Author Topic: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general  (Read 16682 times)

CaliLowWater

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 51
    • SoCal
    • View Profile
Hi guys!

I've been doing some research on guava for a while now. Most of the information I can find seems to say that white guava varieties seem to be sweeter than pink/red varieties. Is that true? I live in San Diego and my neighbor's white variety (she does not know which variety it is, she got an air layer from a colleague years ago) is amazing. Sweet, aromatic, and creamy. Apple shaped, small do medium size, the biggest are the size of a small apple. I have tried many red/pink varities growing here in San Diego, and can't detect any sweetness at all. Yes, they do smell like guava, but no sweetness. And these are fully ripe (yellow outside, soft).

So, which pink/red variety is considered the sweetest one out there, comparable to some of the sweeter white, creamy varieties, like Mexican Cream guava? I think I prefer soft varieties, but would be open to the crunchy ones too.

Finally, does anyone grow a *grafted* Mexican Cream guava? I just bought a grafted one from a local nursery, which got it from La Verne Nursery here in California. There are two fruit ripening on it which are still small, green, smooth skinned, and pear shaped so far (I'll post a picture later). It is supposed to be one of the sweetest varieties out there.  When searching for more information I ran into all kinds of videos and pictures claiming to portray Mexican Cream guavas, but they all look very different. Most of them seem to be round fruit, some have bumpy skin when not fully ripe, some have smooth skin. Many people on Youtube and on various websites admit that they "probably" have a Mexican Cream as they grew their tree from seed or someone gave it to them. Even different online nurseries have different pictures of the fruit of the "Mexican Cream" variety. So, it's very confusing.

So, what does a "true" Mexican Cream guava look and taste like? What's the origin of this variety? I.e. where was it first developed and by whom? Does anyone have any experience with La Verne nursery's "Mexican Cream" guava? Thanks in advance!

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3900
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2021, 04:15:26 PM »
I purchased a mexican cream guava from Home Depot, nice 5 gallon plant but no fruits yet.

brian

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3355
    • Pennsylvania (zone 6) w/ heated greenhouse
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2021, 05:51:33 PM »
My "Mexican Cream" from Lowes is a pink guava. 

Timbogrow

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 519
    • Naples, FL 10b
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2021, 07:21:32 PM »
I got a Mexican cream guava from lowes last year and it had a fruit last year but the rodents beat me to it. It looked/smelled real good. I'll bag them this year if I get any.

CaliLowWater

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 51
    • SoCal
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2021, 08:53:50 PM »
Here are two developing fruit that came with the tree when I bought it last week. The tree is already over 6 feet tall.






CaliLowWater

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 51
    • SoCal
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2021, 12:18:15 AM »
I purchased a mexican cream guava from Home Depot, nice 5 gallon plant but no fruits yet.

Do you know which nursery the Home Depot plant is from? If it is there, it should be on the tag that hangs from the plant.  Also, can you tell if yours is grafted? The graft union can be pretty hard to recognize on some plants, though.

CaliLowWater

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 51
    • SoCal
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2021, 12:30:31 AM »
My "Mexican Cream" from Lowes is a pink guava.

Hmmm..interesting.  What I noticed when I purchased my Mexican Cream last week was that out of the 7 grafted plants there, there were several plants whose graft was being outcompeted by branches that had sprouted from the rootstock (below the graft union).  The rootstock branches were about 6 feet tall and thick, whereas the grafted branch was spindly and dying. On one plant it was already almost dead and will probably be trimmed by its future owner. So if someone is not good at recognizing that the "Mexican Cream" tree they bought is mostly just rootstock sprouts, they may get this plant and end up with who knows what kind of guava. Of course the nursery may have messed up too...

I'm pretty sure this is a problem affecting a lot of grafted guava varieties out there.

AndrewAZ

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 366
    • Scottsdale, AZ zone 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2021, 01:01:35 AM »
I've heard that the Mexican cream's from the big box stores are either mislabeled or of poor quality.
I find the red guava is better for juicing.  Fron what I understand, barbie pink ruby x Supreme are best pink varieties.

