Great idea, I’d love to hear Ram’s opinion since he has so many fruiting including the New Zealanders.
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My bush was planted near the house because of the semi-hardiness of feijoa and I wanted a slightly warmer location. This put it near hard surfaces (deck, edgers), so I prefer to bush-pick to avoid bruising rather than ground-pick. If your plants are in a softer ground location, it can be more efficient to ground harvest rather than squeeze-testing every sizeable fruit still on the bush.
The harvest can be more efficient yet by shaking the bush lightly. That will cause the next day or 2’s drops to fall then and there.
I have very little experience picking a wood-hard fruit and bringing it indoors. The one time I remember, it took a week to begin softening and then it was not of the best quality.
According to my old correspondence, I sent material (late winter) up to Swincher in 2021 (little or no success) and in 2022 (some success and likely when you got some material from him).
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I planted a bunch of trees years ago and two trees have fruit that are round but I have no idea which variety it is, anybody know what variety it could be? These two trees every year are more loaded than rest of the other trees.
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This year my two protected seedling Feijoas finally both bloomed; so, I was able to cross pollinate 7 blossoms that have turned into small but usable fruits. When I checked their softness today one of the fruits came off easily in my hand; I assume that this means that it is pretty ripe. It is only slightly soft, and I’m not sure how long I should wait until trying it out. I remember reading something on this site about being soft as a pencil eraser, but I don’t remember if it was describing a Feijoa or some other fruit. Is that about right for Feijoa?
If they are soft, you can eat them now. If small, it’s unlikely they will be very good. Next year they will increase in size.
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It’s impossible to tell from the fruit. I have both round and elongated fruit from the same bush. Even size varies widely in a single bush.
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Thanks, ramv. The question is how soft. The one I picked is just slightly soft, much firmer than the kiwifruits that I eat. Is there any problem with letting them get soft enough to make an obvious indentation in the skin.
The weight of this fruit is 43 grams. Is this small for a seedling fruit?
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43grams is a decent size. Only named varieties appear to have much larger fruit. The level of softness that you describe is about right. They are to be eaten at the same level of hardness as a tropical guava.
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I agree on the optimal softness of fruit before eating. However, this year, all of my fruit has fallen off while still quite hard. I put a few in a paper bag with a banana a la pears. It worked. They ripened well and pretty fast.
John S
PDX OR
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That was me. Yes, pencil eraser firmness for ripe-enough feijoa. One of those pink, thumb-sized erasers.
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43 grams is a good-sized feijoa fruit, certainly worth cutting and eating. The skin will not indent when squeezed, it will return to original shape unless the skin is broken. The flesh is a combination of similar-to-pear flesh and a darker gelatinous center. Generally, the softer the fruit, the more gelatin at the core. The tastes of the two types of flesh are markedly different, you will need to sample enough fruits to tell which type you prefer, and therefore how firm for eating.
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Apollo - very good flavor. Just under 14 brix.
I’d rate this ahead of all the early season NZ varieties.
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I saw one from the seedling bush on the ground so I picked all of them so they wouldn’t disappear into the borage. About 1/2 felt like they were going to fall off in my hand. A couple felt pencil eraser soft, and the rest are pretty hard so I’m going to wait a day or two to try them. There’s a whopping six raspberries in the basket, too!
I will wait a few more days to check on the named bush (I think it’s Coolidge), since all the fruits are small and hard.
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Picking directly off the bush with a hard pull is generally not the best idea - they won’t ripen properly inside. I wait for them to either drop or detach with a very gentle lift.
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My first reaction was, “how is he going to be able to cut that feijoa with the knife in that orientation” 
I didn’t know that Apollo is spherical. Looks pretty cool. Does the shape vary?
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Yes. I see spherical and elongated fruit both. On many varieties.
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I didn’t have to pull hard for any of the seedlings’ fruit. I tasted one that was pencil eraser soft, and it was kind of weird - slightly limey, definitely cucumbery, with a more fibrous texture than I was expecting. I left the skin on, since it was thin. Fairly small seed cavity.
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Yes. I have tasted Takaka, Waingoro, and Anatoki. Apollo is still my favorite. I’m not sure what the quality is. It does have more sugar than the early varieties, just by hanging longer. I wish I had a means of testing the acidity to see the difference.
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Picked some Takaka and Anatoki today. Not my favorite varieties.
Really looking forward to Waingaro. Getting large!
I am now wondering if there are any feijoa varieties that have a fruit shape and size that are a main characteristic of the variety. Fruit shapes on my bush include spherical, teardrop, pear, dolphin, blimp, cucumber, all at sizes that can vary 5:1.