Feijoa (pineapple guava)

I picked my first fruit off of the bush today. OH MY GOD!
It was a cross between a pineapple and strawberry. Mine is a generic un-named variety that I bought at the nursery here in town. They are hardy to 10 degrees and took the heat and drought this summer like champs. The best part is the spring when they produce insane looking flowers that taste like cinnamon cotton candy and are soft crunchy. Texas A&M recommends these bushes so I am glad I got some. I just ordered two off the internet last week called Mammoth and Nazemetz. You need two bushes to get decent fruit. I have seen these popping up in all the nurseries in the last few years so I am sure they will become a staple here in Texas.

SoCal on Ebay sells named varieties. Yes. They look like a normal bush until those flowers appear. The problem is that people eat too many flowers and dont leave enough for the fruit. You can just eat the pedals and they will still fruit.
You still get decent fruit with un-named but you really need two minimum. I think OneGreenWorld also sells named varieties as well.

A good way to describe the flowers texture is similar to popcorn but sweet and cinnamon.




This message was edited Oct 31, 2009 9:44 PM

Lee, I hope you got the varieties you paid for. I have had bad luck buying from unknown sellers. It is difficult to trust eBays feedback because they make it almost impossible to give negative feedback. One Green World gets almost as many negatives as positives on Daves. Keep us posted on your guavas progress.

Lee, Now you've gone and done it. I want one and its the wrong climate again.

BTW have you tried the Chilean Wintergreen from OGW? I had one of each color over a couple of years. The white one fruited for me. Only marginally hardy in my zone, losing them over a year or two, but nice plants.

I like OGW even if they do push the envelope from time to time.

Ya. I tried one of the Chilean Wintergreens but they are too heat sensitive in my area. It hit 102 and it promptly died. I have the Chilean Guavas (not really a guava) that are heat sensitive but not as bad. I plant them in morning sun only or in pots so I can move them around. That is one delicious berry. It is only hardy down to 10 degrees so I think you could only do it in a pot but they are worth it. The taste must be savored slowly. It has a smokey guava taste with a hint of strawberry maybe. They say that Queen Victoria declared it the most delicious fruit in the world.

Jujube
My feijoa are about 5 feet now and have flowered twice without fruiting. The flower petals are as you say delicious. Hoping for fruit next year. How long did it take for yours to produce fruit?
Oldude

This the first year in the ground. One produced and the other two did not.
How close are yours together? Did you try hand pollinating? I would go out and pick a flower to eat and then take it over to the other bushes and polinate before popping it in my mouth. I noticed that one bush flowered after the other two were already done. That would be a problem too. I hear that they dont like a lot of fertilizer either.
My bushes are only about 3x3 feet.

All four are about 15 feet apart and I pollinated with a Q tip. I don’t think that I over did the fertilizer but it is possible. I like the idea of using the flower to pollinate instead of a Q tip so I will give that a shot.
I would love to produce fruit but the flower petals are pretty darn good. Feijoa in full bloom is an awesome sight.
oldude

Two more fell off the bush today that I didnt know were there. They fall off when dead ripe. You can give it a little shake to see if any fall. Well, they were even better than the ones I picked. I am totally hooked on these fruits. The worst is that I have to wait 12 months to get some more. I am going to call Whole Foods and Central Market to see if they have them in stock.

Time to venture into propagation...

Duh! I found one and only one laying on the ground today. I got to tell you that I am really anxious about tasting the one and only fruit found anywhere around these trees.
I am going to slice it open tomorrow and share with my wife. The anticipation is high to cut this thing open now but I promised to share with her tomorrow.
Oldude

It doesnt look like mine unless you washed it good before taking that picture. Mine was a bit on the fuzzy side and milky green.

photo on Post #7274402, look like avocado, not guava.

It looks just like pictures of named varieties that I have seen on the internet. However, I am still thinking that washing it good removes some of the fuzzy milky look.

Well I cut it open and it does taste exactly as described. I don’t think that this fruit was completely ripe but it did have a wonderful minty taste. By the way, I did wash it before taking the picture.
It’s a keeper.
Oldude

YAY!!!!!!

Jujube
I am not sure that minty is a fair description of the taste. It seems to have a very complex taste huh?
Oldude

Mine are just strawberry and pineapple. The ones I have bought at the grocery store in Austin we different in taste as well.