If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Introduction To Growing Feijoa 1:24 Feijoa Cold Hardiness 3:02 3 Feijoa Growing Tips 5:05 Harvesting Feijoa Fruits 7:02 Feijoa Taste Test 10:28 Adventures With Dale
Great clip! Down here in Kiwiland, the Feijoa (pronounced "Fee Joe ah") is a tree most people have in their backyard. They are everywhere; they aren't really a commercial crop yet, but you can buy them in the supermarkets in autumn. There are roadside stalls, and always people in your neighborhood selling them or giving them away. Kiwis love them; they are probably the most popular fruit in New Zealand.
@@ginonunes843 Kiwis are overrated and can make your lips/mouth bleed if you have more than a couple. Might as well be considered a scam to trick foreigners. The gold kiwi is pretty impressive but still not even as nice as a mandarin or pineapple. Best use is as a topping for a desert. Feijoa should be the NZ national fruit. They can be tart and gritty or smooth and sweet depending on variety.
I live in the South East of South Australia. I my friend nearby has a large, established Feijoa. It is many years old and much more like a tree than a bush. The climate here is temperate, and every year the Feijoa drops buckets of fruit, which we successfully stew, and freeze.
Sacramento Valley California. Just noticed a few of these small, gnarled trees. Pineapple guavas everywhere! I'm going to try to root some hardwood snippings.
I live in New Zealand and they are very popular here. They are such a generous fruiting bush, once mature you will have buckets of fruit. The pulp freezes well, makes delicious crumble and you can make a delicious feijoa fizz by fermenting the skins in sugar and water. They are also very wind tolerant and people often have a hedge of them as a wind break. I have six of them and just love them!
Someone who ran a feijoa orchard told me to prune them in an open bowl or saucer shape to make it easier for birds to pollinate them. The foliage can get very dense and it discourages them.
Thank you! I did not even finished watching tasting part 😂, just jumped in car and meet Stan in his nursery! Tasted and got 5 different planes! Love McKenzie nursery, you walk through, see plants, you taste, you buy and hope …. I watch every video, thank you for sharing your knowledge.
They do well in a wide range of climates. They definitely will enjoy a Mediterranean climate, but they'll need to be watered during dry periods, or they'll drop their fruit.
Had the pleasure of tasting a basket-full of these amazing fruits on a trip to Mexico. A cousin of mine who had traveled to Colombia came across the fruit and loved them so much he brought back the seeds and planted many trees in his home (central Mex). Now growing my own in Northern California. Happy to hear that while they taste very tropical, they’re not as delicate of a plant to grow as Dragon Fruits or other tropical fruits.
I first heard about feijoa from Sustainable Holly, but didn't even think it would survive here. I'm in 7a and so glad you did a video on it. Your tips are very helpful.
If you're growing them in 7a, you'll need to protect them. You'd want to do something like plant them near the south wall of a house and protect them with something like a plant jacket and incandescent Christmas lights like I do with my citrus. I don't think they'll survive unprotected in 7a. I wouldn't trust them to survive more than a very brief dip into the single digits once established.
After I found out these plants even existed and could grow in my zone (8b, Seattle area) I was obsessed with them. I dug up the two boxwoods in front of my house and planted 6 Pineapple Guavas to eventually form a hedge(two different varieties). In addition I have 3 more in pots and one I planted in a sunny location which I will grow into a full size tree. I got all of these plants this spring. I have never tasted a pineapple guava yet, but can't wait. They are really attractive plants even if I never get fruit.
If you enjoy citrus and pineapple, you'll like these. They have a very complex flavor. The skin is tart, so keep that in mind. The first bite will be confusing, because I guarantee you've never tasted anything like them.
it’s been over 15 years since i’ve tested the fresh one. I‘ve been searching to buy some fresh feijoas online or at some farmers market in the US but so far unsuccessfully.
I saw an entire hedge of this plant in San Francisco. 12 ft tall, 6 ft. wide and 30 ft. Long. The homeowners of the house where it grew had no idea what it was.
Hopefully, they know the harvest the fruits. It would be a shame if they didn't even notice them! These are the perfect hedge for homes. They are as beautiful as any other evergreen hedge, but with the most awesome fruit!
They make good hedge trees, and provided they don't get to dry you can get good sized fruit off them. NOTE Feijoas have a male and female tree. The female fruits. If you don't get fruit you may have a hedge of male trees. You have to specify female trees if you want fruit. ALSO there is a minimum number (can't remember how many)of male trees needed to ensure good polination.
I live in NZ and I have a few of feijoa trees. I leave the ripe fruit on the counter room temperature until becoming more softer so I can eat including the skin. When its very soft the skin became very sweet. But if I bought it from the supermarket I would not eat the skin. I like this tree because the leaves stay even in winter season compare to the other fruit like apples..
Takaka is a recent New Zealand variety so I'm surprised its available in the US. I highly recommend it! Feijoas grow everywhere here as our climate is well suited to them.
I am, too. There are a few recent New Zealand varieties that have become available in the US over the last year. I don't know how they got them in so quickly.
We also grow Fijoa in Wilmington NC, I used to live in New Zealand and it was very popular there. They sell it in grocery stores and make Feijoa vodka (made by 42 below). Good stuff
@@TheMillennialGardener they don't ship well, refrigeration destroys them pretty quickly, you can buy them in shops in NZ but most people grow them themselves or get them from someone they know with too many given the ridiculous amount of fruit a plant can produce.
@@RubyDoobieScoo I think they do ship somewhat well, cause they cultivate them in the southern region of Russia and Ukraine, around the Black sea area and you can buy them throughout western Siberia and that’s about 3k kms.
That made my mouth water. I have 2 and both are currently flowering wildly in Australia, but fruits will be some months away. They are popular here, and even more so in New Zealand. They make a great edible hedge - and are delicious!
They're the perfect hedge. The downside with feijoa is how long the fruit takes to grow. They flower pretty early in the spring, but it takes them months to even turn into fruits the size of a fingernail. Mine don't ripen until mid-October here, which would be your mid-April.
