I also decided to bite the bullet and topwork one of my 2 seedlings. We’ll see what happens…
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It’s funny that I’ve had the best luck feijoa grafting in March here in PNW, when the highs are usually in the 40s to 50s and lows in 30s-40s. But they didn’t bud out until months later. Had better than 75% take.
When I’ve tried grafting in 70+ weather here (which means July or August), I’ve had 100% failure. Also had 100% failure in April, but I think maybe the scionwood was no longer dormant.
But my experience likely doesn’t translate well to the Southeast.
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Looking back at my notes, last year i grafted in July and had about 50% success.
So this year is earlier in April while it’s still cool here,Checked my Feijoa book from Hort ResearchNZ, and there’s more info on the growing from cuttings than the grafting.
“Bench grafting is usually carried out…in February or March when the seedling rootstocks are almost 1 year old and the stems are 5-10mm in diameter”
“Mature trees can be topworked in the field…” but no mention of season or temperature.
Looks like cutting and tissue culture have more of the effort behind them. So trial and error it is…
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I grafted in November last year (2 grafts) and one of them is now pushing!! The other died.
Feijoa appear tolerant of cold temps while grafting but take rate may not be the best.
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Yeah of mine, one completely failed (mammoth) only the two Albert’s are pushing growth but the others are like just doing nothing. Still green to a scratch test so I’ll just let them sit
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Perhaps it is more a matter of humidity rather than temperature for grafting success.
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So paid a visit to the farm that I volunteer at to check on the feijoa over there. A few that I grafted last year are looking good. Just trimmed back the undergrowth to let the graft push.
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Also I have a mammoth there that I grafted that is doing well. The anatoki there is flowering a lot. Its earlier there than the takaka at my house.
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Didn’t go through all the comments but I grow pineapple quava’s in Texas. It is hotter than the surface of the sun here. Pineapple Guava’s grow well here. As long as they get some water the heat, including 110F has not been a problem. The problem is the cold. PG cultivars have varying levels of cold hardiness and this is from my first hand experience. Mammoth is not as cold hardy and dies around 10F whereas Nazametz and Coolidge can survive down to 7F or just a bit lower (depends on how low for how long, in my case in Texas these lows are never for more than 12 hours). When it got below 10F Mammoth died. Whereas when it got down to zero Nazamentz and Coolidge were top killed but grew back from the roots. Around 8F you will see the younger branches get killed on these two. Note these were established trees not new starts. If you have a new start in the ground cover it with a tarp of if it will fit a trash can if temps ever get below 12-15F just to be safe.
Anyway so of these which produced fruit? All of them in large quatities provided you hand pollinated. If you leave it to the bugs (birds are NOT the ones pollinating) you will get a lot less. There may be some wind pollination going on too. Nazametz is not self fertile, or if it is, only a little bit. Only one I have tested this on as one flowered early and I had no other pollen source. Didn’t work well.
Fruit quality was not drastically different between the three. Mammoth and Nazametz are just a slight step above Coolidge as far as taste. What I find on Coolidge is that round fruit taste great, ones shaped like a thin tear drop or banana shape did not taste as good. These are fruit from the same branch, so you get good quality fruit off of Coolidge but you also get smaller, lesser quality fruit. Whereas Nazametz and Mammoth are pretty much the same taste wise. Also despite its name, Mammoth were not larger to any significant degree. If I fruit thinned this might have been different though. Hand pollinating both results in lots of fruit of varying sizes and both trees produce more or less the same size fruit. I also got mixed sizes of fruit on Coolidge, but the large ones on this plant were larger than Mammoth. The best quality fruit consistently was on Naz and Mamm. More of a mix on Cool. I have Albertas Pride, Albert’s Joy underway, as well as Kaiteri, Keikiriki (sp?) and Takaka. These just went in the ground. But these are great plants for the south but watch out for those cold limits which turn out to be the bigger issue.
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Sucks my two Albert’s joy grafts that took seem to have now failed, maybe I’ll try again one day with some cultivars to graft onto my seedlings. But as of now they have all failed. Sucks that all the ones I put on my moms plant took! Haha at least I can source scions there now.
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My seedlings which are late fruiting are blooming hard and early. Apollo has a few blooms. Takaka still none. So it looks like the early varieties don’t bloom earlier, they just mature faster. I wonder if this is why the sugars in the new ones don’t seem as concentrated as the seedlings or Albert varieties?
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My seedlings blooming hard now also. First year all 4 are blooming, last year one had 4-6 blooms and no fruit. Looking forward to trying a couple this year
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Does anyone know where I can get some varieties that might do well here in North carolina Piedmont region? Ive seen one green world mentioned but I really can’t afford like 70 for one plant unfortunately. Any cheaper options around? It looks like fruit wood is completely sold out.
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Just Fruits and Exotics is closer so their shipping prices should be lower. Looks like they only have seedling trees right now though. You could buy a few and try to graft scions later.
Unfortunately, establishing fruit trees is slow, expensive, and comes with a pretty high failure rate all things considered. Fruit trees are an investment. Paying an extra $50 per plant to get already-grafted and grown out stuff saves you a few years of waiting and reduces the failure rate (unless you’re really good at grafting I guess). Regardless, you’ll still need to wait a few years for establishment, just not as long as with grafting yourself. You could skip the grafting and just roll the dice with seedlings, or try both. Either way, the first crop or two of fruit from the establishing plants won’t be representative of their eventual taste. So no matter the money spent, it costs years of time. Still beats not having great fresh fruit.
Once three or four years roll by, will you even remember the price of the tree, or care as you get your first full harvest of more delicious fruit than you can eat?
The waiting game is easier if you have some quick wins sprinkled among the longs. Get a Chicago Hardy fig in the ground. They’re dirt cheap (I recently got a good sized one on eBay for less than $20) and should be able to give you a nice crop next year, especially if you fertilize it this year and pick off any figs that form so it focuses on growth, and then prune it down and protect it over the winter so you keep the above-ground wood alive. Extra effort, but just this year to get a real nice reward next year as you wait out the three or four years it takes all the big investment plants to actually get going.
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McKenzie farms has them for $15 plus shipping. They are seedlings of named varieties and that’s where I got mine.
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Yeah definitely some fair points. I already have a decent collection of blackberries and figs going this year. I used to grow guavas in South Florida and I like the idea of having a couple of these trees. Maybe I will wait for next year when my plant budget is a little bigger.
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Stan is a great guy, and if you have any interest in grafting, I would just buy his, grow them out this season, then graft them with budwood next spring.
The named varieties are now $40 -$55 plus like 30-40% shipping, so if you’re on a budget, buying the seedlings and grafting is definitely cheaper…
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I noticed exactly the same thing. The Albert varieties bloom earlier. In some cases a lot earlier. But fruit later. And are tastier.
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Very cool thread, lots of great info on these - I didn’t realize there were many varieties out there to be acquired!
I have a question – when and how are you all pruning your Feijoa for better fruit production?
Are you mostly pruning in late winter before spring growth, or during the summer when there’s fruit on the branches?
I’ve got two mature Feijoa large shrub/small trees, one in full sun that I don’t really touch and it seems to do great and fruits every year. The other is in partial shade and seems to grow like crazy, with lanky growth every year and needs to be reigned in; I’ve attempted pruning in the past during early spring and summer, but it seemed to compromise flower/fruit production and I don’t want to do that again, because they’re delicious!
Thanks!
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I’ve never pruned mine before becase my two seedlings are basically in one hole, so they have remained dwarf due to the root competition. But I think in New Zealand they prune them after fruiting.
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