Feijoa

What is a feijoa?

Feijoa, Acca sellowiana, is an evergreen fruiting shrub belonging to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae.

It originates from southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and northern Argentina, including upland regions exposed to relatively cool winters.

Its former botanical name, Feijoa sellowiana, remains widely used in nurseries and horticultural literature.

Feijoa is also known as pineapple guava, although it is not a true guava of the genus Psidium.

Its silver-grey foliage, red-and-white flowers and highly aromatic green fruit give it both ornamental and culinary value.

Despite the exotic flavour of its fruit, feijoa is not a tropical plant requiring constant warmth.

Its cultivation lies between that of a mild-climate Mediterranean shrub and a genuinely hardy deciduous fruit tree.

In cool northern European regions, a feijoa can form an attractive evergreen shrub and flower regularly in a protected position.

Obtaining fully ripe fruit depends more on cultivar earliness, exposure and the length of the autumn than on the simple survival of the plant during winter.

How should you choose a feijoa cultivar?

Feijoa cultivars should not be compared solely according to their advertised fruit size.

They differ in ripening season, ability to crop alone, flowering period, fruit shape, proportion of edible pulp, acidity, aroma, flesh texture and storage behaviour.

In a cool climate, an early cultivar is generally more valuable than one producing exceptionally large fruit that ripens too late.

A large but immature feijoa remains firm, acidic, granular and weakly aromatic.

Fruit quality should also be judged according to the proportion of pleasant edible flesh.

Some large feijoas possess thick skin, an extensive grainy outer layer or a disproportionately large central cavity.

A slightly smaller fruit can therefore provide more useful and better-textured pulp.

Crop regularity is another essential characteristic.

A cultivar capable of producing some fruit alone may still become substantially more productive when compatible pollen from another variety is available.

Seedling plant or selected cultivar?

Feijoa self-fertility is more complex than a simple yes or no

Feijoa flowers are hermaphrodite and contain both male and female reproductive organs.

This does not mean that every cultivar can fertilise itself efficiently.

Some genotypes show late-acting self-incompatibility.

Their own pollen may germinate and begin growing through the flower, while fertilisation or the earliest stages of fruit development subsequently fail.

Other cultivars are partly or strongly self-compatible.

Even within this group, fruit number and sometimes fruit size generally improve when compatible pollen from another cultivar is available.

The description self-fertile should therefore be understood as an ability to produce some fruit alone rather than proof that a second cultivar provides no benefit.

For the most regular crop, plant two genetically different varieties whose flowering periods overlap.

Two plants of the same cultivar do not provide genuine cross-pollination

Two feijoas propagated from the same named cultivar are genetically identical clones.

Planting them together does not create true cross-pollination between different genotypes.

To improve fertilisation, combine two different cultivars or one selected cultivar with a genetically distinct seedling.

Two seedlings grown from seeds collected from the same fruit will normally be genetically different and may pollinate one another.

The quality and ripening season of their future fruit will nevertheless remain unknown until they begin cropping.

For a small garden in a cool climate, two early and complementary named cultivars are usually more useful than one late variety accompanied by an unselected seedling intended only to provide pollen.

Pollination by birds and insects

Feijoa flowers differ considerably from the blossom of conventional European fruit trees.

They possess numerous long red stamens and thick petals that are white on the outside and pinkish on the inside.

In the native range of the species and in several producing countries, birds play an important role in pollination.

They eat the sweet petals and carry pollen on their heads and plumage while moving between flowers.

Bees and other insects also visit the blossom, although their effectiveness varies.

Some insects collect principally pollen and move repeatedly between flowers on the same shrub, which provides limited benefit to a self-incompatible cultivar.

In a European garden, local wildlife should not be assumed to provide the same pollination efficiency observed in regions where feijoa is widely cultivated.

Planting two cultivars close together and maintaining an open, accessible crown improves the chances of successful pollen transfer.

How can feijoa flowers be hand-pollinated?

Hand pollination is simple and can be useful where an established shrub flowers heavily but carries little fruit or where the two cultivars are still small.

Collect pollen with a small soft brush from the stamens of a fully open flower.

Transfer it to the central stigma of a flower belonging to the other cultivar.

Repeat the operation over several days because all flowers are not receptive simultaneously.

It is not necessary to pollinate the complete shrub.

Several dozen successfully cross-pollinated flowers can already produce a substantial family crop.