@@TheMillennialGardenerI’m a kiwi and have noticed quite a few comments about the proliferation here, and they’re all true. We have a hedge of about twenty five trees all of five different varieties, which fruit at different times, some early, some late etc. it’s February now and our first fruit don’t look too far away, and the latest variety will finish fruiting around mid June. Basically, saying a hedge is a great option if you do want fruit for a few months. Although whether the amount of varieties are available to you in the US as we have here I’m unsure.
@@fpsfreak4079 we don’t get extremely hot, summer temperatures average around 29 but fluctuate between 27 and 32. They are pretty hardy plants that seem to tolerate the heat well, at least I have never had to water them in the summer, once they’re planted you pretty much forget about them. But perhaps if you get over 35C regularly you may want to consider watering for the first summer and maybe planting in a sheltered position. We get very few frosts here, but we do get them occasionally and they can be heavy, but they seem to tolerate them as well. So pretty hardy and easy care all around.
Funny this video came recommended to me. Today I raided a shopping plaza in Newport Beach California that has these as landscaping plants. I do this every year, and walk away with over 50 pound of fruit! I always look forward to this every year too. Such a delicious and refreshing fruit.
Switzerland? Wow, I live in Southern Germany, so not that far from you, but I think those temperatures that I get in winter here may be too low to put mine in the ground. Mine are seed-grown and I didn't pay attention to the variety they came from. Can't wait until mine start to flower! I know they won't be exactly the same fruit, but it'll still be better than any feijoas, that I might possibly see in our supermarkets.
Great video 🙌🏾 I’m growing three varieties here in the Uk 🇬🇧 one of which is a seedling and gives me the largest fruit. These fruits are absolutely delicious 😋
I planted a Feijoa sellowiana several years ago in Zone 8b and during the 2020 freeze it died to the ground then grew all the way back. The thing is that it sends flowers every year then no fruit. I only saw two fruits once and believed that the squirrel got them, I should’ve looked under the tree. I will try to add another one and see if it helps. You’re most likely right about the drought theory. We get drought conditions and high heat during flowering and water very little. Up until I saw your video, I was wondering why the fruit rarely makes it. Thank You
He's pronunciation of Fejoa is the pronunciation they use in South America, where they originally come from. The Kiwi pronunciation of Fejoa is messed up attempt at Spanish.
I live in the North island of NZ and have grown feijoa for 14 years. Have had a huge delicious crop every single year. When I lived in the South Island I hadn’t even heard of it.
I have been trying so hard to get a couple of Feijoa shrubs established here in Lubbock, Texas zone 7. At 3000 foot elevation their leaves burn in midday and afternoon sun. The 0 degree event here in Texas killed them to the ground. They have been in a hoophouse and have recovered slowly. I heat them with lights and the new fall growth is staying alive. I think I am finally on my way 😌 It's been a tough road but these plants are tough.
Interesting. One downside, though: if you purchased named varieties and they died to the ground, that would indicate they died below the graft, and what will grow back will be the seedling rootstock. If you planted seedlings, they'll grow back true. If you plant named varieties, you should probably mulch them heavily above the graft in the winter, so if they were to die back, they won't die down below the graft.
@@TheMillennialGardener Yeah I looked on the website were I got them from and they were probably grafted. I searched for the grafts on my plants and honestly I couldn't find any trace of them. I can see all the wood were the regrowth came from so I am pretty sure I still have the varieties I bought but who knows. They were always very deeply and it quite possible that I planted to deep to begin with. Either way they are growing and I will be happy unless the fruit is just plain awful 🙂
live just north of you in Amarillo,have 6 seedlings growing in a unheated hoop house, they have grown well this year from a 6inch seedling to a 5 ft bush, hope they make it thru the winter
@@TheMillennialGardener Yes, there's only one sweet Dale and y'all were blessed with him.🐕 It's amazing how much joy a fur baby can bring to our lives.😃
I planted 8 in my front yard as a hedge to block the street in zone 8b. They’ve almost doubled in size already. I got a handful of blooms but no fruit formed, hoping to do better next year.
I strongly recommend hand pollinating. Take a blush brush when the flowers are open and move the pollen from one flower to the next. It's better to go plant-to-plant, because that way if some of your trees aren't self-fertile, you'll get cross-pollination.
That made my mouth water when you ate that. Man, I would love to taste one of those sometime. They sound and look delicious. How on earth did you ever hear about this fruit? I've never heard or seen this before in my life.
I've known about feijoa for probably about 6 years. Before I moved to NC, I went on a really hard search of subtropical fruits that could grow in Zone 8. Feijoa was on the list. When I went to buy my initial collection of citrus from Stan McKenzie, he offered me a seedling for a very low price. I had wanted a named variety at the time, but the price was so affordable that I went with it and took a risk. I haven't been disappointed.
I personally heard about them on youtube. When I visited the local nursery down the street, they knew all about them. I practically bought all of them in the spring when they got them in stock, haha.
I have a strawberry and a pineapple, they’re beautiful shrubs too and here they die back if we get super duper frost and regrow but they mostly stay evergreen for me here on the MS coast.
There is a guy up in Virginia Beach, VA that has SEVERAL of these growing in his yard. They are MUCH larger than the online nurseries say they will get to. His are about 15' tall x 20' wide!!! I want to get a few of them now.
It is a good idea to investigate which fruits grow in Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and southern Chile. They might have a lot of plants that would survive in North America
The problem is getting them into the US. I'll be experimenting with Chilean Guava, which is another similar plant from that region that's available in the US.
@@TheMillennialGardenerYou should also look into Guabiju. It comes from the same region as Feijoa and there are reports of it surviving -9°C already. Beautiful plant and the fruit is supposed to be good
OK, I'm sold. These sound wonderful and I've added one to the new front yard landscape design I'm working on. I'll look for a self-pollinator but how close would a second one need to be? Love your helpful and informative videos!
