Growing Big Feijoas
How do I get bigger Feijoas? I have plenty of fruit but they are not big.
The only real way to obtain large feijoas is to buy a cutting grown named variety, which guarantees the size of the fruit as long as the plant is cultivated correctly. For example; Apollo, Gemini or Unique.
Old feijoa trees found in many kiwi gardens (older than 25-30 years) are invariably seedling grown and tend to have small fruit (unless you are very lucky!).
Some feijoas do also have a tendency to be biennial bearing i.e. a heavy crop one year, followed by a lighter crop the next year.
With modern varieties, your feijoa should produce good sized fruit as long as the tree is grown in free draining soil with high organic content i.e. compost, is fertilised in spring with fruit tree fertiliser and is watered deeply if the weather is exceptionally dry.
Now is a good time to plant feijoa trees; choose a nice sunny site with well drained soil. Dig a hole and mix in Daltons Compost or Daltons Garden Mix. Make a mound at the bottom of the hole where the root ball will sit. Plant the tree and ensure it sits in the ground with the base of the stem slightly higher than ground level to prevent water pooling around the trunk. Add a layer of Daltons Mulch & Grow on top. Feijoas are heavy feeders and respond to regular fertilising with Daltons Goldcote Fruit and Citrus Tree Fertilsier in late winter/early spring.
