In recent years, long after the novelty of having a feijoa crop wore off, I have taken to pinching off and discarding all fruit under one estimated ounce, doing this in phases up to mid-October.
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My first 4 feijoa fruits are all under 1 ounce in weight, but they developed on a lone seedling bush without cross-pollination. (I hand-pollinated the flowers.) Can I expect larger fruits if and when I get flowers on other bushes and cross-pollinate?
This is what I saw for years on my Nikita despite hand pollination. This year it made a real fruit but still too small.
It’s nearly December and many of my bushes are still holding onto fruit. Takaka and Arhart are done though. They are by far the earliest varieties.
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vitog: You can expect more fruit with hand or cross pollination, but the size of the fruit depends on the cultivar or on the individual seedling bush, their vigor, plus weather conditions. Pollination for any one flower is an all or nothing event.
I now announce my entry into the 2023 “100 club” as a feijoa I just brought in from storage weighed 105 grams (3.70 oz).
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Oh sure, now all you Americans like the metric system when it comes to the weight of your fruit. I mean 105 grams sounds so much more impressive than a 3.7 oz fruit. Kind of like every fisherman in every country using the metric system always posts a pic for bragging rights giving the weight in pounds (never Kilograms).
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105g for a seedling is quite impressive.
The NZ varieties so far are a minimum of 110g. But many of the largest ones are not impressive to me taste wise. I’m however still waiting on the 200+g (estimated) Anatoki to drop to see if the ones from that breeder (Roy Hart) are better.
So far, the much smaller American ones from Mark Albert(average weight 70g) have a superior flavor. But I’m told that Waingaro is very good. I look forward to ripening that one.
tbg9b: Some months ago, I mildly protested on the forum about all the feijoa-on-scales photos showing units in grams. I continue using ounces in logbooks, but online have succumbed to the metric majority.
And 100 Club is catchier than the 3 or 4 Club.
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Welcome to the metric club! Much easier to count in multiples of 10.
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I learnt everything in Imperial units when I was a kid. It’s probably been like 40 years or more since Canada switched to metric, but I still convert the temperature and distance into degrees F and miles in my head. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
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It is very true that old dogs rarely learn new tricks.
I learned to think in metric as a kid. I’m comfortable with most imperial measures but the weird fractions 16 oz/lb and fractional inches still cause a bit of cognitive overload.
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Glad to hear your Feijoa are actually fruiting at your location. If you can manage it in your location I’m sure I shouldn’t have a problem, (having a tad milder climate than you). Do you use any special precautions in the winter during a cold snap? Do you experience any die back if a long cold Arctic front moves settles into your area?
Congrats on your first harvest. 
I have 20 seedling Feijoas growing in three different locations. All were damaged to some extent during the severe cold snaps last winter and especially the previous one. During last year’s cold spell, I threw several layers of old floating row cover material over the plants. The damage seemed to depend on the location more than the amount of protection, but the amount of damage was significantly less than the previous year’s damage.
The December, 2021 freeze (-13C) damaged the plants farthest south from my house the most; many of them lost almost all of their leaves and most of the limbs more than an inch or two above ground. At that time I had 28 seedlings growing, but I removed the 8 most damaged ones. The two plants closest to the south side of the house were damaged the least; the plant that produced fruit is one of these. The 2022 freeze (-12C) still caused some damage, even with protection, but some limbs with leaves survived on all plants. The fruiting plant only lost a few leaves.
I still don’t know if the harvested fruits are edible; I’m waiting for them to soften up some more indoors.
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I brought in the last bunch of feijoas from outdoor storage today.
Final 2023 crop totals are:
161 fruits weighing 325.5 ounces, average fruit = 2.02 oz, or 57.3 gm.
Large fruit (for this bush): 14 >= 3 oz; 0 >= 4 oz.
Included in above totals: 6 ‘Apollo’ weighing ~ 15 oz.
Not included: ~ 6 fruits partially consumed by squirrels.
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Dang, that’s really cold. How often do it drop below -10 C in Vancouver. What’s typically the temp difference between Victoria and Vancouver? Do you happen to know what the low temp in Victoria was when it dropped to -13 in Vancouver?
More than half my fruits are still on trees.
The NZ fruits shown are average size . Arhart - 153g. Anatoki -127g
Abbadabba is a bit smaller than average - 42g. Usually about 60+g
I have my 4 new Feijoa I purchased recently inside for the winter. They are all at a south facing window, and the temp will probably be 35 - 50 deg F through the coldest months of the winter where they’re at. Couple of questions, would it be OK to feed them a little liquid fertilizer through the winter, and when watering do they prefer the soil kept moist, or do they prefer the soil on the drier side?
I have excellent weather data for Vancouver International Airport (YVR) but can only look up Victoria Airport’s (YYJ) weather on the Environment Canada website: Victoria, BC - 7 Day Forecast - Environment Canada.
At YVR the lowest temperature of the year was below -10 C eight times in the last thirty years.
In December, 2021, the average high temperature was 4.0 C at YVR & 4.9 C at YYJ.
In December, 2022, the average high temperature was 4.1 C at YVR & 5.0 C at YYJ.
In December, 2021, the average low temperature was -2.3 C at YVR & -1.2 C at YYJ.
In December, 2022, the average low temperature was -1.3 C at YVR & 0.0 C at YYJ.
When it was -13 in my backyard (Dec 27, 2021) the low was -15.3 C at YVR & -9.3 C at YYJ.
However, note that on Jan 1, 2022, the low was -9.8 C at YVR & -12.4 C at YYJ. So, you can’t rely on averages when arctic air is present in this area. Still, Victoria is definitely milder in winter than Vancouver.
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Definitely. Those mild ocean currents make a difference. Here where I am the biggest difference is the valley bottom versus then slopes and hilltops. The cold air sinks on those clear nights and the entire valley will be covered in frost and the slopes unaffected. I was just taking a walk further up the hill and the sunflowers were still growing this week.
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You people have so many varieties! I only have space for 2 : Coolidge and a seedling. Mine haven’t fruited or flowered for 2 years due, I think to the heat. They fruited every year for decades before that. I am biocharring my bushes and I’m going to give them deep mulch as well to see if that helps.
John S
PDX OR
tbg9b: In general, it is not recommended to fertilize plants that will be dormant for the next several months. Certain house plants that continue to grow or bloom in winter are an exception.
I would keep the potted indoor feijoa plant’s soil damp, that would be its normal state if planted in-ground in this region in winter. Once a week should do.
Feijoa fruiting does require some chill hours (although such young plants are not likely to bloom or fruit next year); the indoor temperatures you mention should be adequate for this, but I would get them back outside by mid-February.
Feijoa plants are slow to awaken in spring, not much going on until late April to early May.
That would be the time for fertilizer.
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