We have been enjoying a bumper crop of feijoas from our orchard at the nursery this year. Our fruit fly controls are certainly paying off as the fruits are 90% free of fruit fly grubs. Greg has been spraying the orchard with eco-naturlure since August 2006 on a weekly basis. The underside of the leaves of selected trees are sprayed so that it sticks to the back of the leaf and does not get washed of in rain. Feijoas and guavas are particularly attractive to fruit flies so it is wonderful to be eating fruits that are not infected with fly. This is an Apollo feijoa, it has large elongated oval fruits that are delicious and it has cropped well in the orchard this year. They are sweet and have a delicate flavour that is a combination of pineapple, guava, strawberry, passion fruit and lemon. Fruits are refreshing and delicious eaten fresh and they can be used in desserts and preserves.
Feijoas are well known and popular in New Zealand where many of the modern cultivars
have been developed, they do however originate from south America where they are common in the mountains of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.Feijoas are easy to grow, they are hardy and can be grown in full sun or part shade, they are even tolerant of maritime conditions although this will slow their growth and will reduce the crop. They are ideal to use as a wind break, flowering and fruiting hedge to protect more sensitive plants in your garden.
Just wondering how a Feijoa would go in pots.
ReplyDeleteWith regular moisture and a good organic mulch they should do well in a large container.
ReplyDeleteMy bumper crop of Feijoas is full of fruit-fly.
ReplyDeleteI have multiple allergy syndrome so am doing research into the best method of controlling these pests without making myself ill.
Spraying is not something I am keen on.
Are there any organic bait recipes that you could recommend?
Also, any ideas on recycling plastic bottles for bait lures would be welcome.
Cheers,
Joanna
Joanna, I would recommend that you try the organic product eco naturalure, it is working beautifully here in the nursery orchard, you do not spray the fruit but instead spray the product nearby where it attracts and kills the flies, we have enjoyed our feijoas this year because we have worked consistently to control fruit flies. You can recycle your bottles into traps and monitor the flies with Wild May as we do.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any suggestions where I can buy feijoas in Central Sydney??
ReplyDeletewould feijoa grow in south australia,about 100 km north of adelaide,thankyou.
ReplyDeleteDavid I think the feijoa will grow for you, make sure you give it enough water to establish it and then regular moisture during fruit set will benefit the crop.
ReplyDeleteHi David - I live in Adelaide and we are growing a couple of feijoa plants. Funnily enough you can spot them in the suburbs but people don't really know what they so let fruit go to waste. They just don't know what they are missing out on. Our mammoth is going particularly well. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI live in Far North Queensland in a very wet spot called Tully. Will Fijoa's grow in these tropical conditions? If so what variety will be best for these conditions?
ReplyDeleteissy
Issy,
ReplyDeleteI would give the feijoa a go in Tully, if you find that your soil is too wet for an extended period they will happily grow in a large container which would improve the drainage.
Just wondering what PH thy grow best in we are growing them but can not get them to set fruit very little flowering
ReplyDeletehi there kath,i just got 3 feijo,and i planted them next to a fruit tree,about 1 meter apart is that ok.
ReplyDeletehi kath, im in a bit of a pickle. My feijoa tree has all of a sudden died after 15years of prosperous growth. It has all the necessary requirements for growth but has failed me. Do you know of any rampant diseases that may have affected my tree?..concerned feijoa lover
ReplyDeleteMadeleine, this is very unfortunate and unusual as feijoas are normally as tough as a pair of old boots. Have you changed anything around the tree? Fertilizer, digging around the roots, moisture levels, or anything that could have effected your tree? They do not have any significant pests or diseases, although they don't much like foliar applications of nutrients.
ReplyDeleteOhhhh kath, you may have hit the nail on the head!..See come two months ago we planted a citrus tree 10ft from the feijoa tree and fertilized it..kath you are a hell of a legend, i will sleep better now. Shame i have lost it forever.
ReplyDeleteFeijoa lovers
Hello. We're growing a Feijoa in British Columbia and it is doing great and about a foot tall. I was curious if there are any pruning techniques that i should be aware of for now or in the future.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Ian
I have never had fruit trees before but we now have 2 feijoias. Last year every fruit was infected with fruit fly. I have just been to the nursery and bought some eco-naturalure but it doesn't specify when I should start spraying. It's now late October and the flowers are just starting to come on. Should I spray now or wait?