CaliLowWater

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 51
    • SoCal
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #8 on: November 08, 2021, 12:43:15 PM »
Is this forum simply dead/dying at this point, or is really nobody all that interested in guavas? Has nobody really grown/eaten different varieties of guavas to be able to comment?

CarolinaZone

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 507
    • USA,NC,7B
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #9 on: November 08, 2021, 01:36:55 PM »
Is this forum simply dead/dying at this point, or is really nobody all that interested in guavas? Has nobody really grown/eaten different varieties of guavas to be able to comment?
Firstly, it seems like people are commenting. What's your beef? Ok, I grow some guava's and they are all pink and none of them are sweet. I would love to find a pink sweet one. I am also looking for a Mexican cream because I also hear it was the sweetest.

CaliLowWater

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 51
    • SoCal
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #10 on: November 08, 2021, 02:08:01 PM »
Is this forum simply dead/dying at this point, or is really nobody all that interested in guavas? Has nobody really grown/eaten different varieties of guavas to be able to comment?
Firstly, it seems like people are commenting. What's your beef?

Who says I have a beef with anyone? I'm just wondering why there does not seem to be much interest in guavas. I'm talking about comments from people with experience growing these varieties for years. They had not posted yet.  You're first commenter with experience growing the trees for a few years and tasting the fruit.

Quote
Ok, I grow some guava's and they are all pink and none of them are sweet. I would love to find a pink sweet one. I am also looking for a Mexican cream because I also hear it was the sweetest.

Did you grow them from seed (if so, seed from which varieties) or did you buy grafted trees of named varieties?

Longranger

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 140
    • USA, Bonsall Ca
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #11 on: November 08, 2021, 03:13:22 PM »
IMHO guavas are great but relatively easy to grow. Many of us love them, however it is not a glamour fruit like cherimoya, lychee, dragonfruit or avocados. A mature tree or two produces more than enough fruit for an entire family. So for some they have lost their prime spot in our gardens.

I am not very knowledgeable on guava varieties bot rest assured there are others that have a depth of knowledge so stay positive and likely one of them will comment.

brian

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3355
    • Pennsylvania (zone 6) w/ heated greenhouse
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #12 on: November 08, 2021, 03:14:08 PM »
I get the impression that there simply isn't much interest in guavas.  At least in the US.

It sounds like the places where you can grow them outdoors they just get ravaged by fruit flies.  We don't have those in Pennsylvania so mine are unaffected.  I have tried a few guavas that I've grown and some in India.  They are nice but not as exciting as the sweeter, juicier fruits.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2021, 03:16:22 PM by brian »

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3900
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #13 on: November 08, 2021, 03:32:11 PM »
I agree with longranger, it is not as popular as the other fruit trees. Most people probably do have a few, but the white fruit with crunchy texture and not much flavor is not one of my favorites. The only one that I grow and get fruits that are good tasting is called Melon guava from La Verne nursery. I don't think anyone else has grown this one since I posted and got no reply about it. It has a very good guava fragrance, taste is mildly sweet but it has seeds which makes it a little work to eat the flesh.





 
« Last Edit: December 04, 2021, 05:57:52 AM by sc4001992 »

spaugh

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5126
    • San Diego County California
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #14 on: November 08, 2021, 04:50:24 PM »
I have what looks like the same guava kaz.  They are good and sweet.  Even my kids like them.

There is a sweet pink/red guava that our member JF has called Dolores and also Jalisco red.  They are quite sweet and have a bubble gum taste.  Good luck finding a tree though, it seems hard to get as tons of people are after those. M
Brad Spaugh

CaliLowWater

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 51
    • SoCal
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #15 on: November 08, 2021, 04:55:10 PM »
IMHO guavas are great but relatively easy to grow. Many of us love them, however it is not a glamour fruit like cherimoya, lychee, dragonfruit or avocados. A mature tree or two produces more than enough fruit for an entire family. So for some they have lost their prime spot in our gardens.

