Big box store feijoas. Has anyone had them fruit before?

[WaterFowler]

Curiosity got the better of me one day and I bought a feijoa from Home Depot 4 years ago. It's gotten big, bushy and flowered like crazy the last 2 years but no fruit. 2 years ago I put a a little seedling right next to it and this year it's big enough where I think it might flower.

Has anyone ever bought one of these "pineapple guavas" from HD or Lowes and had them fruit? If so, how was the quality of the fruit? Or are these just ornamentals for the most part?

Assuming I'm going to have to graft a proven cultivar on this Home Depot plant, any ideas where to go about locating budwood?

[brian]

I want a feijoa too... I had considered seedling grown types or buying one from a big box store but was wondering if they are far inferior to named types.  I've never tried the fruit so I don't know what to expect.

[Santa Maria 9b]

The ones from Lowes or Home Depot usually either Nazemets or Coolidge from La Verne nursery. They are both very good and productive cultivars. The more oval ones are Coolidge and the rounder ones are Nazemets.

[WaterFowler]

The ones from Lowes or Home Depot usually either Nazemets or Coolidge from La Verne nursery. They are both very good and productive cultivars. The more oval ones are Coolidge and the rounder ones are Nazemets.

That's great to know! I was watching a video from a popular YT tropical fruit grower and he said the feijoas from Lowes were mostly ornamental trees that might not ever produce any meaningful fruit. Glad a checked here first before I did something drastic.

I'd still like to graft a couple of different varieties on it though.

[brian]

Thanks Santa Maria... I will just pick one up there next time I see one

[NateTheGreat]

I got one from a hardware store about 15 years ago, not grafted. I really enjoy the fruit, more acid than most others I've tried. They're planted around my town in peoples' yards and in some hedges. Most of those that I've tried are a bit worse, sweeter and mealier, but they're not bad. I don't believe big box feijoas don't fruit.

[SHV]

Bought one from HD about 5 years ago and it fruited the 2nd year in the ground.  Now it produces more fruit than any large family could eat. Personally I think the pineapple guava name is a disservice to both pineapples and guavas.  Not a huge fan of feijoa fruit but some friends and family enjoy it so I keep it around.  The flowers are tasty treats and it’s a beautiful tree that is unfazed by cold or hot weather extremes. 

[WaterFowler]

Bought one from HD about 5 years ago and it fruited the 2nd year in the ground.  Now it produces more fruit than any large family could eat. Personally I think the pineapple guava name is a disservice to both pineapples and guavas.  Not a huge fan of feijoa fruit but some friends and family enjoy it so I keep it around.  The flowers are tasty treats and it’s a beautiful tree that is unfazed by cold or hot weather extremes.

And you only have one that fruits like crazy by itself? Mine flowers crazy but won't produce fruit which is why I put another one I grew from seed right next to it.

[SHV]

Yes, it is self-fruiting.  I know of others that have single productive trees in the SoCA inland region.

[Epicatt2]

I bought a couple feijoas from a north FLorida nursery (8b) but they never grew well in Tampa (9b) and never flowered.  They languished and eventually died two years later.

So I keep wondering whether feijoas -or maybe certain feijoa cultivars– might require more chilling hours, or perhaps colder hours, than we get in Tampa for them to be able to set flowers and fruit properly.

Are there any feijoa cultivars that are better suited for us in 9b than some other cultivars?

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

[K-Rimes]

I bought a couple feijoas from a north FLorida nursery (8b) but they never grew well in Tampa (9b) and never flowered.  They languished and eventually died two years later.

So I keep wondering whether feijoas -or maybe certain feijoa cultivars– might require more chilling hours, or perhaps colder hours, than we get in Tampa for them to be able to set flowers and fruit properly.

Are there any feijoa cultivars that are better suited for us in 9b than some other cultivars?

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

Feijoas here in solid 10a locations fruit better than mine in 9b. I don't think it's chill hour related.

[Santa Maria 9b]

If it's flowering but not fruiting then it is probably a pollenation issue. Mine are all self fruiting, but the central coast is very different than the Coachella Valley where it is 100 degrees during the bloom. You may want to try manually pollenating to see if that fixes the problem.