Thinking about trying some of these out in the fall. They are pretty expensive, so wanted to ask a few questions first. OGW has a slew of cold hardy varieties, but I’m guessing they are twigs. Anybody know of someone selling larger ones? What does the taste resemble most? Any variety suggestions?
Which ones at OGW are cold hardy?In your zone,Winter temps can get -5 to 5F.
My area is 8a/8b,where a low of 15F,is fairly common and there is some die back,with no protection.
If they are grown there,I can’t see them surviving without guarding from the lows,either by a covering,with a heat source or in containers and bringing inside,a somewhat heated place.
At around $60,the plants should be 2-3 feet tall,at least.
To me,the flavor is a little like Pineapple,with Spearmint mixed in.
I have Coolidge,which only fruited one year and two small plants,Nikita and Mammoth,because of their somewhat early ripening characteristic.
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Thanks. It rarely goes below 15F here. My winter problems stem from cold winds. After tasting them would you pay that fat price again? I have the space and I am trying several things that might not make it.
I’d shop around.Mine were in the $30-$40 range.They have a very nice flavor.
It only takes one (rare? for zone 6-7) event to wipe out the next or the current year’s crop.
Best to keep the plants potted and mobile. It can take several years for feijoa to produce fruit.
‘Apollo’ here now over 5 feet tall and bushy, plant is probably over 5 years old, no sign of blooms.
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I’m a little to lazy for pots. Five foot in five years is more of a concern. That means I have to protect it from deer for a long time. Glad you mentioned that. Five years and no flowers is another downside. OGW listed them as 2-3 years. Maybe I will heed the warnings and try something else. OGW has some cold hardy pistachio trees I was eying.
Cold hardy for a plant to survive and cold hardy for a plant to fruit aren’t the same thing. The flavor is very good on modern varieties. Feijoa is essentially a bush, not a tree, so I would not expect them to ever become deer proof.
After reading several online anecdotes about pineapple guava being deer resistant, I took a risk with a Kakariki from OGW and an unnamed nursery variety of pineapple guava, planting them out in the open. I have at least 2-3 deer making the rounds all year and so far no nibbles.
In deer years I know this means nothing! The fact that in my zone 8a the plants will hold their leaves in winter might make this plant more attractive then.
Meanwhile the leathery leaves are very cool looking. Getting fruit will be borderline, but the flowers (edible!) might be worth it.
Growth habit is willowy and bush-like.
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I bought several pineappple guavas from OGW 2 yrs ago. They are 1-2 ft tall with good root system. Grew well in containers and planted them in ground last fall (big mistake). They were banked during polar vortex (0 deg). All died to soil level but are growing back slowly.
I just bought 2 pineapple guava from the local nursery, I think they’re in 1.5 gallon-ish pots, for $7.99 each. Trying to figure out if I want to try keeping them in pots, or plant. Just not sure yet where I want to have things in the yard (same thought process with my figs). These plants are unmarked in regards to variety.
Your location and growing zone are going to be factors,on what to do with the Pineapple Guava plants.Your info shows 7a,which normally has temps around zero degrees,in the Winter.
Mine is 8b and 15F is fairly common,which causes some die back.This has me thinking,your plants will need protection,so maybe keeping them in pots,then moving them inside,to a warmer place,above 20F,when the cold weather comes.
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The Eckie plants are likely seedlings, considering the price.
I think the taste of feijoa kind of reminds me of kiwi, and maybe sometimes something else like pineapple or strawberry - It’s really enjoyable. I have Apollo and Nikita (got them from OGW a couple of years ago) - they seem to have overlapping bloom for me in my greenhouse and have been working OK so far. I have to hand pollinate them in order to get fruit where they are in my greenhouse, which is OK since I get to eat the petals when I’m done, and the petals have a nice subtle sweet (spicy cinnamon-y?) flavor. Apollo fruits that I’ve had so far tended to be more sweet-tart tasting and reminded me of a really good green kiwi, it’s my favorite variety of the two. Nikita fruits were sweeter than Apollo and more floral, though.
I’ve been better at irrigating them this year so I hope the fruit might be a bit larger - this will hopefully be the second year we will have gotten fruits from them. I have not had any noticeable die back on either keeping the greenhouse minimum temps >20f
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They may be, this is the first time I’ve ever seen them so I don’t know how fast they grow or what size to expect. These are multi stemmed, and I’d say about 2.5-3 ft tall. I’ll try to take and post a picture tomorrow, and measure height .
I purchased a “male and female” combo from Edible Landscaping in 2019 that was on a clearance special. I think it was around 50 bucks for two sizable trees (about 4-5 ft tall). They still haven’t produced flowers but have been potted and brought in each winter, looking very sad with large leaf drop and not a lot of good growth the next spring. I am putting a full spectrum light on them this year, fertilizing and hoping for some blooms; Z6A Pittsburgh area for reference.
Here are the 2 that I got for $7.99 each. I thought it was a good deal, but like I said just recently learned of this plant from reading on this site, and just happenedntonstumble.on them at the nursery. I’d be very surprised if anyone around here know what they are.
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disc4tw: I am not aware of gendered feijoa plants.
Eckie: nice looking plants.
You must have bought the last ones. I went to their website and they are sold out. For $7.99 I was going to buy some too.
Those were bought from a local nursery in VA, no website.
Your right. It was someone else that mentioned Edible Landscaping.