My Kaiteri was above 16 brix last year. It also weighed 250g!
This year I have no Kaiteri that held fruit but I have Arhart, Takaka, Anatoki and a bunch of Albert varieties including Albert seedlings. It will be interesting to compare them.
Takaka has massive fruit. Not 250g but very large still.
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Because this was Takaka’s and Apollo’s first year in ground, I’ll give them some leeway. I’ll put down some compost and manure next spring and see if that helps. Considering that my seedlings top out at like 50/60g with a lower average, I’m still impressed with Takaka’s size. I have Kaiteri in a container, so maybe I’ll get to try it next year. 250g sounds crazy, but it seems that the Albert varieties have the taste leadership on lock down…
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I’ve been eating 1 takaka a day to test them out. Today’s was 13 brix, and actually better. I remember the Mark Albert video on Skillcult’s channel, and that he felt that Feijoa were better if you let them sit for a few days after they drop.
They’re sitting by the bananas to soften up.
Without the skin, it does have a unique flavor that I can’t place. I’ll try another one tomorrow.
It still doesn’t hav the same scent as my seedlings, and I believe that the scent does enhance the taste experience.
The typical length is 2-3 inches…
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I’m about to pull the trigger on a Takaka plant. It’s going to replace a pine tree the guy who used to mow the lawn planted on his own one day. Should be fun to dig out.
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Good luck, evil Paul. You may want to try letting it sit for a season or so after you chop it down. A season of rot makes the roots/ stump much easier to remove.
Today’s Takaka was excellent. It still seems to lack Sugar, but the Guava taste is very strong. This is probably the closest to a guava flavor that you can get in 7b/8a. The key must be to let it sit for 3-5 days after dropping. Also slicing into rounds works better than just eating it in big chunks or taking a bite.
I still hope for more sugar next year. 2 Apollos on the tree, and Apollo is known for being sweet without the tartness…Let’s see…
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Takaka are getting huge but none dropping yet.
Apollo is smaller, also hasn’t dropped here in the Seattle area.
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Last week I grafted Kakariki onto a seedling I had in a pot. Does anyone know if I should keep it in the greenhouse for this winter?
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Graft takes this time of year are quite iffy. I never tried grafting this late. Others may have a different perspective
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I agree, I haven’t tried grafting at this time, so not sure what the right answer is, but it seems logical that you might want to keep it warm for longer to encourage callus formation so the graft doesn’t fail. But who knows!
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So went to the Atlanta zoo, and of course fallen
feijoa were all on the ground. Got some fallen fruit to start some rootstocks…I’ll try the botanical gardens this week too
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i am in the coastal Florida panhandle, zone 9a, i can’t find the different cultivars of feijoa here in north Florida, i bought seedlings from different nurseries. i did see that One Green World and Wunderlust online nurseries sell different varieties but i am not sure which ones do well in Florida. i do hope mine fruit but it’s still too early to tell but i have heard of other feijoa growers (in Facebook groups) in Florida saying theirs do not fruit.
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I purchased my varieties from Fruitwood Nursery. I just checked and they have a pretty good selection right now.
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You can probably do just about any variety, even the later ones considering how south you are. I do hear they prefer some cool weather in fall, but I don’t know how much that will have an effect on their production. Definitely consider getting some varieties from One Green World. They have the most extensive collection I’ve seen with many hard to get varieties from New Zealand.
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Ok…my seedlings have started dropping. The small ones were 30-40 grams with some 60 gram ones. Previously, normal size was 20g. I thinned fruitlets and pruned, and the size increase is like 50-60%. If you start with a large fruited variety, I can see getting 200-300 gram fruit with the same effort.
Also, the fruit on the seedling fruit have more of the brown jelly interior where Takaka had much less, and was firmer as a result.
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How sweet? Compared with Takaka?
The Takaka I picked this year were excellent.
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So I tested, and mine were 16 brix, which is higher than any of the Takakas that I harvested. The difference in sugar is obvious as soon as I tasted them. Hopefully Takaka will improve next year. I think when I topwork the seedling, I will save a few main branches as a control. The sugar is definitely higher on this seedling. If only the size were naturally larger…
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So had some time today and went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens to check on their feijoas.
Looks like the urban heat effect made the frost damage worse. The trees at my house had no ill effects, but their trees apparently were active and got hammered last winter.
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One Green World has restocked pineapple guavas, get them while you can! They offer shipping for the fall or preorders for Spring. Unfortunately the one and only pineapple guava that is out of stock is Apollo which is the one I have been waiting on. @manfromyard You recommended Marion has another mid season variety so I may have to settle for that one. However, One Green World has it listed as an early ripening variety for some reason. They also offer Ramsey for mid season, does anyone grow that variety?
I have Ramsey but it has not fruited yet…Hopefully next year
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