I really want to grow red guava and lychee. 😍 My grandma has an amazing cuban manzano mango tree from a seed she stowed away in her shoe when she left the country in 1964. Not the same tree but a descendant of it. ❤
Thanks for the great video! As I was about to type my question you answered it. Mine is in a pot and it dropped the few fruit buds! Very sad... I guess I didn't water it enough. Thanks again
Some fruit drop may occur on younger trees no matter what. However, you definitely need to keep them irrigated, or they will react by dropping their crop.
I bought the Takaka from Restoring Eden. OneGreenWorld also has it. I think they may be the only two places in the US that have it and have an online storefront.
Are you growing Chilean guava? Their extremely delicious and related to feijoa! Their have smaller more succulent leaves and they taste like strawberrys yogurt but a billion times better and their the favorite fruit of queen Victoria and queen Elizabeth!
I have one in a container that I haven't planted yet. I haven't made a spot for it just yet. It came kind of late, so I was going to wait until early spring to plant it.
Very cold hardy handles the shade too and in fact I prefer growing in the shade because I find you get less berries but bigger berries which I find handy as they are prolific
I don't think so. Feijoa are, apparently, almost impossible to root. You either sell seedlings grown from seed, which will be random, or you will have to start seedlings, cut them and graft cuttings onto them to propagate named varieties. It's why they're so expensive if you want named varieties. They're hard to propagate.
Have you ever tried Tamarind? When I was a kid we would roll the pulp in balls and throw it into a little bowl of sugar. Sour sweet a little musky and delicious
Thank you so much! I love guava.... I always wandering if I can plant guava at least in a pot.Thank you for sharing this. ❤️ I am in zone 7..I definitely want to plan them around my house.😊
It's important to note that these are nothing like a guava in terms of taste. "Pineapple guava" is a misnomer. They're very unique and their own thing. There is nothing quite like a feijoa.
Hi I’m interested in this plant. I have a few questions. How far did you plant from house foundation? How do you prune them, if needed? How tall and wide can these get? I have a small garden too. Dallas Texas here!
This should be able to grow well in Florida no problem. These will be reliable and relatively pest-free for you. Check One Green World and Restoring Eden for a selection of named cultivars.
I have a bunch of these. Lived in my house 5 years now and they've only heavily fruited once. This year I got very little fruit before the squirrels got to them.
I fertilize them pretty much the same as all my in-ground trees: fresh compost, mulch and a cup or two of organic 5-5-5 before last frost in early spring, then fertilizing with 5-5-5 again in late spring and mid-summer. Feijoa is evergreen, so you also need to give them a light feeding in winter, too, but nothing high nitrogen that spurs growth during winter time. Feijoa like low NPK and consistency. They don't need a big boost like a fig does.
I have 2 one is much taller and goes so hard despite living in the subtropics where summer gets to mid 30c or I think 95f for a good day but usually 38ish I think 100f with occasional 40c 105f with 80+ percent humidity on the low side 90 common and actually didn't water frequently and it didn't care still grew
There is a nursery in my homestate (Washington) that carries several varieties of pineapple guavas. I got Unique, and am waiting for other varieties to become available again.
Hey..I bought 1 from Stan 10/12 yrs.ago..Its Now close to 10 ft.tall and 6/8 feet wide.Blooms every year but doesn't set fruit..I guess I need a pollinator.. If you don't mind me asking..Where did you get your Takaka plant from? thanks
They're a little like our pohutakawa can be very sprawling. Can grow more like a tree I've seen some variety 12 ft+ tall and some twelve ft wide. You can hedge them they like the prune but they like to be open too. I've had pale ones size of ya palm that taste like banana passionfruit. We could hang out under the feijoa trees as young gave great shade. I have 7 shrubs along my front boundary about 1.5 meters apart three have taken from cuttings and four other from various retailers not a quick way but it's the long game for a hedge screen. A neighbor hacks off three to four feet of a ten foot hedge every couple of years and it's dense, doesn't produce much fruit though. It's fairly dry in the alpine area's treat it mean keep it keen I'm zone 9 but I'm pretty close to a big block of ice and a gloriously monstrous Southern Alps. Loquat can survive down to -12 I hope I don't get in trouble They're banned in Auckland! Again a New Zealand cultivar named 'Thames' has been a stalwart. Interesting enough check out the availability of other more specifically indigenous plants . Kawakawa tea anyone?
Do you mean citrus leaf miner? If so, you need to prune off the affected leaves, throw them away or burn them, and then spray the tree with pyrethrin. That will keep things under control.
@@TheMillennialGardener I saw a weird slimy greenish-brown caterpillar on the leave. That might be the culprit. I saw a video of someone recommending using a mixture of water, oil, and soap as well. I will get what you are recommending, thank you so much.
I just bought 3-- 2 seedlings and 1 Takaka. How closely should I plant them for good cross polination? I have about a 20 foot area on the east side of my home wall that I plan to plant them. South Louisiana for reference. Also if I understand correctly, the two seedlings should technically be different varieties, correct?
This will definitely be on my “next” list. I love exotic fruits…I currently have a Guava, a Naseberry, a June Plum…all potted of course. My guava was planted from seed about 5 years ago. It currently has 3 fruits on, but the back of the leaves are being attacked by soft, cottony, white fuzzy critters…that I don’t know how to treat. Anyone has any ideas?
Anyone know how much sustained freezing temperatures they can handle? A couple nights at 8-9F isn't necessarily the same thing as the 10-30+ days of temperatures in the 10s-20s that they might experience in a container in my garage, which would mean the pot (and roots) would freeze solid. I had a look at what the January 2018 weather was like in Wilmington NC and you still got into the 30s during the day for most of that week, so I'd expect the ground didn't freeze too deeply. And you only had one week of sub-freezing mean temps, in a colder than average winter, my garage could definitely have several weeks in the 15-30F range. Maybe growing season is too short too up here? By November, we're getting frosts almost every night and days in the 30s-40s.
I don't think feijoa cuttings root very easily or at all. Feijoa is almost always either seed-grown or grafted. To propagate feijoa, you need to plant seeds, generate seedlings, then graft cuttings onto them.
