I’m brand new to feijoas. Just had my first fruit last year (not from my plants). And I recently planted 3 young feijoa in my orchard.
One of them might have a problem. Or maybe not, I’m too inexperienced to know. But this Albert’s Pride is dropping leaves. Temperature have been relatively warm here in Napa, CA, zone 9. There has not been frost since it’s planting a month or so ago. It is in the most sheltered location of the 3 feijoas.
Is this a problem? Or nothing to worry about?
Too soon to worry. Out of any set N of recently transplanted plants, one or more will show differences. Perhaps that plant had fewer roots or the roots were disturbed during planting. Looks like transplant shock or lack of water (not lack of applied water, but perhaps a root problem). Don’t judge the plant too harshly unless it does not put out a flush of new growth by June/July. Then compare to the other plants.
Mine have been doing that for years.
I agree. Transplant shock. That’s pretty common. If they had good roots you will be fine.
Hey Aaron,
same thing happened on my Albert’s pride last year. It lost all leaves over the winter.
I initially thought it was our cold weather (lot colder than you) but all my other feijoas were fine so it clearly wasn’t it.
Eventually this tree did die. Fortunately I have several more Albert’s Joy trees so wasn’t a big loss.
That’s a bummer, Ram! If I’m having a Ram experience, unlike other commenters, would you recommend any course of action?
I appreciate your feedback!
I agree with other commenters that it might just be a transplant shock issue so I would just leave everything alone.
I felt I had to comment because this is exactly what happened to my Pride bush last year while other Albert varieties were completely fine.
I get it. But while I’m new to feijoas, I’ve done a lot of planting and I almost never see transplant shock. So I’m inclined to be concerned based on your similar experience. What I’d like to know, is if you planted another Albert’s Pride, and saw this again, what would you try this time?
I bought 10 seedlings recently and they took 3 weeks to get here. Almost all have the same problem. I figured 3 weeks in dark was too long to handle for them.
Were the AaronN plants potted rather than bare root? Were any of them more root-bound with many roots against the side of the pot? Root-bound or not, was there any attempt to loosen the potting soil and spread or re-position the roots? What I’m getting at is the roots of the problem plant may not have been examined or compared during the planting process. If there were few or no exposed roots, then transplant shock is less likely.
I don’t recall anything specific about the roots. That they were particularly this or that. Probably there were moderate roots at the pot, but not too much circling. This is vague recollection, mostly nothing stands out as unusual. I gently disturb roots when planting.
I was instructed to plant them deeper than the graft union.
I appreciate your help LarryGene!
I’ll be interested to hear if yours bounce back or not.
I am going to use them for grafting in about 2 months if they are going to be ok, will let you know
The weather has been dry lately, do you provide adequate irrigation to this plant?
Maybe not. But when checking the soil, it hasn’t been terribly dry. I would think it has sufficient moisture. Are feijoas fussy about getting just the right amount of water?
When they are young,irrigation is probably more important.As they get established it may be less of an issue.
I remember Bill Merrill,when he lived in Fremont,CA,said he never watered them and they fruited abundantly.
For watering purposes, this is a case of a new broadleaf evergreen transplant, regardless of the plant species. Once mature, feijoa is recommended to be watered during bloom and fruit formation.
They need regular watering while establishing.