I agree, but I think one of the major reasons why guavas may not be as popular is because it's actually very hard to find *good*, sweet guavas. Here in San Diego you can find guavas literally everywhere in hispanic and asian neighborhoods. I have Mexican and filipino neighbors all around me, and I can count at least 8 guava trees in 7 different front yards in my immediate neighborhood (i.e. I can see them from my yard). However, only one neighbor has a tree that produces excellent guava. And she got it as an air layered tree from someone else, so they already knew it was good. The fruit and sweet and flavorful and creamy soft. It's like eating a dessert.  Before tasting this fruit I also thought guava is worthless. Some were slightly sweet, but not worth the effort, but the rest was literally tasteless. So, it seems like most people who grow guava here in San Diego grow them from seed.  I can't otherwise explain how 99.99 percent of them produce terrible fruit, yet the trees are very common. Maybe there is a way Mexicans or Southeast Asians eat the fruit that does not require the fruit to have a high sugar content, maybe with Sugar sprinkled on it? Or maybe cooked in an unripe state? I don't know.

So, I think it's just a case of people not having access to good *grafted* or air layered varieties. I'm definitely going to air layer my neighbor's excellent guava tree, but I hope that the La Verne Mexican Cream guava turns out being as sweet and great as it is described online.

Quote
I am not very knowledgeable on guava varieties bot rest assured there are others that have a depth of knowledge so stay positive and likely one of them will comment.

I'll patiently wait, as Google has been not very helpful in this regard. :) 

CaliLowWater

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 51
    • SoCal
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #16 on: November 08, 2021, 04:57:08 PM »
I get the impression that there simply isn't much interest in guavas.  At least in the US.

It sounds like the places where you can grow them outdoors they just get ravaged by fruit flies.  We don't have those in Pennsylvania so mine are unaffected.  I have tried a few guavas that I've grown and some in India.  They are nice but not as exciting as the sweeter, juicier fruits.

Luckily fruit flies don't seem to be a huge problem here in Southern California. :)

CarolinaZone

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 507
    • USA,NC,7B
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #17 on: November 08, 2021, 04:58:00 PM »
IMHO guavas are great but relatively easy to grow. Many of us love them, however it is not a glamour fruit like cherimoya, lychee, dragonfruit or avocados. A mature tree or two produces more than enough fruit for an entire family. So for some they have lost their prime spot in our gardens.

I am not very knowledgeable on guava varieties bot rest assured there are others that have a depth of knowledge so stay positive and likely one of them will comment.
There is none that I grow from seed. I purchased all of mine at nurseries or from big box stores except for my egyptian guavas which I bought from Logees. Red guavas are not as sweet i suspect because of the anthocyanins cause them to be sour.

I also own yellow cattley guavas and they are sweet. I am looking for cultivars that produce sweet guava regarless of the color.

CaliLowWater

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 51
    • SoCal
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #18 on: November 08, 2021, 05:09:10 PM »
I agree with longranger, it is not as popular as the other fruit trees. Most people probably due have a few, but the white fruit with crunchy texture and not much flavor is not one of my favorites.

Yeah, the crunchy guavas don't sound appealing to me either, but my neighbor's guavas are sweet, soft, and creamy when ripe. The Mexican Cream sounds similar to my neighbor's guava, but we'll see how my Mexican Cream guavas taste once I can eat some fruit off of my new tree.

Quote
The only one that I grow and get fruits that are good tasting is called Melon guava from La Verne nursery. I don't think anyone else has grown this one since I posted and got no reply about it. It has a very good guava fragrance, taste is mildly sweet but it has seeds which makes it a little work to eat the flesh.

Hmmm...can't find a "Melon Guava" on La Verne nursery's current stock list. The only grafted varieties they have are:

Beaumont Red
China White
Mexican Cream
White Indian

They also sell "varieties" grown from seed:

Red Malaysian
Tropic Pink
Tropic White

(Not sure why they would sell seed grown guavas as they don't usually grow true....)

https://lavernenursery.com/administrator/images/current-availability/sales-rep-avail.pdf

Did you get the tree years ago? Was it a grafted tree?

