Richard

I suppose the heat and humidity are big factors in the size. One of my colleagues from Venezula always comments that my 3" white tropical guavas are small.

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buffy

Dude, Pineapple Guava will grow well all day long in Dallas. I live in Longview, which is 2 hours east of you. All the fruits these guys are talking about will require some work and care. The Pineapple Guave can be abused. No container required. Find a sunny spot in the yard and plant some. That said, do heed their warning and purchase 2-3 plant to ensure cross pollination.

chong

That has been my experience, also. I've seen them in a few yards in Vegas, Central MS, even Reno, and of course, mine in Seattle that's been in a pot for over 18 years.

Though I have several of them, I am not too enthused about having to wait to pick the fruits after they fall on the ground. Picking them before will be quite a disappointment. Also, after having grown up around regular guavas, big and small, sweet and sour, round or pear-shaped, it really takes a while for me to develop a taste for Feijoa (Acca).

Gardener972

Unfortunately, we have a small yard and don't have room to plant guave in ground unless I cut down a tree. What would happen if I only have ONE in a pot? Would it get pollinated or would I have to do it manually? We have a peach, pear & persimmon tree (in ground) and they all get pollinated but I don't know if they're the same as guava.

chong

As long as your guava plant can get some sun most of the day, it can thrive. The plant I got from eBay allegedly matures at 10' in height. If you want it shorter, one option is, when it gets to your desired height, air-layer the surplus branches and get more plants. Or, just prune to limit it to your desired size.

It would certainly help if you had 2 plants for pollination, but I've had single guava plants that have fruited for me.

chong

Or you can plant a couple of guavas in separate pots, and this would even limit the trees in size. My Feijoa was in an 8-gallon pot for over 14 years, and the roots kept forming out of the drains holes, and the tree never got taller that 4.5 feet and 2.25 feet in diameter. I now have it in a 50-gallon pot and in less than 4 years it has grown to over 7 feet high and 5 feet in diameter.

Richard

Buffy,
Gardener972 wants to grow it in a pot, and they want the white tropical guava.

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buffy

Richard, let's settle this with a knife fight.

Gardener972

Richard

How about a kite fife?

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Dean W.

LOL!!!

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Gardener972

OK, let me make sure I understand you all correctly. I'm looking for the SMALLEST tree to be grown in a POT, one that doesn't need a second tree to pollinate, and that will produce abundant fruit that aren't tiny but also are not giant. I'm gathering that it will be the Psidium guajava (WHITE variety--are there other varieties?), correct?

Richard

True, Psidium guajava is self-fertile and there are an abundance of varieties. Stick with named varieties like 'Tropical (or Thai) Pink' and 'Tropical (or Indonesian) White', since those grown from seed often taste bad. P. guajava is vigorous like a lemon tree and will not mind being grown in a 25-gallon or larger pot. You will have to perform selective pruning once a year to control its size. You will also have to control root suckers -- which might be a blessing if you have a great tasting variety: you can rip them out, put rooting hormone on them, and distribute the rootings for fun or profit.

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Gardener972

One last question... can they be root pruned should they get too large for the pot?

buffy

Nothing like a good ole Kite Fife to settle a score