Exotické rostliny, Zdeněk Černoch, Větřkovice u Vítkova

Feijoa characteristics

Feijoa is an evergreen shrub or very small tree that can grow up to 0.9-6m and has typical grey bark. Hit has wonderful branchy crown and its elliptic or oval, leathery dark green leaves (2,8 -6,3cm long, 1,6-2,8cm wide) grow on small petioles. There are lots of veins on the underside of the leaves and they are fuzzy unlike any leaf from our climate. Very attractive white-red flowers are androgynous and can be as long as 4cm. They grow either individually or in small clusters from the leaf axils. They usually have 4 fleshy and beautiful flower petals and lots of stamens with red stigmas. The fruit is either elongated or resembles a very small pear. It can be 4-6cm long, 2.5-5cm wide and can have remnants of calyx in the uppermost part of the fruit. The thin rind remains fuzzy until the fruit fully ripens. Ripe fruit has distinctive yellow or yellow-green color sometimes with a hint of red and the fruit is very fragrant for quite some time after ripening. Its pulp is very similar to kiwi pulp; it is partially translucent, contains lots of small seeds, is very aromatic and combines both sweet and sour flavors. It smells like pineapples combined with strawberries.

Origin

Feijoa originates in Southern Brazil, northern Argentina, west Paraguay and Uruguay and in these regions grows wildly even nowadays. First Feijoa was brought to Europe in 1887 and planted in Wette, Switzerland. Not too long after that also in Botanical garden of Basilej.

Later, in the year 1890, a famous French botanist and gardener Dr. Edouard Andre brought one plant from La Plata in Brazil and planted it in his garden in French Riviera. That planted fruited for the first time in 1897 and Dr. Andre wrote a description of leaves, flowers and fruit for the magazine Horticole in 1898. He positively described the fruit’s flavor and advised to further cultivate this plant in Southern France and Mediterranean area. A nurseryman from Lyon propagated the original plant with air layering technique and they were all planted in French Riviera, Italy and Spain in 1899. Some specimens were also planted in the greenhouses in the north.

A specialist, nurseryman Besson Freres obtained a few seeds from Montevideo and he soon had thousands plants and seedlings, which were then sold or selected for further breeding. He selected several new specimens that had different characteristics than Dr. Andre’s plants.

Another batch of seeds was brought to France by several other French nurserymen and then in 1901 Dr. Andres’ seedlings were brought to Santa Barbara, California by Dr. F.Franceschi. These plants were planted in various areas in California and Dr. Franceschi got in 1903 from F. Morel (Lyonu) several plants propagated by air layering techniques. 2 of those plants were planted in Santa Barbara and the rest was sent to Florida. Feijoa doesn’t like the climate of southern Florida, but became very popular in northern Florida especially as decorative shrubs.

Dr. Henry Nehrling had two plants planted in the shade in Gotha, central Florida and they flowered and started to produce the fruit for the first time in 1911. The fruit quickly rotted before ripening. Cultivar Coolidge is nowadays grown and propagated in Florida mainly because of its stable yields and excellent fruit. Feijoa is grown in California usually in the coldest coastal areas close to San Francisco. A specimen located in Honolulu blossomed each year, but did not produce fruit, until it was experimentally planted in high elevations. That’s when it produced the first fruit in 15 years. Feijoa is commonly cultivated in Chilean highlands, Caribbean and other South American countries. It is growing wildly in Jamaica (brought there from California in 1912) and Bahamas, but the plants rarely produce fruit or flower. It is grown in southern India for fruit in elevations above 1000m, but it nowhere attracts so much attention as in New Zealand.

A nurseryman from Aucland introduced 3 varieties from Australia into New Zealand in 1908: Coolidge, Choiceana and Superba. They remained unnoticed until 1930 when they were advertised as decorative plants. After improving the selections, new varieties were planted along with citruses in the country’s highlands.

The Association of Feijoa growers in New Zealand was created in 1983 and the fruit is usually exported to USA, Great Britain, Germany, France and Japan. Feijoa is also planted in areas with fast winds to protect smaller and more fragile plants.

It is cultivated for fruit in South Africa plantations all over Africa, Caucasus region of Souther Russia, Sicily, Portugal and Italy. It is considered a priceless decorative plant in England, although it flowers there only in the sunniest localities. Feijoa is nowadays replaced by other plants in many areas, because it attracts fruit flies.

Varieties

Due to many sources of Feijoa in Europe and in the world, there are certain characteristics that are not common for all the varieties. H.Hehre from Los Angeles got the seeds from the selection of Argentinean seeds and he found out, that these seeds were better and plants fruited more reliably and regularly. This variety was named Hehre. It has big, narrow, pear-shaped, sometimes curved fruit with a thin, grainy, yellow-green rind and juicy pulp containing numerous seeds (they are bigger than seeds of other varieties). This Feijoa cultivar produces sweet fruit without any aroma.

Andre - (original Brazilian plants propagated by air-layering. It has big central column, elongated fruit, rough rind and light green fleshy, aromatic pulp. Young seedling are horizontal, centered, self-fertile and very well yielding.

Besson - (seeds brought from Uruguay in 1899) it is a quite high, not too vigorous tree with oval, slightly red fruit and thin rind. Its not very grainy pulp is very juicy and contains lots of small seeds. It is very aromatic variety. Young seedlings are mostly vertically growing. Both varieties - Andre and Besson are preferred in France.

Choiceana – this cultivar has average (5 -9cm long) spherical or slightly oval fruit with smooth skin and excellent aroma. It is almost 42% self-pollinating. Young seedlings are not very vigorous.

 

Superba – this cultivar has spherical or slightly oval, small fruit with smooth skin and excellent aroma. It is partially self-pollinating. Young seedlings are very asymmetric and grow slowly.