CaliLowWater

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 51
    • SoCal
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #19 on: November 08, 2021, 05:20:59 PM »
I have what looks like the same guava kaz.  They are good and sweet.  Even my kids like them.

Does your tree originate from La Verne nursery too? What did you buy it as?

Quote
There is a sweet pink/red guava that our member JF has called Dolores and also Jalisco red.  They are quite sweet and have a bubble gum taste.  Good luck finding a tree though, it seems hard to get as tons of people are after those. M

So, which ones are sweeter in your opinion. The white guava you have, or the pink/red ones? Is Dolores or Jalisco red sweeter in your opinion?

brian

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3355
    • Pennsylvania (zone 6) w/ heated greenhouse
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #20 on: November 08, 2021, 05:22:24 PM »
I have some cuttings of this melon guava that Kaz sent me, I tried rooting using the "solo cup" method.  I am pretty sure some of them took as I see new leaves growing.  I am waiting until I see roots appear along the cup before I move them

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3900
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #21 on: November 08, 2021, 06:51:22 PM »
I purchased the Melon guava long time ago, over 10yrs ago and I have not seen it sold any longer. At least it smells and tastes good.

spaugh

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5126
    • San Diego County California
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #22 on: November 08, 2021, 07:03:19 PM »
I have what looks like the same guava kaz.  They are good and sweet.  Even my kids like them.

Does your tree originate from La Verne nursery too? What did you buy it as?

Quote
There is a sweet pink/red guava that our member JF has called Dolores and also Jalisco red.  They are quite sweet and have a bubble gum taste.  Good luck finding a tree though, it seems hard to get as tons of people are after those. M

So, which ones are sweeter in your opinion. The white guava you have, or the pink/red ones? Is Dolores or Jalisco red sweeter in your opinion?

They are pretty similar in sweetness and fruit quality.  The white one I ha e was a la verne tree and labeled "tropical guava" i think.  Im not sure the guavas la verne sells are even grafted, they may all be seedlings. 

The dolores and jalisco ones are nice.  There was a ton of hype surrounding them, everyone wanted them but no one is propogating trees.  No idea where frank got them originally, maybe in mexico. 

My neighbor claims to have san diego county's largest guava orchard.  She has quite a few different red/pink varieties which tasted quite nice also.  No idea where she got hers, shes been doing this a very long time and was selling them at the farmers market.  She had gotten cancer last I heard from her though and wasn't well so I haven't spoke with her for several years.  But you get the idea, theres plenty of good pink guavas out there. 

Exotica or Clausons nurseries in san diego area probably both carry quality guava trees. 

One last thing, grafting guavas seems to be more difficult than other fruit trees.  Not sure how the nurseries do it but a lot of people here have had little or no success with it.  So take that for what its worth, they aren't that easy to replicate.
Brad Spaugh

Orkine

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1270
    • Jupiter, FL, USA
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #23 on: November 08, 2021, 07:35:07 PM »
I have a few successful grafts but it took some doing.  A few early takes failed later but I have a couple that are growing well now.
I was able to root a Mexican Cream and it is doing much better than the grafts.  It was rooted after the grafts but has grown much larger, I expect it will fruit next year. True the graft is a branch on a larger tree but it hasn't grown much.


seng

  • ManOfFruits
  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 222
    • USA, Ca, San Diego,92126, Mira Mesa
    • View Profile
Re: Sweetest pink/red guava, Mexican Cream guava, and guavas in general
« Reply #24 on: November 08, 2021, 07:47:10 PM »
Grafting guava using normal methods have failed for me.  So I use a modified method as shown in this video starting at 5:39.  You do not need to understand Vietnamese language.  I used this method to graft cherimoya, atemoya, guava, and even fig.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq9A1IvCx7A