Well that certainly is a unique looking fruit. I’m sure I would enjoy it but I really don’t have the room for it. Do you have to grow it yourself to have them or can they be bought?
I've never seen them sold in stores in the US. Maybe in New Zealand and Australia where they're widely cultivated, but certainly not here. This is one of those fruits that you must grow to eat. The good news is because it's a shrub and can be pruned into a hedge, it grows well along walkways and around homes, so this isn't something you need to dedicate backyard space. This can be a front yard or side yard bush up against a house or sidewalk.
Pyrethrin will take care of that. I always make sure to have pyrethrin concentrate on hand in case there is ever an outbreak of any insect on any plant.
I own some feijoa grow them self from seeds that i buy some years ago.. thay have beautiful leaves thay are to young for flowering. The flowers are also edible.
Yours looks like a huge bush. Mines looks like a tall, about 8ft, tree shaped like a mushroom. I think mines self pollinates cause it makes a lot of fruit every year and I have never added compost nor fertilizer but I will begin doing this asap.
how long will that takaka variety take before it's grown into a bush and has fruit? 2 years? Can they grow in red carolina clay, or do they need a lot of amended soil thanks!
My first feijoa fruited the next year, but it only had a small handful of fruits. Maybe 6-12 if that. This year was its 3rd season in-ground, and it must've produced 100 fruits. They were everywhere littering the ground. I was eating probably 3-6 a day for a month. I assume my Takaka will take a similar amount of time. The Takaka I was sent was fairly small, so I would conservatively estimate 2 seasons. Most trees like well-draining soil. What I would do is build a mound of compost that's around 6 inches high and plant the tree in compost so it drains better, then mulch the top. I plant ALL my trees about 4 inches high, and I have very sandy soil. If I had clay soil, I'd probably plant them even higher to encourage surface root growth and so the water drains away from the mound.
If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Introduction To Growing Feijoa
1:24 Feijoa Cold Hardiness
3:02 3 Feijoa Growing Tips
5:05 Harvesting Feijoa Fruits
7:02 Feijoa Taste Test
10:28 Adventures With Dale
Great clip! Down here in Kiwiland, the Feijoa (pronounced "Fee Joe ah") is a tree most people have in their backyard. They are everywhere; they aren't really a commercial crop yet, but you can buy them in the supermarkets in autumn. There are roadside stalls, and always people in your neighborhood selling them or giving them away. Kiwis love them; they are probably the most popular fruit in New Zealand.
I always thought it was kiwis but then again I'm not from NZ 😂
@@ginonunes843 Kiwis are overrated and can make your lips/mouth bleed if you have more than a couple. Might as well be considered a scam to trick foreigners.
The gold kiwi is pretty impressive but still not even as nice as a mandarin or pineapple. Best use is as a topping for a desert.
Feijoa should be the NZ national fruit. They can be tart and gritty or smooth and sweet depending on variety.
Here from northen Ireland and we hit snow in this winter and my feijoa is alive and growing!!!!
I live in the South East of South Australia. I my friend nearby has a large, established Feijoa. It is many years old and much more like a tree than a bush. The climate here is temperate, and every year the Feijoa drops buckets of fruit, which we successfully stew, and freeze.
Sacramento Valley California. Just noticed a few of these small, gnarled trees. Pineapple guavas everywhere! I'm going to try to root some hardwood snippings.
How many tree they have ?
I live in New Zealand and they are very popular here. They are such a generous fruiting bush, once mature you will have buckets of fruit. The pulp freezes well, makes delicious crumble and you can make a delicious feijoa fizz by fermenting the skins in sugar and water. They are also very wind tolerant and people often have a hedge of them as a wind break. I have six of them and just love them!
Someone who ran a feijoa orchard told me to prune them in an open bowl or saucer shape to make it easier for birds to pollinate them. The foliage can get very dense and it discourages them.
Thank you! I did not even finished watching tasting part 😂, just jumped in car and meet Stan in his nursery! Tasted and got 5 different planes! Love McKenzie nursery, you walk through, see plants, you taste, you buy and hope …. I watch every video, thank you for sharing your knowledge.
I am 82 and remember it from little girl love them. Here in san diego they do great I have 3.
They do well in a wide range of climates. They definitely will enjoy a Mediterranean climate, but they'll need to be watered during dry periods, or they'll drop their fruit.
Had the pleasure of tasting a basket-full of these amazing fruits on a trip to Mexico. A cousin of mine who had traveled to Colombia came across the fruit and loved them so much he brought back the seeds and planted many trees in his home (central Mex). Now growing my own in Northern California. Happy to hear that while they taste very tropical, they’re not as delicate of a plant to grow as Dragon Fruits or other tropical fruits.
I first heard about feijoa from Sustainable Holly, but didn't even think it would survive here. I'm in 7a and so glad you did a video on it. Your tips are very helpful.
If you're growing them in 7a, you'll need to protect them. You'd want to do something like plant them near the south wall of a house and protect them with something like a plant jacket and incandescent Christmas lights like I do with my citrus. I don't think they'll survive unprotected in 7a. I wouldn't trust them to survive more than a very brief dip into the single digits once established.
Just dropped in my inbox and was reminded to go shopping at your site. All this clear concise information is priceless. Thanks for all you do.
Glad it was helpful!
We have 1 fejioa tree here in zone 9b. (Black sea) in the garden. I love it.
After I found out these plants even existed and could grow in my zone (8b, Seattle area) I was obsessed with them. I dug up the two boxwoods in front of my house and planted 6 Pineapple Guavas to eventually form a hedge(two different varieties). In addition I have 3 more in pots and one I planted in a sunny location which I will grow into a full size tree. I got all of these plants this spring. I have never tasted a pineapple guava yet, but can't wait. They are really attractive plants even if I never get fruit.
please where did you buy your trees because I have been looking for where to buy Feijora tree?
The only websites I've found that sell a wide variety are Restoring Eden and One Green World. My Takaka came from Restoring Eden.
