and green terminal buds. Low temp was +16.3. Bush did not lose any branches despite a heavy snow load.
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The Feijoas did survive and the largest unnamed one has more flowers than ever before.The Coolidge though,has only one,that bloomed over the weekend.I’m not sure if the big plant is self fertile,but I’ve been distributing pollen anyway,just in case and did the same today,after seeing the single.
About a third of the branches had to be pruned from winter kill. Brady
Unnamed Pineapple Guava
Coolidge
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Nice, truly beautiful plants. Both of my feijoas died so I cut them down in April/May. The leaves were still on which was a bad sign and when I cut at branch line the wood was dead. The trunk was still green about 1.5’ up so it’s possible it would resprout however I lost 2 years and if the winter was tough again I would lose all the new growth again (and again). Add the late ripening Scott was talking about and it really has no point to grow Feijoas without greenhouse in my area.
I am sure it would survive most of the winters but then you get one like this year when the January average was 23F and that’s it. My friend’s fig which was 10+ years old froze to the ground as well.
So I got a pair of nice bush cherries in their spot now andI am looking forward to the harsh winter nights when I won’t have to check the night temps each day wondering if the are going to make it till tomorrow.
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When I had a string of a couple warm winters a few years back I fruited some in zone 7a but those winters were more a zone 8. I think 2 of the 4 plants have made re- growth after around 0F and think mid-teens hits them hard.
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Hi, im a huge feijoa fan. Got mine from CA, I’m in MA. The tree is big 5 gallon pot size. I planted it in Early June in a big container and it’s doing well. I’m wondering when I should bring it inside as it gets cold here October/November and when I should bring it out next spring? Any insights? Thank you!
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They can do alright to about 15F,but I’d say,when things start to freeze,then the plant should be moved,especially if there is fruit hanging on.bb
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It didn’t bloom this year, hopefully next one. Should I move it in earlier? I’m new to this and really hope to see fruit one day. Does moving it in earlier ensure better chances of flowering in spring? Any specific spot inside that you recommend? Thank you so much!
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I did a test this winter. I had 17 seedlings not even year old that I uppoted sometimes in September.
I left them outside in pots the whole winter and 14 out of those 17 survived. The minimum temperature this winter was about 18F. When I was throwing away the ones that did not make it I notice they did not shoot roots into the additional soil so they were probably the weaker plants and would probably survive if I uppoted them few months earlier.
The plants grew over this year and are much more robust then they were throughout the last winter. Attaching pics so you can see the diebacks on them. Please note that if they were in the ground cold hardiness would be better. Hope this helps…IMG_20200807_1203133|690x459
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Sorry to reopen this thread, but what’s the vine with the big leaves in the back?
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Kiwi??
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That’s a male kiwi (deliciosa). I have several kiwis
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'I don’t know if it’s conform with the rules to reopen the thread (if not I beg your pardon) but I have just found it and I think my experience can serve the overall goal. I have a feijoa planted in Hungary. I bought it in 2008 (maybe 2009) and it’s still alive outside in zone 7. It lost all the leaves at least thrice in the first few years and once died back almost to ground. But now it’s a nice bush that flowers every year. I protect (well, not me, since I live in Italy now) only the roots. Unfortunately I have no idea what variety it is but it’s something like those ‘wild’ one with relatively small round/oval leaves.
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Dont know why we have that message. reopening old threads is the best thing around here.
You really just need to do is just get 2 more feijoa of any type.
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Hello there!
I’ve seen numerous nurseries from Poland and Czechia selling productive varieties/cultivars of feijoa for commercial harvest and they seem to fair great over there.
You should be able to find some newer feijoas very suitable for the climate in Hungary, as well as for Italy, even in Alpine regions of the country.
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Can you post a link, please? I’m really excited about it. Climates of Poland or that of the Czech Republic seem to be really far from the normal range of feijoa but Hungary is milder. As for Italy, in my garden (BOlogna, zone 8b) I have four plants and they are doing quite well even if they are in partial shadow. One of them is Apollo, another one is Opal Star, and the other two look to be wild forms. The named ones bear fruit as well.
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“reopening old threads is the best thing around here.”
I’ts a really healthy approach!
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Hello there, apologies but I missed your reply.
I’m unable to locate the Czech nursery. I believe it’s name was something like rare exotic fruits, but google doesn’t provide with any results. The Polish nursery had a Polish name so I’m not sure how I can search it.
Hopefully some fellow members from these countries could reply and let us know.
Apart that, I’ve seen people in the northern parts of Greece growing successfully cultivars such as Apollo and Mammoth, where the temperatures were as low as -16C. Therefore, depending your region and climate conditions, you should be able to have feijoas as well. Good luck.
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No such nursery in CZ selling Feijoa. Not that I know.
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