Feijoas are very hardy and versatile fruit trees which require a minimum of care once established. The feijoas that are in circulation are all descendant from a single collection of material that went back to France with some of the early explorers, and then material was spread around the world. Some time in the 1980s other researchers went back to Central America and were unable to find anything significantly different to what is in cultivation today.

Description

Medium vigour tree moderately compact and easy to manage. Plants are trained up on a single stem to 40 or 50 cm in the nursery for ease of harvest once the tree matures.

Fruiting

Flowers in time for Christmas and fruits April - May onwards depending on variety and climate. Flowers have fleshy petals that attract birds for pollination but the petals from well watered trees are fleshy enough to pick and add to salads or desserts. They have a spicy sweet flavour.

Cultural

Feijoas will grow on most soils providing good drainage is present. Plants have drought tolerance characteristics but require moisture during fruiting season.

The feijoa is a heavy feeder. Feed with high nitrogen NPK fertiliser in late winter and well rotted animal manure in autumn. 200g of fertiliser per year of tree up to 10 years and 2kg per tree annually thereafter.

When training young plants it is important to build a good framework quickly and this will encourage the plant to start fruiting sooner. Some varieties branch naturally while others tend to be more leggy in their habit and need to be trimmed lightly in mid-summer. Flowers form from new growth at the tips of last years growth, so the bushier the plant the sooner it will fruit. Bushiness has to be balanced with air and light penetration to help with pollination and disease prevention.

Older established trees are better with a few bigger branches removed each year and this will encourage new canopy growth and flowering within the tree.

Hardy to -10°C

Summary

Soil Requirements

• Will grow in almost all soils, however ideal conditions are well drained and a pH 6-6.5 (slightly acid).
• Alkaline soil causes yellowing and poor shoot growth.
• Heavier soils produce better quality fruit.
• Sandy soils cause excess vegetative growth.
• Will tolerate moderate salt spray.

Temperature

• Requires 100 – 200 hours of chilling.
• Moist warm-temperate to sub-tropical climate.
• Flowering November – December.
• Hot dry summers can affect fruit set and yield.
• Feijoas will be damaged under -5°C
• Early autumn frost can damage late fruiting varieties.

Wind

• Shelter will protect fruit from ‘scarring’ and limb rub on the fruit.

Pollination

• By Blackbirds and Mynas.

Spacing

• 3-3.5 to 4.5-5m apart.
• At this spacing trees will meet in the row after 5 years.
• This will give 500-600 trees per hectare or 200-263 per acre.
• Plant each tree with 150grams of blood and bone.

Tree Growth

• Root growth starts in spring when the soil temperature is 8-10°C (September) until autumn when the temperature drops below.
  

Varieties

Feijoa Apollo

• Large fruit, moderately rough skin. Ellipsoid to Obovoid.
• Mild aromatic and sweet flavour.
• Smooth texture flesh and very juicy.
• Medium to high pulp content.
• Partially self-fertile.
• Upright in growth, vigorous habit.
• Large fruit, sometimes exceeding export grades.
• Mid-season (March – April)

Feijoa Opal Star

• Fruit is medium to large. Oblong to obovoid.
• Smooth dark green skin.
• Smooth juicy fruit.
• Pulp content medium to low.
• Mild flavour.
• Upright spreading growth while young developing into a strong compact tree.
• Good fruit set.
• Late fruiting season (April – May)

Feijoa Gemini

• Small to medium sized fruit, obovoid.
• Smooth dark green skin.
• Slightly gritty, soft and juicy flesh.
• Medium pulp content.
• Strong flavour.
• Upright spreading habit.
• High fruit set.
• Early fruiting (Feb– March).

Feijoa Pounamu

• Medium sized fruit, obovoid in shape.
• Smooth dark green skin.
• Flesh is smooth, juicy and pleasant flavour.
• Pulp content medium.
• Mild flavour.
• Upright spreading habit moderately vigorous tree.
• High fruit set.
• Early fruiting season (Feb- March)

Feijoa Kakapo

• Medium sized fruit, obovoid in shape.
• Rough green skin.
• Smooth juicy flesh full of flavour.
• Medium pulp content.
• Medium vigorous good open tree.
• Moderate fruit set.
• Mid-season fruiting (March – April)

Feijoa Wiki Tu

• Very Large fruit
• Rough skin
• Medium pulp content. Sometimes has hollow locules within the fruit. This maybe due to poor pollination or water management
• Good flavour
• Smaller growing feijoa
• Late season

Feijoa K51

• Little known to date on this tree
• Excellent flavour
• Strong grower
• Medium to large size fruit
• Early season

Feijoa Unique

• Medium sized fruit
• Smooth Skin
• Juicy flavour
• Handles well
• Vigorous grower
• Self-fertile
• Early Season

More Information

• www.hortnz.co.nz