cattley - Yellow guava top heavy, weak trunk

[greenman62]

I got this from Top Tropicals
about a year ago i think.

When i put it in-ground, i didnt think it would get this top heavy,
and thought that the trunk would thicken and strengthen.

This is its 2nd flush of fruits.the first one was only a handful
( i only had 1 ripe fruit to taste. i was pretty pleased. i really like the taste.)

Anyway, when it had just a few fruit, i could tell this might become a problem,
and i tried to strengthen the trunk by letting it lean over about 30 degrees,
and then letting it lean the opposite way...
 Ive let it lean like this for a day or 2, at least 7 or 8 times.

i tie string to the fence to keep it from going farther than the 30ish degrees..

now i have a 2nd flush with a LOT more fruit.
and its a LOT heavier.

any ideas ?





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Yes, ,it is bent over almost parallel to the ground.
unless i tie it up, or support it somehow, it does this naturally.

no, the trunk has not cracked.

[Don]

After fruiting you could chop it back by two thirds then train only one branch upto get the same look but it gives the tree a chance to thicken up the trunk then the top growth will go crazy again but with a sturdier base. Doesn't take long for them to come back after a good chopping.

[gnappi]

My two were the same. I kept pruning them back and now they are still under 6 ft tall and hold a ton of ftuit.

[zands]

That trunk looks like it will need serious support for two years. I would dig a hole with a post hole digger. Cement in a two by four. Then screw a crossbar two by four to it. Then use some twine to secure the trunk to the cross you have sunk/cemented into the ground.

Then as others have posted you cut it back after your fruit harvest. And might have to do this a few times as trunk thickens up. I did this for a mango tree and it worked out OK

[LivingParadise]

I hope mine ends up with this much fruit! I have the first two little fruits now, and looking forward to tasting.

If mine ends up like that, I will just tie it partially maybe up to halfway up, to help it begin to strengthen without having to support the whole weight at once. I have the same problem with my mulberry, and that's really all it can do is work on its strength while a partial prop at least keeps it growing in the right direction without getting too deformed.

[greenman62]

After fruiting you could chop it back by two thirds then train only one branch upto get the same look but it gives the tree a chance to thicken up the trunk then the top growth will go crazy again but with a sturdier base. Doesn't take long for them to come back after a good chopping.

yeah, i didnt want to lose all that fruit
and it seems they dont mind a hard prune
so yeah, i plan to cut the branches back by about 2/3 and leave the central trunk


zands
i thought of this, but, thought it might make it more dependant
my thinking was to keep it tethered with string, so it cant sway to far,
but can sway a bit with wind which would strengthen the trunk...

good to know it worked for you
now i know i can do that if i have to.

[greenman62]

i grew this from seed (and have 2 of them)
so, now i will have 3 yellows and a red...

do they come "true" from seed ?
are most grown from seed, or grafted, or air-layered ?

crazy they fruit this small...

[zands]

After fruiting you could chop it back by two thirds then train only one branch upto get the same look but it gives the tree a chance to thicken up the trunk then the top growth will go crazy again but with a sturdier base. Doesn't take long for them to come back after a good chopping.

zands
i thought of this, but, thought it might make it more dependant
my thinking was to keep it tethered with string, so it cant sway to far,
but can sway a bit with wind which would strengthen the trunk...

As far as that dependent stuff I had to chuck it. The mango tree I mentioned literally blew over after in ground two years. Not roots were torn up but it blew over. So I had no choice but to tie it to a strong cross brace sunk/cemented into the ground like I mentioned above. The trunk has developed nicely though due to being dependent on the cross brace it did not get as strong as it should from swaying in the wind...etc etc
My take is the cross bracing hurt trunk development/thickness by only 20%.

I have a photo of this mango tree and cross brace. Just ask   

BTW I have lots of cattely guava...the inferior red/strawberry kind. It is a freakin weed and pest in Hawaii. It is strong as evidenced by that thin trunk holding so many leaves and fruit.

[gnappi]

I hope mine ends up with this much fruit! I have the first two little fruits now, and looking forward to tasting.

Mine has MUCH more fruit this year than past years, I have been watering it more, maybe that's helping.

I prefer the yellow guava over the standard pink and thai white I have tried... about as much as the ruby supreme, but I have had NO luck with the supreme, every one I had beat me down with scale and sooty mold.

[PahoaJo]

i grew this from seed (and have 2 of them)
so, now i will have 3 yellows and a red...

do they come "true" from seed ?
are most grown from seed, or grafted, or air-layered ?

Where I live, they are crazy invasive.  Chop them down to the ground and they will grow back stronger than ever.  They grow true to seed, and once established are very hard to get rid of.   That said, it is a very tasty fruit.

[King]

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=14704.msg187006#msg187006

I had a feijoa with a weak trunk that could not stand up by itself. To fix this, I put a stake in about a foot from the trunk, and tied part of an elastic bike inner tube around the trunk and tied the other end to the stake. This allowed the tree to stay upright, but still swing in the breeze.  The swinging in the breeze is what causes trunks to thicken. Tying a tree closely to the stake with a rigid, non-flexible string only causes the tree to grow vertically too fast and depend on the stake for support.

The tree now has a thick enough trunk that it stands up without any need of support.

[Delvi83]

Give it some supports....one each branch, but after ripening prune, shortening the fruiting branch of at least half