Looking for relative ripening times for Pineapple Guava /Feijoa varieties, and recommendations on varieties to span the season. Albert’s Supreme is reported by numerous sources to be one of the latest ripening, while quiet a lot of the other named varieties are generally reported to be “early ripening”, but there is relatively little information I can find that really provides the sequence for varieties.
Here in North Florida/South Georgia the season started about a week ago.
Last year, my unique and takaka ripened about a week ago. This year, they’re much bigger but i haven’t been fertilizing them as much and they look about a month behind. This year, they’re in full sun even and last year, they were in the shade.
Pnw 8b
I selected mine for extended ripening, also in Georgia 8b. Takaka just finished up. Kaiteri and kakariki are also in the same time period. My Apollo and Huaia will be ready in 2-3 weeks from the growth rate.
My latest one was Waingaro which usually fell in November. White goose and wiki tu are also late as well.
Here in the PNW, Kaiteri is already huge.
I would say Takaka, Arhart, kakariki and Kaiteri are early.
Apollo, Nikita, 8 ball are mid season
Abbadabba is late season.
Photo below is Kaiteri.
Thanks. Very helpful. Any standouts from a flavor and size perspective among early, mid and late varieties, respectively?
My experience is largely with unnamed seedlings (and a supposed Mammoth that has never had more than a couple decent-but-not-mammoth fruit in 8+ years, and last year got decimated by a large banana that came down in a hurricane). The seedlings have been variable in terms of size (two of five really so small as to not be worth bothering with), but all basically ripen late September through October. I just got a “bundle” from Restoring Eden with Takaka and Waingoro, but I was thinking of adding a really late season, as well as some named mid season varieties.
We bought 3 already sizable seedlings bushes not named but giving about egg size fruit. You can get a large bush cheaper then a starter plug in South Georgia. The plan is to franken graft onto them.
In my experience, later varieties are much better than earlier. Atleast here. It is even measurable. The earliest varieties top out at brix 14. The later ones can be as high as brix 18.
Maybe my trees are too young. Or maybe location.
I’m pleased with the flavor of Nikita.
This has been my experience here as well. The later ones are almost always higher brix. Waingaro was the sweetest Ive ever tasted, but the size is variable
Apollo is still my favorite though. Sugar is high, light grit, and has a better flavor than waingaro so far. My seedlings have very high sugar as they’re later. Because of the grit Ive topworked most of the bushes though.
Waingaro is the latest youre gonna find in retail. You’ll have to graft if you want other later varieties. Marion is mid ripening, so if you get that, you’ll have an early, middle and late. Apollo is hardly carried anymore unfortunately…
