modenacart

Are guavas true to seed? Whats the best way to germinate them?

Richard

Short answer: true to seed: no. Easily rooted.

Longer answer:
There are true tropical guavas - Psidium guajava. Many cultivated varieties, the Thai Pink is the most well-received.
There are cattle guavas - Psidium cattleianum, a small seedy fruit which the natives largely ignored as a fresh fruit.
There are "pineapple guavas" - Acca sellowiana, the better cultivars are usually not found in nurseries but can be obtained from CRFG members.

Of the true Guavas, I will warn you that many non-tropical peoples do not care for any of the cultivars. You should try them first and make sure you have a variety you like. Here's a quick test: if you don't like the smell of Tamarind, you probably aren't going to like the Psidium guavas. Personally, I like guava fresh or sliced in a salad.

Just for fun, several nurseries and growers have cross-labeled all of these plants. This might help you:
Lemon, Strawberry, Raspberry "Guava" = cattle guava.

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Lilith

Thank you for that Guava primer, Richard!
I love guava. I go to the local latin market here and get Guava fruit shakes. They also make Lulo (Blackberry), Naranja (Orange), Tamarindo and several others, all equally yummy!

mskitty38583

its suppossed to be good for the digestive track, and have all sorts of yummy things that are good for the body. i have never had the fresh fruit, but a lot of the natural teas, and juices i do drink have the juice. it is yummy. my mom dosent like it. but the girls and i do.

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"kokomo" beach boys:

Richard

Mskitty, there are so many things sold under the generic name "guava" it is hard to know what you're getting. Like any tree-borne fruit, they are a good source of fiber.

Here's a photo of some unripe tropical guavas on a young tree in my yard last summer. The largest of those shown is the size and color of a small Bartlett pear. I like to pick mine in the Fall when the skin starts turning yellow but not yet brown. The center core is seedy which is easily remedied with an apple or pear fruit-corer, or just eat out-of-hand. This particular tree is a selection of "Donrom" made by Paul Fisher of the CRFG.

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modenacart

The guava we bought taste like pears and apples. Do you know what kind that might be? Thanks,

Richard

Nope, there are a few hundred varieties. However, since you are in North Carolina I'm wondering if it was one of the cultivars from Florida, like the White Indonesian.

Do you have a copy of Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants, by Stephen Facciola ? Beginning on page 385 are listed 23 varieties and where to obtain them. Its really an amazing book.

Another idea to consider: find out from suppliers that are convenient to you what varieties they have, and then post here for various opinions on the flavor.

There are members of this site growing guavas, I guess if there is enough interest we can start trading guavas for other plants or banana bucks!

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modenacart

I bought it at Harris Teeter. I don't know if that helps. I don't currently have that book.

Richard

Here's pages 385-386, although I really recommend you buy the book.

Attached Images

Guavas_from_CII.pdf (1.34 MB, 4 views)

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mskitty38583

i would be interested in one. would love to trade nanabucks for a guava.

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"kokomo" beach boys:

Richard

O.K. Mskitty, I'll root some of my variety and I'm sure other members here have some to trade or sell as well.

The plant is evergreen in the tropics but defoliates like a decidiuos tree with temperatures in the mid-35 F range. Mine is currently budding out from such an episode in January. It's supposed to need a frost-free zone, but hey -- my last name is Frost and it's doing just fine! But all jesting aside, many of the tropical guavas will survive a few mild frosts. Prolonged temperatures below 27 F will kill the plant to the ground, with some possibility of regrowth. If the roots freeze the plant is gone for good.

Supposedly the tropical guava only grows 10-12 feet high north of Florida, but my friend in San Marcos CA has one 25 feet tall.

Here's some more information: CRFG Tropical Guava Fruit Facts

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modenacart

I can't tell which one it is by the pages. Thanks for the copy though.

bikoro child

Here in France (more in the south) Acca Sellowiana is very common cause it's really hardy...It's called: Feijoa

mskitty38583

richard that would be great! i appriciate it greatly. i would keep it in a pot and move it outside like a lot of people do their nanas. i love trees in the house anyways(tree hugger). thank you!!!!!