ReplyDeleteHello there,
ReplyDeleteMy cousin in Australia has just sent your website because I have never heard of the fruit Feijoa. They sound a delicious fruit and wondered if I could grow them in Spain, that is if I can find a small tree in our local nursery.
jacquei
Costa Calida
Spain
please can you tell me if to sucessfully grow fruit do you need two trees or can you grow fruit with just one tree.
ReplyDeleteI had 2 Feijoa trees of different varieties in my backyard.They tended to cross pollinate and produced a hybrid fruit which was gelatinous and not sweet. I removed one of them and gave it away. Now the tree produce a lot of flowers but very few fruit.I assume I really need a cross pollinator? Anyone?
ReplyDeleteCan I grow a row of feijoa's near limes and oranges? What is a compatable fertilizer for both?
ReplyDeleteIs the Mid North coast of NSW an okay climate?
I have a small feijoa plant growing in my garden in Holland. Took some pits back when l was in NZ and only one is stil alive.
ReplyDeleteWill l get fruit only having one plant and would you get the plant inside when the frost comes?
Bye from Marianne Ex kiwi
I have one feijoa plant (small) growing in my garden in Holland.
ReplyDeleteWhen l was in NZ l took some pits back from the feijoa and only one is still alive.
Would you take the plant inside with frost and shall l get fruit with only one plant?
Bye from Ex Kiwi Marianne
How old does a feijoa have to be before it fruits, Ta
ReplyDeleteI am a ex kiwi living in Holland and you can buy the Feijoa for the first time here.
ReplyDeleteDo you need two to have fruit and would they be able to have frost?
Feijoas can tolerate quite a lot of frost. We are just harvesting our feijoas now (variety E6) after several days of -2C frosts here in Canberra. The currawongs eat the flowers.
ReplyDeleteIn NZ as a kid (20 yrs ago +) we had a huge feijoa tree, fruited well each season, but was attacked by ants and died..slowly, we never realised. I am in Gladstone Qld and am very keen on growing a feijoa in a large pot. I gather that fertilising is not a good move...Pam
ReplyDeleteI have two feijoas growing in my garden. They fruit prolifically but we find the fruit tasteless and uninteresting. I hate to waste it so perhaps someone could tell me some good recipes.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn
I have just planted a feijoa and NOW read all the things that can go wrong. We have kurrawongs, ants nesting everywhere (especially in new plantings), fruit fly, I applied seasol to the foliage, fertilised it with dynamic lifter AND planted it where a lemon tree has failed. A miracle if it survives.
ReplyDeleteI live in Sydney and have been trying to stop the fruit fly infestation for the last 3 years , spraying it a few times and this year I added two Eco naturalure on the tree, but still all the fruit drop and have worms although not as badly infected as previous years, but still signs they had been there. Why did those hanging Eco Natualure did not work ? Do those spray ones work better?
ReplyDeleteIt seems I am just growing the fejoia for the fruit flies...have not had one for myself yet.
I have two plants that I have to keep in pots and for the last few years since getting them I get loads of flowers and they look wonderful and healthy but then all of a sudden the flowers fall off....what am I doing wrong? I feed them plenty of blood and bone around flowering time but have not got any fruit to date. Can someone help?
ReplyDeleteThanks
TONI
Anyone with a recipe for Jeijoa jam? Have bucket loads and family are not that keen on them.
ReplyDeleteDee
Hi Dee, my sister makes feijoa cakes, muffins, pancakes & jam. With the baking she just makes the recipe from banana cake, muffins & pancakes & substitute's the banana with feijoa flesh. You can run the flesh through a seive if you like the texture smooth or my sister chops the soft flesh into cubes for yummy chunky bits.
ReplyDeleteFEIJOA JAM
Ingredients
1 kg feijoas, peeled and sliced
1/2 C water
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
4 Cups white sugar, warmed
Method
Place the fruit in a jam pan or large, wide saucepan and add water, lemon juice and zest. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until fruit is soft, about 15 minutes. Add warmed sugar and stir until dissolved. Bring jam to rapid boil and boil without stirring until mixture reaches setting point, about 20 minutes. Pour jam into warmed, sterilized jars, cool and seal. Makes 6 to 7 cups
If you still have too many left over my husband would be more than happy to help get rid of them, if you live in Sydney.
Hi, I love the small Feijoa and used to eat them when my nana still had her home, sadly she is in a nursing home now but on visiting her today some how she had some and gave me a few. My question is, can I grow a Feijoa on a North Face balcony in a pot? If so, where would i get the seeds or how would i start?
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Kelly-Marie in SA.