Where hand cross-pollination improves fruit set clearly, inadequate pollen transfer or self-incompatibility was probably limiting natural production.

Feijoa petals are edible

The fleshy petals possess a mildly sweet flavour that can suggest strawberry, pineapple or floral confectionery.

They can be eaten directly or used to decorate salads and desserts.

Avoid damaging the central pistil and stamens where the flower is intended to produce fruit.

Removing a large proportion of the petals may also reduce the attraction of the flowers to birds involved in pollination.

Where fruit production is the priority, harvest only a small proportion of the available petals.

Late flowering avoids many spring frosts

Feijoa generally flowers during late spring or early summer, well after almonds, apricots and most plum cultivars.

This late flowering substantially reduces exposure to ordinary frosts occurring during March and April.

An exceptional cold period during flowering can still reduce fruit set.

The young shoots carrying the flowers are also more vulnerable than mature wood.

In cool northern regions, the principal climatic risk often occurs several months later.

The fruit may still be completing its development when the first autumn frosts arrive.

Shrub hardiness does not guarantee ripe fruit

An established feijoa can tolerate moderate frost and survive temperatures that would destroy many subtropical fruit trees.

Actual hardiness varies according to cultivar, plant age, duration of the cold, soil moisture and the maturity of the shoots.

Evergreen foliage and young shoot tips can be scorched before the trunk or base of the shrub is seriously threatened.

An adult plant may therefore regenerate after a winter that has damaged part of its crown.

The fruit is substantially less frost-resistant than mature wood.

A relatively light autumn frost can damage the pulp while leaving the shrub itself unharmed.

Three separate questions must therefore be considered in a cool climate: will the shrub survive winter, will it flower after any damage and will the fruit ripen before significant autumn frost?

An early cultivar in a favourable microclimate may satisfy all three requirements.

A late cultivar can survive perfectly while producing very few fully mature fruit.

Choose a genuine microclimate in cool regions

The best position combines abundant light, sufficient autumn warmth and protection from cold winds.

A south- or south-west-facing wall stores warmth and shelters the shrub.

It can advance fruit maturity considerably compared with a plant exposed to wind in an open field.

An enclosed courtyard, urban garden or well-exposed slope can also create a useful microclimate.

Avoid hollows where cold air collects during calm autumn nights.

A shrub planted slightly higher on a slope may retain sound fruit while those in a lower position are damaged by frost.

The position must remain sufficiently open to receive direct sunlight.

Shelter should not create a dark and permanently humid corner.

Full sun or partial shade?

Feijoa tolerates partial shade and can retain attractive evergreen foliage in reduced light.

Fruit production will generally be smaller and later.

In cool European regions, full sun is preferable.

It encourages flowering, sugar accumulation, aroma development and the maturation of young wood before winter.

Light shade during the hottest part of the day can be useful in very warm and dry regions, but normally provides no advantage in a cool climate.

A very dense crown creates its own shade.

Selective thinning can improve fruit maturity without exposing every branch abruptly.

Wind can damage branches and fruit

The tough foliage of feijoa tolerates coastal exposure and occasional salt spray relatively well in mild regions.

Strong winds remain unfavourable to fruit production.

They can break young branches, dry the foliage and cause developing fruit to rub or fall before full maturity.

Nearly ripe feijoas bruise readily when they fall onto a hard surface.

A position protected from prevailing winds is therefore preferable, particularly where the plant is trained with one trunk rather than as a low multi-stemmed shrub.

Which soil is suitable for feijoa?

Feijoa prefers deep, fertile, aerated and adequately drained soil with a slightly acidic to approximately neutral pH.

It adapts to several soil textures but tolerates prolonged saturation poorly.

Root suffocation can cause yellowing, leaf fall, branch dieback and eventually the death of the shrub.

In heavy ground, plant slightly above the surrounding level and improve the general movement of water through the site.

Do not create a small pocket of potting compost at the bottom of an impermeable planting hole.

Strongly calcareous soil can cause nutrient deficiencies, chlorosis and weak growth.

Slightly calcareous ground may be tolerated, but highly alkaline conditions are not ideal.

A soil pH analysis is useful where the leaves remain yellow despite suitable moisture and drainage.

A relatively shallow root system

A significant proportion of the active feijoa roots develops close to the soil surface.

Deep cultivation around the shrub can therefore destroy part of the absorbing root system.

Maintain a weed-free area with a mulch rather than repeatedly digging around the plant.