If you enjoy citrus and pineapple, you'll like these. They have a very complex flavor. The skin is tart, so keep that in mind. The first bite will be confusing, because I guarantee you've never tasted anything like them.
@@franciscas602 restoring eden in Kent, that’s where I bought mine too, they also have a pretty good website with available listed.
it’s been over 15 years since i’ve tested the fresh one. I‘ve been searching to buy some fresh feijoas online or at some farmers market in the US but so far unsuccessfully.
I saw an entire hedge of this plant in San Francisco. 12 ft tall, 6 ft. wide and 30 ft. Long. The homeowners of the house where it grew had no idea what it was.
Hopefully, they know the harvest the fruits. It would be a shame if they didn't even notice them! These are the perfect hedge for homes. They are as beautiful as any other evergreen hedge, but with the most awesome fruit!
They make good hedge trees, and provided they don't get to dry you can get good sized fruit off them. NOTE Feijoas have a male and female tree. The female fruits. If you don't get fruit you may have a hedge of male trees.
You have to specify female trees if you want fruit. ALSO there is a minimum number (can't remember how many)of male trees needed to ensure good polination.
I live in NZ and I have a few of feijoa trees. I leave the ripe fruit on the counter room temperature until becoming more softer so I can eat including the skin. When its very soft the skin became very sweet. But if I bought it from the supermarket I would not eat the skin. I like this tree because the leaves stay even in winter season compare to the other fruit like apples..
One of my favorite fruit trees in my orchard in Jamaica
Takaka is a recent New Zealand variety so I'm surprised its available in the US. I highly recommend it! Feijoas grow everywhere here as our climate is well suited to them.
I am, too. There are a few recent New Zealand varieties that have become available in the US over the last year. I don't know how they got them in so quickly.
😂 I just can't with the way you say feijoa, I've called them fee-joa my entire life
I done ton research and people say Albert varieties is the best one.albert supreme,Albert joy and Albert's pride
I come for the gardening and stay for Dale
He's such a good boy 😊
We also grow Fijoa in Wilmington NC, I used to live in New Zealand and it was very popular there. They sell it in grocery stores and make Feijoa vodka (made by 42 below). Good stuff
I've never seen a feijoa in a store. I bet they'd ship pretty well, since they are firm. I'm surprised there isn't a seasonal market for them.
@@TheMillennialGardener they don't ship well, refrigeration destroys them pretty quickly, you can buy them in shops in NZ but most people grow them themselves or get them from someone they know with too many given the ridiculous amount of fruit a plant can produce.
@@RubyDoobieScoo I think they do ship somewhat well, cause they cultivate them in the southern region of Russia and Ukraine, around the Black sea area and you can buy them throughout western Siberia and that’s about 3k kms.
I live in New Zealand and these fruits are abundant in Autumn . Our neighborhood pretty much grow feijoa trees in our backyards .
That made my mouth water. I have 2 and both are currently flowering wildly in Australia, but fruits will be some months away. They are popular here, and even more so in New Zealand. They make a great edible hedge - and are delicious!
They're the perfect hedge. The downside with feijoa is how long the fruit takes to grow. They flower pretty early in the spring, but it takes them months to even turn into fruits the size of a fingernail. Mine don't ripen until mid-October here, which would be your mid-April.
@@TheMillennialGardenerI’m a kiwi and have noticed quite a few comments about the proliferation here, and they’re all true. We have a hedge of about twenty five trees all of five different varieties, which fruit at different times, some early, some late etc. it’s February now and our first fruit don’t look too far away, and the latest variety will finish fruiting around mid June. Basically, saying a hedge is a great option if you do want fruit for a few months. Although whether the amount of varieties are available to you in the US as we have here I’m unsure.
@@taniac1860does it get hot in your area?
@@fpsfreak4079 we don’t get extremely hot, summer temperatures average around 29 but fluctuate between 27 and 32. They are pretty hardy plants that seem to tolerate the heat well, at least I have never had to water them in the summer, once they’re planted you pretty much forget about them. But perhaps if you get over 35C regularly you may want to consider watering for the first summer and maybe planting in a sheltered position.
We get very few frosts here, but we do get them occasionally and they can be heavy, but they seem to tolerate them as well. So pretty hardy and easy care all around.
@@taniac1860 nice here it gets up to 41.i have 55 grown trees and have 800 lil ones in pots
hell yeah. another long one. dude these are all so good.
Thank you! Glad you like them!
I just picked up two from Restoring Eden Nursery. Thank you for making this and describing the flavor.
You're welcome!
Everyone has boxes full of these to give away in the right months in New Zealand.
We call 'em Fee Joe Ah.
Makes great fruit crumble as well as drinks.
Funny this video came recommended to me. Today I raided a shopping plaza in Newport Beach California that has these as landscaping plants. I do this every year, and walk away with over 50 pound of fruit! I always look forward to this every year too. Such a delicious and refreshing fruit.
Where in Newport and what season?
Wow, you have all this, exotic" and nice shrubs. Thanks for sharing!!
I love growing fruit that "shouldn't grow here." It's so much fun! Thank you for watching.
I have since some years a tree in my garden in Switzerland and more and more fruits. I love these delicious fruits!!❤
Switzerland? Wow, I live in Southern Germany, so not that far from you, but I think those temperatures that I get in winter here may be too low to put mine in the ground. Mine are seed-grown and I didn't pay attention to the variety they came from. Can't wait until mine start to flower!
I know they won't be exactly the same fruit, but it'll still be better than any feijoas, that I might possibly see in our supermarkets.
The Atlanta botanical gardens grows Feijoa Sellowiana up a wall like structure.
They're very shape-able and make awesome hedges.
Great video 🙌🏾 I’m growing three varieties here in the Uk 🇬🇧 one of which is a seedling and gives me the largest fruit. These fruits are absolutely delicious 😋
That's outstanding! They're truly unique. I wish my fruits were larger, but that's why I purchased the Takaka.
I love fejoas
They're so unique!
