Author Topic: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!  (Read 11986 times)

Miguel.pt

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Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« on: May 14, 2013, 06:41:27 PM »
Do you guys know this one?
In my humble opinion this is a must have Psidium spp. specially if you live on a colder area like I do... but apparently it's still very rare around even among collectors... at least I have not seen it discussed before here on the forum and there isn't much information online also...

Let me share some of my experience with this one to you all:
I think I first received seeds from Brazil of this species around 2007 or 2008 and they arrived only labeled as " Araçã roxo folha larga", meaning something like "Purple Araçã with large leaves “and describing it as a south Brazilian “Araçã” variety originated from frosty areas...
Sprouting was OK and plants grew very fast, much faster than normal Psidium cattleyanum to which the leaves seemed very similar in appearance at the beginning, only larger... so for years I kept thinking this was just another purple Psidium cattleyanum who is not so rare, so I didn't gave it much attention...
All my plants were in pots at the GH and growing faster than P.cattleyanum but a little bit restrained by the not so big pots where they were growing... but one plant that I gave to a friend and that he planted in the ground (on 2009 or 2010) grew very much almost immediately and fruited on the same season... and then he told me the fruits were good and a little different from the normal araçã... I then decided to look a little closer to this tree and I became clear that it was not the Psidium cattleyanum… so my collector interest grew and I decided to re-pot and pay some more attention to my own plants... and then started trying to correct identify what species was this...
After several attempts I realized that on the EJardim blog when Eduardo posted about the strawberry-guava he made a reference that on south Brazil, on upper grounds (serras), the common Psidium cattleyanum was replaced by a much bigger species with the name Psidium longipetiolatum…That's it!...
Eduardo Jardim say this one can reach 25 to 30 meters high !... it doesn't surprised me so much as 3 meters on a 20 litter pot in only 2 years was my personal experience!... latter Helton posted also one photo of red fruits with this scientific name saying it started fruiting at 2011 at his place also, and speaking about 8 meters high ( less than EJardim but also a big tree for sure)... one common accepted name in Brazil seems to be "Araçã-Goiaba".
Well my plants started fruiting last year and the fruit were about the size of red Strawberry-guavas (+/- 3 cm diameter), but rounder and with a long pedicel, with seeds that were apparently bigger but also undetectable, at least in my mouth, and with a very good flavor that I rate very similar or even superior to the Psidium cattleyanum fruits.
Unfortunately I don't have pictures from the last year’s fruits but if you Google "Psidium longipetiolatum" you will find some photos of the fruits... look for those from Anestor who are very good as always...
 
For the moment I can only show you some photos of the other special details of this species and some comparisons with the common Psidium cattleyanum so you can understand what I am saying here:
Enjoy!

For start pics of some older leaves who have a typical heart shape:
 


Just compare these leaves with a normal Psidium cattleyanum leaf (on my hand):



Even tip branches leaves are bigger than those of the strawberry-guava ( P.cattleianum leaves on the background):



and the flowers buds are big, with a long stalk, and grow up vertically:


just compare the size of the flowers with those of Psidium cattleyanum (on the right):



This plant of the pics is still on my GH and is flowering for the first time now; on the GH they stay evergreen during all winter, but the plants that fruited last year on my GH were planted outside by December 2012 and they spent all winter outside where they probably faced -5ºC ; Those plants outside exhibited a total deciduous behavior and quickly became stripped of all leaves; Not really sure if this is normal behavior or just a reaction to the choke of being transferred from the GH to the outside without any adaptation period... next winter will tell;
Anyway those outside plants are now sprouting nicely and the only apparent difference to those on the GH is a delay of some weeks (or months?) on flowering... and I'm also waiting to see if they fruit OK outside. By the way the fruit set on the GH was close to 100% of the flowers... and ripe fruit fall to the ground without any visible damage...