It is now late Autumn in NZ. I have notice a number of white blobs all over our feijoa tree. Does anyone know what the relate to.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that you can scoop the soft edible centres out and eat them then cover & boil cases and save the liquid and add a pound of sugar to every pint of syrup and make a lovely feijoa jelly even add some passionfruit pulp yumm!
ReplyDeleteThe tree seems to like a prune and some lawn clippings around drip zone helps feed &keep a supply of available moisture
N S W North Coast
Hi Does anyone know if A. a fijoa tree will grow in winter in Australia B. If it will grow on the central Coast C. How long will it take for each fruit to grow and D. Where can i get them on the Central Coast
ReplyDeletePLEASE REPLY ASAP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jake Bambury
I luckily came across a boutique nursery in healsville, melbourne that had a few feijoa plants - of which I bought all t (6) and am trying to grow at home. Hopefully I will get fruits. I'm absolutely craving for them at the moment.
ReplyDeleteFiji Time... any thoughts on growing Feijoas in Fiji. No frost and our winter night temps seldom get below 18! But Oh, I would love one!
ReplyDeleteBoth my neighbour and I have Feijoas, which appear healthy and set fruit each year. The fruit seems to form well ,and we use fruit fly traps. However, when the fruit gets to about hen egg size, all of it drops off over a period of about three weeks.
ReplyDeleteIf you cut the fruit open, it seems to be OK, no signs of insect infestation, and no obvious signs of rot. It also smells like it is almost ripe, but it is still rock hard.
Do you have a solution?
Thanks,
Jack Vintner
how long does it take to fruit
ReplyDeleteEllen
I live on the Mid North Coast NSW and want to know if I can transplant a feijoa tree to another spot in the garden?? It will be coming into its first fruiting season next.
ReplyDeleteThis one is for Jacquei re: growing feijoas in Spain,couple of years late but may still be of help. Was holidaying in Europe last two years and saw feijoas growing in; Florence, Monaco and Delphi(Greece) so pretty sure you could grow them, they like acid soil same as azaleas and camelllias. Good Luck if you haven't already got any underway. I used to have them in Blenheim in NZ and am now in Brisbane Australia, trying to grow two, grasshoppers are eating leaves at mo, one tree I have had for a few years, fruit doesn't set properly, have bought another plant in hope it will help so hoping they will flower at same time in a couple of months..
ReplyDeleteMy Feijoas just don't have any flavour can anyone help. Our tree is very healthy and we have a good crop. We live in Toowoomba Qld and have a temperate climate. Have also had trouble with fruit fly and possums but the past 3 years we have covered the tree with mosquito netting which has helped a lot.
ReplyDeleteHere's another Feijoa lover - having lived in NZ for many years. Any idea which nursery in Melbourne (North) sell Feijoa fruit trees?
ReplyDeleteYou can always get them mail ordered from daleys to Melbourne. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Correy, I have two plants in large pots in Sydney and although I constantly feed them I have had nothing but trouble when they have been in full flower and then when finished, they drop off and I loose the whole thing. What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteThanks
TONI
hey... i am growing a Feijoa in western Australia and it is doing great..i need some more feijoa can any one told me good nursery..
ReplyDeletehi all. i bought some fruit from a guy on the side of the road at in sydney-a guy had them growing up his driveway. i kept some seeds and raised them. 7 years have passed and i am now im a position to move them out of pots. i think this is the third season that they will have flowered. unfortunately fruit fly got at them last year and heaps of them dropped off early. Hopefully i'll have better luck this year with fruit fly control and with some trees now in the ground.
ReplyDeleteAre Feijoa and the "Metrosideros thomasii" the same species of plant? Everyone sees the "Metrosideros" and says its a Feijoa but it never fruits.
ReplyDeleteIs the Feijoa and the Metrosideros thomasii" from the same family of plants? My mum has the "Metrosideros thomasii" and everyone thinks it is a Feijoa but it never fruits. Is there are reason for this?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know where I can buy some Feijoa trees from in Sydney west? I live at Greystanes :-)
ReplyDeleteI bought a Feijoa today from Bunnings Warehouse! I live in south west sydney, so try your local Bunnings nursery.
ReplyDeleteIn perth and had yu trees on in ground one in pot, but both in flower now (End october 2011) i thought they flowered in NZ and fruited for winter,, mine seem to flower and thats it, no fruit, both trees are 2 years old, can anyone offer any advice, any will be much welcomed, thanks Carol
ReplyDelete