Have you ever tried guava and then considered planting your own tree? Because, after all, the potential for development exists. Even though guava trees propagated from seeds don’t produce clones, doing so is still a lot of fun. In this post, you’ll learn when to sow guava seeds and how to care for young guava plants.
When Should Guava Seeds Be Planted?
Guava trees are vegetatively propagated in commercial orchards using air layering, stem cuttings, grafting, and budding. As with any form of gardening, guava seed propagation is a fun experience for the hobbyist grower.
You can plant a guava tree outside in USDA plant hardiness zones 9a–10b, or you can bring it inside for the winter, or you can grow it in a bright, protected location like a greenhouse or a container in zones 8 and lower.
Growing guava from seed isn’t the most reliable approach to ensure true-to-type offspring, but it does save money. Seeds collected from ripe fruit should be sown right away.
The Best Way to Sow Guava Seeds
- In just one to three years after planting the seed, the guava tree will bear fruit. A garden center will have high-quality seeds.
- It is recommended to soak the seeds for 10-14 days or to boil them for 5 minutes prior to planting to hasten the germination process. This will help break down the seed’s protective shell, allowing the embryo within to begin the germination process.
- Put some soil meant for planting seeds into a little container. Submerge the seedlings by approximately half an inch (1.5 cm) and hydrate them. Don’t let the dirt dry out. For the sake of the plant’s continued health, I’ve wrapped the container tightly in plastic.
- There is a window of opportunity for the germination of guava seeds between the temperatures of 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. You can start the germination process indoors even if the temperature outside is low.
- For guava seeds to germinate, it takes anywhere from three to ten weeks until the first tiny sprouts appear above ground. Take off the plastic cover at the top.
- When the seedlings are between 4 and 18 inches tall, you can transplant them. From the seeds of the fruit itself, I was able to successfully cultivate a guava tree.
- Surprisingly, after only one year of seedling care, my guava plant had grown to a height of 24 inches and bloomed for the first time. However, the guava tree I cut and rooted at the same time has yet to produce any fruit or flowers.
Growing Medium for Guavas
The best results from growing guavas in your garden come from doing so in rich, nutritious soil. Amp up the humus in your garden soil with plenty of compost, leaf mold, and well-rotted manure.
Having good drainage is also important, so if your soil is heavy with clay, amending it with coarse sand or fine granite might be beneficial. Soil pH between 5 and 7 is ideal for guavas.
Planting the tree near the coast is not a good idea unless you plan on keeping it in a pot, as the tree cannot handle soil with high salt levels.
Guavas Need Watering
Although guava trees are native to hot, humid regions, they are not desert-hardy and will perish in prolonged dry spells. One deep watering per week is required.
The soil needs to be somewhat damp all the time. However, wet, soggy soil isn’t ideal for this tree. Plant in a raised bed or containers with good drainage if your soil doesn’t drain well.
Temperature and Light
The guava tree you have is clearly a tropical plant. In order to develop and produce, it requires a great deal of direct sunlight and a warm environment. Zones 9b–11 provide the best conditions for its survival through the winter, thus those are the ones to plant it in.
When temperatures drop below 40 degrees, those who are growing them in containers will have to bring them inside, where they will still require a lot of light.
Planting a guava tree needs at least 6 hours of sunlight every day, but ideally 8-10 hours. Although they may operate in temperatures as high as 90 degrees Fahrenheit, they do best when the mercury is between 65 and 90. At temperatures below 30 degrees, the plant could suffer irreparable damage.
Food for Guava Trees
Fruit trees that may yield up to 80 pounds per year have a high nutrient requirement. Magnesium is required in lesser quantities than nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, yet all three are essential for guava growth.
The NPK ratio and supplemental magnesium content of a typical guava fertilizer look like this: 6-6-6-2. To be worked into the soil just before planting. Every two months, you should add more fertilizer.
Preparing a Guava for Pruning
Pruning increases fruiting in guava trees. The fruit is produced on fresh wood, therefore trimming has little effect on the harvest, which is why they are sometimes used as hedges.
When you first plant it, prune it down to a single trunk. Suckers, competitive shoots, and damaged or rubbing-together branches should all be cut back in early winter. Canopy pruning should wait until the second year.
Harvesting
At what point in time does guava become perfectly edible? Guavas don’t produce fruit until the second to fourth year after planting. When your guava fruit is fully mature, soft, and fragrant, it’s time to harvest it. It can be picked before it’s perfectly ripe, though, because it’ll keep ripening even after being picked.
Choose only the largest fruits for early harvesting, allowing the smaller ones to grow larger. Early harvests of guavas should have a lighter green color and firmer skin than later ones because most guava fruit lightens in color as it nears ripeness.
Raise the ripeness of your newly picked guavas by placing them in a paper bag with a ripe apple or banana.
If you don’t want to break any branches when plucking, be gentle. Instead, you should use some clean pruning shears to remove the branches that are covering the fruits. That way, your tree, and your harvest will be safe.