Wellington
April
Q.
Hi, I have had quite good crops on my feijoa tree but this year none, although there are a few flowers, so I may have some soon. The flowers are few and only on limited parts of the tree. Do I need to do some pruning, the bush seems quite dense with lots of spikey bits. Thankyou, Heather.
heather macdonald
A.
Hi Heather, it sounds like your feijoa would benefit from pruning to stimulate new growth as they fruit on the current seasons growth, which will be the new growth that emerges once you cut it back. It is also a good idea to remove the twiggy growth and any dead branches as this will open up the tree for birds to pollinate the flowers in spring. While most feijoa's are self-pollinating, it is always a good idea to have another tree nearby as this will increase the fruit yield. Your tree will also benefit from a feed using a fertiliser for fruit trees such as Tui Citrus Food or Tui Performance Naturals Fruit & Citrus fertiliser.
Mulch around the tree in spring to help conserve soil moisture in the summer months. Feijoa are hardy plants but benefit from regular watering in the growing season. After fruiting is a good time to prune your tree (April-May). Take care if you are in a frost prone region not too prune too late into winter as the new growth will get frosted. If you are in a frost prone region wait until spring to prune, the tree can be cut back to flowering branches and you won't lose your fruit for the season. Definitely remove the spikey twigs on the inside of the tree now. The tree is flowering out of season and that is usually caused by temperature fluctuations, the fruit probably won't come to much and is better removed so the plants energies go into producing next seasons crop.
Happy gardening from the Tui Team.
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Why is my feijoa tree not producing many fruit? Comments
My feijoa trees don't produce fruit, can you tell me why?
Tira
Hi Tira, how old are the trees? If they are older trees they may need a good prune to stimulate new growth, feijoas flower and fruit at the base of new seasons growth. Is it possible that the trees are being pruned at the wrong time of year, if you prune now at the beginning of spring all of the fruiting wood for this season will be removed. Prune at the end of summer, early autumn the time when feijoas have finished fruiting. If you are trimming the trees into a hedge that will reduce fruiting as well. Are they seedling grown trees or grafted trees? Seedling grown trees could take 5-7 years to fruit, grafted named varieties will take 3-4 years to fruit.
Feijoas are self-pollinating and so do not require a pollinator but another variety planted nearby will always help improve yield. Feijoas are mainly pollinated by the birds, black birds and thrush, with a few wax eyes. Make sure they can fly through the tree to reach the flowers by removing criss-crossing branches and to open up the tree for the sun to ripen fruit. Feed trees with a balanced fertiliser such as Tui Citrus Food in early spring and again in autumn. Mulch around the tree in spring to help conserve soil moisture and enrich the soil with organic matter, Tui Mulch & Feed is the perfect mulch for fruit trees. Consistently water trees throughout the growing season, every 2-3 days for newly planted trees and once a week for established trees.
Which region are you in? Feijoas are subtropical fruit trees and so can get frosted in really cold regions, make sure they are planted in a frost free, warm sunny spot, once established they are frost hardy.