This is the actual situation of one of the outside plants sprouting now:


I will try to post pics of the fruits latter (when in season) if I can just to complement this description;
I do think this "Araçâ" can really "push limits" to those living in a area too cold for the strawberry-guava... maybe by a full climate zone or two... you just have to have the space to accommodate such a big tree!

Miguel
« Last Edit: May 14, 2013, 06:47:16 PM by Miguel.pt »

ReneeFLL

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2013, 08:46:29 PM »
Thats a nice surprise to find out that it is a rare plant and it sets good fruit. Will be interesting to see how next years crop turns out.

Soren

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2013, 01:10:53 PM »
Very big and beautiful leaves indeed; thanks for sharing the photos.
Søren
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nullzero

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2013, 02:02:09 PM »
Thank you for the report, I love the common strawberry guava. So I am sure I would enjoy the fruit of P. longipetiolatum very much so :).
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murraystevena2

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2013, 05:25:09 PM »
Interesting looking species. Could you go into a bit more detail about the flavor of this new variety? I have noticed a bit of diversity on some of the strawberry guavas and have found that in general the yellow ones taste much better but have had some that were sour as well. I have never seen a deciduous psidium but if it is and if it can take down much lower temps then this might also be a great species to do in any future breeding to increase cold tolerance. Cool discovery :)
« Last Edit: May 15, 2013, 06:30:01 PM by murraystevena2 »

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2013, 06:00:47 PM »
Miguel,

Thanks for posting on this plant, it sounds quite interesting.

Richard

Miguel.pt

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2013, 04:47:40 PM »
Update
 
Finally have some ripe fruits on this one so to conclude this topic.
Fruits are rounder than other "strawberry guavas" and fall to the ground once they ripen... even collected on the ground fruits were all in perfect shape and they seem to support this fall without injuries....and this ripe fruit falling behavior can even compensate for the bigger height of these trees which could make it difficult for the harvest...
 
Internal looks and arrangement of seeds are similar to other guavas and I also found these seeds unperceptible on the mouth while eating...flavour is also very good, as good as or even better than a good ripe Strawberry guava...
 
Enjoy the photos









Goldemboy

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2013, 06:17:08 PM »
Bite size yumm.

PltdWorld

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #8 on: September 23, 2013, 07:12:28 PM »
That looks like a great fruit!  Is the skin edible?  Is it different enough from strawberry guava to warrant growing both?

Miguel.pt

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #9 on: September 24, 2013, 04:58:23 PM »
Yes, the skin is edible... exactly like normal strawberry guavas.

Probably this is not the best "strawberry guava" for those dealing with lack of space issues... and it is not much adapted to GHs also as it grows very much and very tall so making it difficult to keep under control... regarding the taste the differences to the common Strawberry guavas maybe doesn't justify having this one too...
 
The big advantage that I believe this species could offer is for those "Limit Zone Pushers" living in climate zones 9a or inferior... here where I live I have a 9a climate outside and even if the common strawberry guavas (Psidium catleyanum) survive our winters outside, they do suffer a lot from cold and they give me much better and earlier fruits inside the GH than outside... my impression is that these trees spend too much time and energy every spring just recovering from the winter cold, so this affects fruit production timing and quality...
This Psidium longitetiolatum being native from "upper grounds" in south Brasil should ideally deal much better with the winter cold... at least this is what I am expecting but it is still too soon to tell as I only have some trees planted outside since last year and the fruits on the photos are from the tree that I still keep inside the GH... but now I have to take it out the GH because it is just getting too tall to keep it there much longer...
 
this is still a test in progress and I expect to have more fundamented conclusions in some years from now because I'm still guessing a little bit here...
For now the only official conclusion is that in terms of fruit quality, this Psidium longipetiolatum is definitely a keeper and deserves a spot on my garden... same thing did not happened to Psidium myrtoides and Psidium eugenifolia (both were eliminated after fruiting because I just couldn't stand the sourness and astringency on those fruits).
 
So to conclude these are my advises for now:
 
If you live on a 9b climate zone or superior, and you have space issues, go for Psidium catleyanum
 
If you live on a 9a climate (or maybe 8b?) probably you'd better go for Psidium longipetiolatum
 
If you are a rare fruit tree collector like me you should grow both.