A mulch also reduces summer moisture loss and limits rapid changes in soil temperature.

Keep it several centimetres away from the trunk so that the bark is not held continuously damp.

Drought-tolerant shrub, but fruit requiring water

An established feijoa can survive periods of dry weather because of its tough evergreen foliage.

This tolerance concerns the survival of the shrub rather than the production of abundant and well-developed fruit.

Prolonged drought during fruit growth reduces size, interrupts development and can cause premature fruit drop.

A young plant requires regular watering during its first growing seasons.

The soil should remain reasonably moist at depth without becoming permanently saturated.

Deep and relatively spaced applications are preferable to small quantities applied daily to the surface.

Consistent moisture becomes especially important during late summer and autumn while the fruit completes its growth.

Planting a young feijoa

In cool and frost-prone regions, plant container-grown feijoas during spring after the principal risk of severe late frost has passed.

This provides a complete growing season for root establishment before the first winter.

Prepare a broad area of finely cultivated soil after the ground has drained sufficiently and begun warming.

Remove couch grass, bindweed and other perennial weeds before planting.

Water the root ball before removing the container.

Loosen tightly circling roots carefully without destroying the complete root ball.

Position the top of the root ball approximately level with the surrounding ground.

Backfill mainly with the original soil rather than surrounding the plant with a narrow pocket of potting compost.

Water thoroughly after planting and maintain regular moisture throughout the first growing season whenever rainfall is insufficient.

In an exposed position, provide temporary support until the roots have anchored the shrub securely.

Can feijoa be grown in a container?

Container cultivation is possible and can simplify winter protection in regions where temperatures regularly fall below the tolerance of the cultivar.

The container must be large, stable and adequately drained.

A small pot dries rapidly during summer and severely restricts growth and fruit production.

Feijoa benefits from a cool period during winter and should not be maintained permanently in a warm room as though it were a tropical houseplant.

The ideal winter position is a bright, cool and unheated building or a cold greenhouse protected from severe frost.

Pollination remains necessary under protection.

Two cultivars should be present or flowers should be cross-pollinated by hand.

Over the long term, planting in open ground within a suitable microclimate normally produces a more balanced shrub that is less dependent on irrigation.

Feijoa flowers on current-season shoots

Flower buds appear in the leaf axils of new shoots produced during spring.

Light winter pruning does not therefore necessarily remove the complete future crop as it would on a shrub flowering exclusively on older wood.

Severe pruning can still provoke excessive vegetative growth, delay flowering and remove a substantial quantity of stored reserves.

A productive shrub requires a balance between the renewal of young shoots and an open structure allowing these shoots to receive sufficient light.

Does feijoa require regular pruning?

Feijoa does not require detailed annual pruning.

Its natural growth habit can remain productive provided that the centre does not become completely dark and congested.

Pruning is used principally to establish the desired shape, remove frost-damaged wood, eliminate crossing branches and maintain access for harvesting.

Where an adult shrub has become too dense, remove several ageing branches progressively from their point of origin rather than cutting back every shoot tip.

Do not prune apparent winter damage too early.

Wait until spring growth begins so that living and dead wood can be distinguished accurately.

Excessive cutting easily transforms the shrub into a mass of long vegetative shoots carrying relatively few flowers.

Training feijoa as a shrub, hedge or small tree

Feijoa is generally robust against disease

Feijoa normally suffers from few serious health problems in European gardens.

It generally requires less protection than susceptible peaches, apricots or apples.

This robustness does not mean that the species is immune to every disease and pest.

In humid producing regions, anthracnose can cause sunken lesions and fruit rots.

Scale insects, thrips and fruit flies are also reported in several countries, although their importance depends strongly on local climate and fauna.

In cool northern regions, insufficient warmth, autumn frost, poor pollination and root suffocation are generally more important risks than epidemic disease.

Remove rotten and mummified fruit from the shrub and ground to reduce potential sources of infection.

Why does a feijoa flower without producing fruit?

The first possibility to investigate is the absence of a genetically different and compatible cultivar.

A partly self-compatible variety may flower abundantly but retain only a few fruit when isolated.

Insufficient activity by birds and insects can also limit pollen transfer between the plants.

Cold, windy or persistently wet conditions during flowering reduce pollinator activity and may affect flower receptivity.

Severe pruning, excessive shade and highly vegetative growth can also restrict cropping.