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"kokomo" beach boys:

Richard

A few of you have asked about Pineapple Guavas (Acca sellowiana, aka Feijoa sellowiana). This plant is in the same family as tropical guava (Psidium guajava), and also produces a tasty fruit! It is a hardy plant, I can personally vouch for the "Coolidge" cultivar being happy and productive in zone 9a (Yucaipa, CA). The "Nazemetz" cultivar is the best (and largest!) fruit I've tried.

Pineapple guavas do not come true from seed and so selected varieties are grafted on seedlings, or rooted from cuttings, or air-layered. I am growing "Nazemetz" and "Lickver's Pride" which I obtained as air-layers from Tom Del Hotal of San Diego. They will hopefully bear their first crop this year. "Nazemetz" and "Coolidge" are available from many nurseries across the U.S. For those of you that would like to trade some plants, I will try to grow some cuttings -- although other members here might already have some ready! Often two different cultivars or flowering individuals are needed to produce a crop. Seedlings of Coolidge are said to be good pollinators and produce fruit that is at least good enough for jam.

Here's some more information worth reading about A. sellowiana from Tom Spellman at Dave Wilson Nursery.

Hardy to 12 degrees and native to the tropics of Central and South America, the pineapple guava was exported in the late 19th century to Australia and New Zealand where it has been an important commercial crop for more than 100 years. The fruit is sold domestically and to foreign markets worldwide.

Pineapple guava is a beautiful, evergreen shrub or small tree (growing to 15 feet), which may also serve as a landscape accent or backdrop due to its silvery-blue foliage and cinnamon-colored “peely”-textured bark. The flowers, borne in May and June, are 1-1/2" to 2 inches in diameter and striking crimson-pink on white. The thick waxy flower petals are edible, with a subtle flavor similar to a mild honeysuckle, making them perfect when used as a garnish or sprinkled on salads and desserts.

The fruit is ripe in the fall, from October to December. Oblong in shape, these fruits weigh from 1-1/2 to 6 ounces, depending on the cultivar. On the tree, the fruit is sometimes hard to spot, as it is the same silvery-blue color as the foliage, even when ripe. Harvest when the fruits begin to drop—don’t worry if they fall, they’ll be at peak flavor. In sunny locations, pick them up immediately, however, as ripe fruit on the ground is susceptible to sunburn. The flesh has the texture of a pear and tastes like a blend of pineapple, strawberry and banana.

Two good grafted cultivars are Coolidgi, developed by the Coolidge gardens in Pasadena, California, in the 1930s, and Nazemetz, developed by Paul Thompson at Bonsal, California, in the 1960s. Both have large fruit and are self-fruitful, but they produce much larger crops if cross-pollinated with each other or another variety.

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chong

We had a White Christmas last year, and coming back from a family gathering on Christmas Day, I noticed a red thing under the snow over my Feijoa. I wanted to find out about it then, but I was distracted by the unloading of foodstuff from the Jeep. The next morning, most of the snow was gone and I remembered about the red thing and saw this:
[IMG][/IMG]

When I discovered that it was a little unfocused that evening, I went back and took this one:


Those petals are very tasty. Great with salads. The tree is probably 15 years old and around 7-ft tall. The problem was that, until two years ago, it was in a 5 gallon pot. It was only four feet tall and spindly then.

chong

The pages you posted did not list any sources. Are they in a different section of the book? Thanks.

Richard

The codes at the end of each entry represent sources which are listed alphabetically over many pages at the end of the book. You (chong) should buy a copy, I'm certain you'd enjoy it. In the meantime, let me see if it is feasible to put the references together here.

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chong

Yes, thank you. I will get one. Looks like I could use one. There are a lot of plants that I would like to obtain for personal enjoyment as well as to get information for folks in the Philippines for possible farming improvement opportunities. E.g., the Pili trees (Canarium Ovatum), where Pilinuts come from, are dwindling in numbers in the region where they are grown primarily.

Chong