Tao2

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2013, 09:10:16 AM »
The red ones are the best tasting......... yellow a bit bigger...both bite size......cold hardy...
« Last Edit: September 25, 2013, 09:13:08 AM by Tao2 »

huertasurbanas

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #11 on: January 02, 2014, 10:36:56 PM »
This is great



30m!
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AnnonAddict

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #12 on: January 02, 2014, 10:39:36 PM »
Wow! I am a collecter so I guess that makes me elegible to grow this  ;)! Very pretty leaves, looks like a much larger version of the common Psidium cattelanium. Thanks a bunch for sharing.
Jackson

Miguel.pt

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #13 on: October 04, 2015, 06:34:35 PM »
Hello all

Fruits are in season again now... so I'll be offering fresh seeds of this rare Psidium species on the "Buy, Sell & Trade" section of the Forum.

Specially recomended for those living in cold climates like me.

Let me just correct one information on my first post of this discussion:
The deciduous behavior my trees exhibited during the first winter outside my GH was for sure due to the transplant shock, because following winters they kept evergreen even on my 9a climate. 

Cheers
Miguel.pt
 
« Last Edit: October 04, 2015, 06:49:42 PM by Miguel.pt »

Miguel.pt

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #14 on: October 13, 2016, 04:36:40 PM »
Decided to revive this old topic just to show you guys the amazing quantity of fruits the tree I have on my outside terrain has this year... absolutely loaded... and in a 9a climate.





Luisport

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #15 on: October 13, 2016, 05:15:37 PM »
Hello Miguel! My fruits are still green... they are very beautifull, congratulations!  ;D

Garcinus

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #16 on: October 13, 2016, 08:19:19 PM »
Hey Miguel

Do you plan on offering these seeds again ?
Thanks

Miguel.pt

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #17 on: October 15, 2016, 12:25:50 AM »
Hey Miguel

Do you plan on offering these seeds again ?
Thanks

Yes... seeds are available again this year.
thanks
Miguel

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #18 on: October 15, 2016, 07:02:42 AM »
Wow very cool. If cattleianum in ground won't do, i think i'll go with this one!
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Ataman

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #19 on: October 15, 2016, 10:07:55 AM »
Miguel, when you upload more pictures this species, interesting me more and more. If you have seeds I buy from you.

SH

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #20 on: October 16, 2016, 12:41:02 AM »
I hope to buy some seeds of this gorgeous guava, either!

Don

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #21 on: October 16, 2016, 02:43:59 AM »
Here are the ones you sent me Miguel!


huertasurbanas

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #22 on: October 16, 2016, 06:43:31 AM »
Great species (thanks Miguel for the seeds), looking at your photos, fruits seem to ripe in a lighter red than my psidium cattleianum (darker http://cdn4.pacifichorticulture.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Barnidge.04.Bowl_.jpg). I have 4 trees, 3 of them planted in the ground. 2 of them passed the last winter in the open fields (-3º C or less this winter), 1m tall, growing very well, the other was planted at my backyard below a p. cattleianum, and the other is poted for now and will be for the food forest.

This is one of my great hopes for our 9b climate.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2016, 06:45:43 AM by huertasurbanas »
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Ataman

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #23 on: November 05, 2016, 02:34:57 PM »
This is my unidentified strawberry guava like tree. I bought seeds from this species 3 years ago. Very similar to common strawberry guava,but this species has bigger and softer leaves. Not bloomed yet. Miguel what do you think? Is this psidium longipetiolatum?


Luisport

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Re: Psidium longipetiolatum... for collectors only!
« Reply #24 on: November 05, 2016, 03:36:19 PM »
I'm eating my first fruits and i love them! They are big and totally round, only one or two seeds by fruit and very aromatic. I describe the flavour as a mixt of strawberry and a zest of lime...  YUMMY!  :P