@@TheMillennialGardener I agree!!! Nothing like them.
Going to try one in a warmer zone 6 in southern Kentucky. With protection I bet it will make it. Love the fruit.
My water barrel protection method that I use for my citrus, with a plant jacket, will probably do the trick: ruclips.net/video/7iBohqx9ch8/видео.html
I planted a Feijoa sellowiana several years ago in Zone 8b and during the 2020 freeze it died to the ground then grew all the way back. The thing is that it sends flowers every year then no fruit. I only saw two fruits once and believed that the squirrel got them, I should’ve looked under the tree. I will try to add another one and see if it helps. You’re most likely right about the drought theory. We get drought conditions and high heat during flowering and water very little. Up until I saw your video, I was wondering why the fruit rarely makes it. Thank You
We call them FEE-JOA's in NZ. Never heard them pronouced FEY-HOA's. haha
He's pronunciation of Fejoa is the pronunciation they use in South America, where they originally come from. The Kiwi pronunciation of Fejoa is messed up attempt at Spanish.
Fair point. Thank you@@anneonetwothree5926
Fair point. Thank you. I will have to start saying fey hoa. Lol@@anneonetwothree5926
@@anneonetwothree5926 thank you. I will start saying that then :-)
Fejoa grow really well in New Zealand. They're delicious.
I hope more varieties make it across the ocean to us, soon.
@@TheMillennialGardener we've got a huge variety of different fejoa now. If I could buy seeds I'd send you some but most are sold in seedling form.
I live in the North island of NZ and have grown feijoa for 14 years. Have had a huge delicious crop every single year. When I lived in the South Island I hadn’t even heard of it.
I have been trying so hard to get a couple of Feijoa shrubs established here in Lubbock, Texas zone 7. At 3000 foot elevation their leaves burn in midday and afternoon sun. The 0 degree event here in Texas killed them to the ground. They have been in a hoophouse and have recovered slowly. I heat them with lights and the new fall growth is staying alive. I think I am finally on my way 😌 It's been a tough road but these plants are tough.
You can keep them in pots too. If it were me I'd just take them inside when it gets too cold.
Interesting. One downside, though: if you purchased named varieties and they died to the ground, that would indicate they died below the graft, and what will grow back will be the seedling rootstock. If you planted seedlings, they'll grow back true. If you plant named varieties, you should probably mulch them heavily above the graft in the winter, so if they were to die back, they won't die down below the graft.
@@TheMillennialGardener Yeah I looked on the website were I got them from and they were probably grafted. I searched for the grafts on my plants and honestly I couldn't find any trace of them. I can see all the wood were the regrowth came from so I am pretty sure I still have the varieties I bought but who knows. They were always very deeply and it quite possible that I planted to deep to begin with. Either way they are growing and I will be happy unless the fruit is just plain awful 🙂
I left out "Mulched" very deeply
live just north of you in Amarillo,have 6 seedlings growing in a unheated hoop house, they have grown well this year from a 6inch seedling to a 5 ft bush, hope they make it thru the winter
Yum, I love making muffins with these
That sounds interesting.
wow I remember watching your first videos on this about 3 years ago, the bushes are huge now
Intriguing fruit!🤔
Aww Dale! So cute!😃
I highly recommend it. It's very unique...just like Dale 😆
@@TheMillennialGardener Yes, there's only one sweet Dale and y'all were blessed with him.🐕 It's amazing how much joy a fur baby can bring to our lives.😃
Yes brother. I love that fruit. I used to eat that in New Zealad and I had that fruit in my house where I lived. Now you remind me to plant again 😊
Definitely get one if you can! They're amazing. It's probably my lowest-maintenance fruit tree in my entire yard.
I planted 8 in my front yard as a hedge to block the street in zone 8b. They’ve almost doubled in size already. I got a handful of blooms but no fruit formed, hoping to do better next year.
I strongly recommend hand pollinating. Take a blush brush when the flowers are open and move the pollen from one flower to the next. It's better to go plant-to-plant, because that way if some of your trees aren't self-fertile, you'll get cross-pollination.
some say that in PNW area the night frost in the spring can affect or even kill the flowering buds.
I’ve just recently harvested some from my bush in my front yard here in Las Vegas!
Outstanding!
That made my mouth water when you ate that.
Man, I would love to taste one of those sometime.
They sound and look delicious.
How on earth did you ever hear about this fruit?
I've never heard or seen this before in my life.
I've known about feijoa for probably about 6 years. Before I moved to NC, I went on a really hard search of subtropical fruits that could grow in Zone 8. Feijoa was on the list. When I went to buy my initial collection of citrus from Stan McKenzie, he offered me a seedling for a very low price. I had wanted a named variety at the time, but the price was so affordable that I went with it and took a risk. I haven't been disappointed.
I personally heard about them on youtube. When I visited the local nursery down the street, they knew all about them. I practically bought all of them in the spring when they got them in stock, haha.
I planted one of those about 6 or 7 years ago , I saw 1 flower about 5 years ago and that has been all
I have a strawberry and a pineapple, they’re beautiful shrubs too and here they die back if we get super duper frost and regrow but they mostly stay evergreen for me here on the MS coast.
Will you sell sone seeds or a cutting?
Feijoa cuttings do not root. You need to start seedlings by planting seed, then graft cuttings onto them.
I will be purchasing some of these different varieties Thank You 😘
You're welcome!
There is a guy up in Virginia Beach, VA that has SEVERAL of these growing in his yard. They are MUCH larger than the online nurseries say they will get to. His are about 15' tall x 20' wide!!!
I want to get a few of them now.
Thanks for this, about to plant feijoa in Australia, needed advice
You'll love it! It's very popular in Australia and even more so in New Zealand.
I just tried this fruit for the 1st time in October. Was wondering if I could grow this in NC. Thank you for answering my question.
It is a good idea to investigate which fruits grow in Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and southern Chile. They might have a lot of plants that would survive in North America
The problem is getting them into the US. I'll be experimenting with Chilean Guava, which is another similar plant from that region that's available in the US.
