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.

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.