Its so hot, decided to run the hose to the feijoas for half an hour or so. The fruit are swelling quickly. I remembered that heat does speed up the ripening, so we may want to make sure
enough moisture is present.
enough moisture is present.
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Takaka and apollo have set a dozen or so a piece. Waingoro and Ramsey have a few as well.
Seedlings have set. Kaiteri and Huia grafts have firmly taken, but nothing on the others as of yet…
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i have to say i am excited i got some fruit set on one feijoa bush, about a dozen. i hand pollinated, they’re probably each an inch or so long. how long until they are ready? i’m guessing they take as long as tropical guava (4 months)? do they have to ripen on the tree?
The earliest ripen in October. So about 4 months for you. If yours are seedlings, it’s up to them when they ripen, but they ripen faster in warmer areas.
If you have seedlings, the best way I found to increase the size is thinning and consistent water…
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For the ones at my house, I tried to select varieties that were known for self pollination and production. So Apollo, Takaka, and Waingoro. I’m still looking for Wiki Tu.
I found a podcast with Nigel Ritson, who developed the NZ varieties: Takaka, Karamea,Waingoro, Waitui, and Kawatiri. The host cuts him off a lot once he gets going, but still interesting…
He does mention that all his varieties have really high production so without native pollinators, it looks like a good idea to at least have 1 of his…
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That’s awesome, thank you for posting that. I will listen to it tomorrow!
Takaka is a heavy producer here.
I just added Waingaro last season.
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Waingaro parentage confirmed…
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Listened to this podcast. I wish there were other podcasts of him. He seems like such an interesting person. The interviewer was constantly interrupting him. Worst of all she hates Feijoas. Why bother interviewing him then?
I didn’t understand either. Not sure what the point was if you didn’t want to hear what he had to say?
At the farm, Mammoth only set 1 fruit, but Anatoki was loaded with fruitlets. Even though no flowers were nearby
Looks like we can add Anatoki to Waingaro and Takaka as self fertile in Southeast conditions.
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So the weather here in Georgia has been swinging between nonstop rain and weeks without a drop. Took a break to run a hose to the plants that are shaping up nicely. Production on Takaka surprises each year for
such a young plant.
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Apollo has the typical pear shape as described, but looks like a month or so behind. So ripening just as in New Zealand literature, just 6 months mirrored.
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Does your takaka start off as perfect ovals too or do they start off a tear drop
They start as ovals and just swell as time goes on…
Now I’m wondering if i have something else…
This is how my takaka is fruiting…
My unique is about the same but a little more oval than teardrop
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Pretty sure i don’t have takaka now 
mine is still tear drop shape and growing
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i have some feijoas now on one bush starting to get the lighter green color, but they are so small, probably just 1 inch x 3/4ths inch. is it because the tree is still young? it’s at least 2 years or maybe 3 years old. i hope the fruit gets bigger as it gets older. i have grafted NZ varieties that have yet to flower but when they do, i will definitely save their pollen to hand pollinate my seedling trees.
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So one thing that strikes me is how uniform these Takaka fruit are…they hover close to 50g a piece. Smallest so far is 47g. Largest about 80g.
About half the fruit have dropped. But eating them right then is disappointing. These have to sit for at least 3 days for the flavor/ sugar to improve. About 13 brix for the one I tested so far. Will test another after 4 or so more days…
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