@@TheMillennialGardenerYou should also look into Guabiju. It comes from the same region as Feijoa and there are reports of it surviving -9°C already. Beautiful plant and the fruit is supposed to be good
Thank you for temperatures in celsius!
You got to be kidding me….never heard of it. I need to get ahold of Stan McKenzie and get going for a new edition to my garden. Thank you.
If you're within a 3 hour drive to his farm, it's worth every second to pay him a visit. Otherwise, he will ship if you call him.
OK, I'm sold. These sound wonderful and I've added one to the new front yard landscape design I'm working on. I'll look for a self-pollinator but how close would a second one need to be? Love your helpful and informative videos!
I love all you videos 🙏 I learn I lot
Thank you so much!
I really want to grow red guava and lychee. 😍 My grandma has an amazing cuban manzano mango tree from a seed she stowed away in her shoe when she left the country in 1964. Not the same tree but a descendant of it. ❤
I’m from Georgia and grew up eating this 😍
Thanks for the great video! As I was about to type my question you answered it. Mine is in a pot and it dropped the few fruit buds! Very sad... I guess I didn't water it enough. Thanks again
Some fruit drop may occur on younger trees no matter what. However, you definitely need to keep them irrigated, or they will react by dropping their crop.
At the end of the video when you’re talking to your dog, my dog got excited about going outside. Lol
I planted five of these last spring along a fence to create a hedge. We will see how they do. zone 7b.
That sounds interesting a fejoas shrub I’m in zone 6 A🤔 thanks again for sharing this with everyone
It will also make a great low-maintenance container plant if you enjoy container gardening.
@@TheMillennialGardener yes that's what I'm did this year
Thank you for another great video with great information! 😊👍Hi Dale! 😁
You're welcome! Dale sends his regards.
This is a amazing video im going to order a fejioa
Outstanding!
Nice vedeo ❤
Nice video. Where did you buy the takaka variety? Can you please share the detail. Thanks
I bought the Takaka from Restoring Eden. OneGreenWorld also has it. I think they may be the only two places in the US that have it and have an online storefront.
Are you growing Chilean guava? Their extremely delicious and related to feijoa! Their have smaller more succulent leaves and they taste like strawberrys yogurt but a billion times better and their the favorite fruit of queen Victoria and queen Elizabeth!
I have one in a container that I haven't planted yet. I haven't made a spot for it just yet. It came kind of late, so I was going to wait until early spring to plant it.
How cold hardy is it? It sounds wonderful.
Very cold hardy handles the shade too and in fact I prefer growing in the shade because I find you get less berries but bigger berries which I find handy as they are prolific
The fruit is wonderful but not cold hardy
Will cutting work?
Definitely looks delicious.
Have passion fruit on the vine ripening.
cuttings work under mist. Can be temperamental.
I don't think so. Feijoa are, apparently, almost impossible to root. You either sell seedlings grown from seed, which will be random, or you will have to start seedlings, cut them and graft cuttings onto them to propagate named varieties. It's why they're so expensive if you want named varieties. They're hard to propagate.
Have you ever tried Tamarind? When I was a kid we would roll the pulp in balls and throw it into a little bowl of sugar. Sour sweet a little musky and delicious
Thank you so much! I love guava.... I always wandering if I can plant guava at least in a pot.Thank you for sharing this. ❤️ I am in zone 7..I definitely want to plan them around my house.😊
It's important to note that these are nothing like a guava in terms of taste. "Pineapple guava" is a misnomer. They're very unique and their own thing. There is nothing quite like a feijoa.
Thanks to a recent article in the New York Times, about the importance of this fruit in New Zealand.
Hi I’m interested in this plant. I have a few questions. How far did you plant from house foundation? How do you prune them, if needed? How tall and wide can these get? I have a small garden too. Dallas Texas here!
Your videos make me want to move to North Carolina! I’m in south west Florida, I’d love to get one of these plants and try it
I woukd think since it is a subtropical plant, it would grow in FL. I am in NC and may try to grow this as well. It looks yummy
This should be able to grow well in Florida no problem. These will be reliable and relatively pest-free for you. Check One Green World and Restoring Eden for a selection of named cultivars.
I have a bunch of these. Lived in my house 5 years now and they've only heavily fruited once. This year I got very little fruit before the squirrels got to them.
I have four if these and agree with you that the taste is sensational. Do you recommend any special fertilizing?
I fertilize them pretty much the same as all my in-ground trees: fresh compost, mulch and a cup or two of organic 5-5-5 before last frost in early spring, then fertilizing with 5-5-5 again in late spring and mid-summer. Feijoa is evergreen, so you also need to give them a light feeding in winter, too, but nothing high nitrogen that spurs growth during winter time. Feijoa like low NPK and consistency. They don't need a big boost like a fig does.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thnak you.
Mine have easily survived 3F a few years ago here in North Georgia.
Do you have to wrap the shrub in the winter?
I got one of these last year, waiting for it to grow large enough to fruit. In the PNW, zone 7b I think
Great video as always sir
I appreciate that! Thanks for watching.
I have 2 one is much taller and goes so hard despite living in the subtropics where summer gets to mid 30c or I think 95f for a good day but usually 38ish I think 100f with occasional 40c 105f with 80+ percent humidity on the low side 90 common and actually didn't water frequently and it didn't care still grew
Hi. Is the variety you have is the FEIJOA SELLOWIANA?
There is a nursery in my homestate (Washington) that carries several varieties of pineapple guavas. I got Unique, and am waiting for other varieties to become available again.
Hey..I bought 1 from Stan 10/12 yrs.ago..Its Now close to 10 ft.tall and 6/8 feet wide.Blooms every year but doesn't set fruit..I guess I need a pollinator.. If you don't mind me asking..Where did you get your Takaka plant from? thanks
You better take your beautiful puppy out for a walk!!! He needs that quality time with his daddy!