It originates in New Zealand where it was selected from Choiceana seedlings.

The Association of Feijoa growers advised that people grow rather old and tested varieties such as Triumph. Another Australian selection brought us Large Oval and Chapman.

David has spherical or oval fruit with sweet pulp and excellent flavor. It ripens in November provided that it is cultivated in Europe.

Roundjon has spherical or oval fruit with somewhat thick skin and hint of red in the rind. It has excellent aroma and in Europe ripens by the end of November.

Magnifica is one of the selected seedlings with big fruit and inferior quality.

Robert has oval fruit with grainy pulp and sometimes lots of brown leaves.

Hirschvogel is typical heterogamous variety and Bliss is partially self-pollinating cultivar. It is a botanical variant with beautiful leaves.

Pollination

Feijoa is usually pollinated by birds, which usually eat the flower plate or bees. A flower pollinated by compatible pollen will produce fruit in 60-90% of all cases. Pollination by hand is effective in 100% of all cases. To achieve higher yields, more varieties should be planted in a small area. This is only the way to plant the heterogamous cultivars. Small yields are usually a result of insufficient pollination.

Climate

Feijoa requires subtropical climates with low humidity and the optimal annual precipitation is 760 - 1020mm. They can also be cultivated in areas with winter temperatures falling down to -12°C. The fruit’s aroma is better in colder climates.

Soil

Feijoa is not very soil demanding, it likes many kinds of soils and can even grow in bad alkaline soils. It prefers the rich soils (nutrients and humus) and performs poorly in sandy soils. Optimal pH is around 6,2 and Feijoa doesn’t mind extended drought periods. However if you want to have high yields, regular irrigation is necessary and the soil should be well draining. It likes sunny spots more than shady ones.

Propagation

Feijoa se usually easily grown from seed, but that also depends on the cultivar. The seeds can be removed from the pulp by gently pressing it in a bowl. The pulp is then cleaned with water and it is left to ferment 4 days. The seeds will be floating in the bowl and should be dried before sowing. They germinate within 3 weeks after sowing. The soil should be poor and sterile otherwise you will lose many seedlings. Young plants are then potted until they grow a few true to form leaves. Then they can be grown in the field.

Seedlings usually start producing the first fruit after 3-5 years of growing. To make a good selection out of so many plants it is necessary to propagate the plants vegetatively..Soil layering techniques are used in France and New Zealand; the seedling is left to root in the soil for 6 months. Plants gained from air layering usually fruit in the second year of growing.

Grafting on 2 years old rootstocks is usually not very successful, but the grafts usually fruit in the second year of growing.

Feijoa is generally not suitable for propagating with cuttings. They almost never root and therefore it is interesting to know that this technique is the most preferred one in England and Auckland. Young shoots form new roots in warm soils within 1 or 2 months. If they are in sand and special small greenhouse with regular watering, they can form new roots in 1- days. Farmers from New Zealand advise to take the 10-15cm long cuttings at the end of the summer. They are usually taken from a branch that is young and close to old wood. Sometimes a part of old branch is taken along with the young shoot and is afterwards removed. Growth stimulant could help fasten the root forming.

Cultivation

After 20 years from planting, Feijoa in the French Riviera was 4,5m high and 5,5m wide with a 20cm thick trunk. Feijoa should be plants at least 5,5m from any other tree or plant, because it grows very quickly and mostly horizontally. The fruit is always formed on young shoots and all branches growing less than 30cm from the soil must be removed.

Some seedlings grow more vertically and should be planted where the space is very limited. These trees can be planted 1.5m from each other and form a fence. It is said, that 1ha field should be enough for 468 trees. Feijoa requires only little care, but what it requires is good soil preparations, because it has very fragile and shallow root system that mustn’t be damaged. You should avoid using Nitrogen fertilizers, if you want to have adequate yields, because the more fertilizer this plant gets, the more vigorously it will grow and the less fruit will it produce. It goes almost without saying, that irrigation in hot weather is an important, if not vital part of Feijoa cultivation.

Roční období a plodnost

In Uruguay feijoa usually flowers in November, by the end of April in Florida, in May in California, sometime in June in San Francisco and in July in England. The fruit ripens after 4 -6 months after blossoming and 5,5-7 months in San Francisco region. New Zealand has the ripe fruit from February to May. The fruit is usually ripe, when it falls on the ground. And they are harvested in daily intervals and kept in cold storage, until they soften.

A thick layer of hay on the ground should prevent the damage of falling Feijoa fruit.

If the fruit is somewhat damaged before it ripens on the tree, it will not develop the excellent and interesting aroma and flavor.

20 years old tree in French Riviera has annually over 2000 individual pieces of fruit. This yield is unimaginable in India, where they harvest at most 100 individual pieces of fruit a plant (probably thanks to the bird damage or insufficient pollination).

Farmers in New Zealand reported, that the plant yields 6kg a plant in the 3^rd year of cultivation, 12kg in the 4^th year of cultivation, 18kg in the 5^th year of cultivation and more than 30kg in the 6^th year of cultivation. That makes it 25t/1ha.

In 1978 New Zealand produced 333t of feijoa fruit, of which 14t were sold fresh and more than 184t processed in the food industry.

Storing Feijoa fruit

If the air is too warm, inner part of the fruit will turn brown and start decaying/rotting in less than 3-4 days. This happens even though there is no visible sign of decaying or rotting on the fruit and it is perfectly undamaged. Feijoa fruit stored in cold rooms can last months without any obvious quality loss. Fruit harvested from November to December in France is kept in cold storages until early February. During the first fruit transports from France to California they lasted undamaged 30 days on the sea.

 

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