A young shrub may flower before it possesses enough leaf area and root development to retain a substantial crop.

Should feijoa fruit be thinned?

Fruit thinning is not normally essential because natural fruit set and physiological drop usually regulate the crop.

On a young shrub setting an exceptionally heavy crop after hand pollination, several fruit can be removed from weak or overloaded branches.

Excessive crop load reduces individual size and can bend tender shoot tips.

The problem is generally less significant than on Asian pears, peaches or persimmons.

Consistent water availability and a healthy leaf area usually have a greater influence on final fruit size than routine thinning.

Feijoa fruit requires several months to ripen

After flowering, feijoa fruit continues developing for approximately four to six months and sometimes longer according to cultivar and climate.

In warm regions this long development period causes little difficulty.

Under a cool climate, maturity extends into late autumn when light and temperatures decline rapidly.

A late cultivar may produce fruit of normal external size that remains hard, acidic and weakly aromatic.

Excessive crop load, shade and summer drought delay maturity further.

For cool European regions, genuine earliness is therefore more important than the maximum fruit size recorded under Mediterranean conditions.

Green colour does not indicate whether a feijoa is ripe

Most feijoas remain green throughout the complete ripening process.

Some fruit becomes slightly paler or develops a yellow-green tone, but the change can remain difficult to see.

A ripe feijoa detaches under very light pressure or falls naturally.

It also becomes slightly softer and develops a stronger aroma.

Inside the fruit, the central area containing the small seeds becomes translucent and gelatinous.

In an immature feijoa, this area remains more opaque and the flesh tastes more acidic and granular.

When the central pulp turns brown and the aroma begins declining, the fruit has passed its best eating stage.

Feijoa can soften after harvest but should not be picked too early

Feijoa is a climacteric fruit and can continue softening after detachment from the shrub.

This allows a physiologically mature fruit to be picked shortly before it falls.

It does not allow a very immature fruit to develop the full flavour of one allowed to mature correctly.

A feijoa picked several weeks too early may soften without acquiring the same sugar concentration and aromatic intensity.

The best compromise is to wait until the fruit detaches under very light hand pressure.

The first naturally fallen fruit indicates that selective harvesting should begin.

Fruit on one shrub does not ripen simultaneously, so several picking rounds are normally required.

Harvest without bruising the fruit

A ripe feijoa appears to possess tough skin, but its flesh bruises easily when it falls onto a hard surface.

Short grass, a soft mulch or a suspended collecting sheet beneath the shrub reduces impact damage.

Collect fallen fruit every day during the principal harvest period.

For better storage, pick fruit that detaches almost without resistance rather than waiting for the complete crop to fall.

An impact can cause internal browning while the outer skin still appears intact.

Place harvested fruit in shallow trays and avoid stacking several heavy layers.

Two distinct zones of flesh

The central part of a feijoa is translucent, gelatinous and juicy and contains numerous small and tender seeds.

The flesh close to the skin is firmer, pale and slightly granular.

This texture results from small stone cells also found in pears and true guavas.

The proportion of the two zones varies considerably between cultivars.

Some varieties possess a large melting centre, while others provide a greater quantity of firm outer flesh.

A light granular texture is normal.

Hard, dry and excessively grainy flesh can indicate immaturity or a seedling of poor eating quality.

What does feijoa taste like?

The aromatic profile commonly combines pineapple, guava, strawberry, pear and citrus, sometimes with mint or eucalyptus notes.

Every cultivar possesses its own balance between sugar, acidity and perfume.

Some fruit is mild, sweet and floral, while other varieties retain pronounced acidity or more astringent skin.

A significant proportion of the aroma is concentrated within the skin and the flesh immediately beneath it.

The skin is edible, but its bitterness and astringency are not appreciated by everyone.

For a first tasting, cut the fruit in half and remove the flesh with a spoon in the same way as a kiwi fruit.

How should feijoas be stored?

Fully ripe feijoas keep for only a short period at room temperature.

They soften rapidly and may develop internal browning before the skin appears seriously damaged.

Refrigeration can extend storage for several weeks according to cultivar and harvest maturity.

Cold slows softening, but prolonged storage causes a gradual loss of aroma and increases the risk of brown flesh.

Inspect the fruit regularly.

A fermented smell, brown pulp or watery texture indicates that it has passed its best stage.

The pulp can be frozen for later use in compotes, sorbets, drinks, preserves and desserts.

Which feijoa should you choose?