Believe me, if Dale was any more spoiled, he'd rot 😂
They're a little like our pohutakawa can be very sprawling. Can grow more like a tree I've seen some variety 12 ft+ tall and some twelve ft wide. You can hedge them they like the prune but they like to be open too. I've had pale ones size of ya palm that taste like banana passionfruit. We could hang out under the feijoa trees as young gave great shade. I have 7 shrubs along my front boundary about 1.5 meters apart three have taken from cuttings and four other from various retailers not a quick way but it's the long game for a hedge screen. A neighbor hacks off three to four feet of a ten foot hedge every couple of years and it's dense, doesn't produce much fruit though. It's fairly dry in the alpine area's treat it mean keep it keen I'm zone 9 but I'm pretty close to a big block of ice and a gloriously monstrous Southern Alps. Loquat can survive down to -12 I hope I don't get in trouble They're banned in Auckland! Again a New Zealand cultivar named 'Thames' has been a stalwart. Interesting enough check out the availability of other more specifically indigenous plants . Kawakawa tea anyone?
The flowers are very edible too. They taste like cotton candy.
I think they kind of taste like when you spray Lysol into the air and then walk through that spray 😂 They're very...perfume-y.
Nice lemon tree on min 9:20. How do you keep the leaves from that bug that shrinks them?
Do you mean citrus leaf miner? If so, you need to prune off the affected leaves, throw them away or burn them, and then spray the tree with pyrethrin. That will keep things under control.
@@TheMillennialGardener I saw a weird slimy greenish-brown caterpillar on the leave. That might be the culprit. I saw a video of someone recommending using a mixture of water, oil, and soap as well. I will get what you are recommending, thank you so much.
@@TheMillennialGardener yes I was referring to citrus leaf miner
Where did you purchase your takaka
I just bought 3-- 2 seedlings and 1 Takaka. How closely should I plant them for good cross polination? I have about a 20 foot area on the east side of my home wall that I plan to plant them. South Louisiana for reference.
Also if I understand correctly, the two seedlings should technically be different varieties, correct?
Hi, how far did you plant from the house? Feijoa and or other trees usually?
This will definitely be on my “next” list. I love exotic fruits…I currently have a Guava, a Naseberry, a June Plum…all potted of course.
My guava was planted from seed about 5 years ago. It currently has 3 fruits on, but the back of the leaves are being attacked by soft, cottony, white fuzzy critters…that I don’t know how to treat. Anyone has any ideas?
Anyone know how much sustained freezing temperatures they can handle? A couple nights at 8-9F isn't necessarily the same thing as the 10-30+ days of temperatures in the 10s-20s that they might experience in a container in my garage, which would mean the pot (and roots) would freeze solid. I had a look at what the January 2018 weather was like in Wilmington NC and you still got into the 30s during the day for most of that week, so I'd expect the ground didn't freeze too deeply. And you only had one week of sub-freezing mean temps, in a colder than average winter, my garage could definitely have several weeks in the 15-30F range.
Maybe growing season is too short too up here? By November, we're getting frosts almost every night and days in the 30s-40s.
Does the quality of the fruit improve when the shrubs get bigger?
We would be very interested in a couple rooted cuttings. We live in 7b here in North Carolina
I don't think feijoa cuttings root very easily or at all. Feijoa is almost always either seed-grown or grafted. To propagate feijoa, you need to plant seeds, generate seedlings, then graft cuttings onto them.
@@TheMillennialGardener we are currently going guava just not the pineapple variety. Maybe grafting
What is the PH of your soil? We are in Fort Worth on the "Blackland Prairie". It is about 8.1ish. Things like Blueberries wouldn't make it a month.
Well that certainly is a unique looking fruit. I’m sure I would enjoy it but I really don’t have the room for it. Do you have to grow it yourself to have them or can they be bought?
I've never seen them sold in stores in the US. Maybe in New Zealand and Australia where they're widely cultivated, but certainly not here. This is one of those fruits that you must grow to eat. The good news is because it's a shrub and can be pruned into a hedge, it grows well along walkways and around homes, so this isn't something you need to dedicate backyard space. This can be a front yard or side yard bush up against a house or sidewalk.
I've bought 2 and they both died from mealy bugs 😩. I'm going to keep trying until I get one growing though.
Pyrethrin will take care of that. I always make sure to have pyrethrin concentrate on hand in case there is ever an outbreak of any insect on any plant.
I own some feijoa grow them self from seeds that i buy some years ago.. thay have beautiful leaves thay are to young for flowering. The flowers are also edible.
I tried eating a flower, and it was like eating a spray of perfume out of a bottle to me 😆 The grafted ones should flower the very next season.
@@TheMillennialGardener lol i will try if i get flowers happy weekend i love your channel 🍌🌶️🍍🥝🍊
❤❤❤
Thanks for watching!
Yours looks like a huge bush. Mines looks like a tall, about 8ft, tree shaped like a mushroom. I think mines self pollinates cause it makes a lot of fruit every year and I have never added compost nor fertilizer but I will begin doing this asap.
how long will that takaka variety take before it's grown into a bush and has fruit? 2 years? Can they grow in red carolina clay, or do they need a lot of amended soil thanks!
My first feijoa fruited the next year, but it only had a small handful of fruits. Maybe 6-12 if that. This year was its 3rd season in-ground, and it must've produced 100 fruits. They were everywhere littering the ground. I was eating probably 3-6 a day for a month. I assume my Takaka will take a similar amount of time. The Takaka I was sent was fairly small, so I would conservatively estimate 2 seasons.
Most trees like well-draining soil. What I would do is build a mound of compost that's around 6 inches high and plant the tree in compost so it drains better, then mulch the top. I plant ALL my trees about 4 inches high, and I have very sandy soil. If I had clay soil, I'd probably plant them even higher to encourage surface root growth and so the water drains away from the mound.
@@TheMillennialGardener thanks love your videos!
How are these with pests such as leaf-footed bugs and stink bugs?
Can you cross pollinate with a lemon guava or a strawberry guava?
Found an old paper saying it is possible so hopefully you will get some cool hybrids