Nigel’s top tips for feijoa tree growing
Despite effortlessly appearing on roadside and backyard trees throughout the North Island, feijoas, Nigel says, can be tricky plants to grow. While each variety and cultivar is unique, it is not a given that a plant will perform well – there are dozens of different factors that can contribute to the taste, size and quantity of a fruit.
For example, a relative of his once planted one of his best cultivars, ‘Takaka’ – which has been bred for the flavour and size of the fruit – on their property in Wellington. The results were horrible, with the fruits turning out thin and elongated. “I’ve never seen fruit like that. It was probably the combination of terribly poor soil on a bank with shocking water availability and poor nutrition,” he says.
Because feijoas are influenced by so many factors, Nigel says it doesn’t matter if you grow the mainstream varieties like ‘Apollo’ or ‘Unique,’ or a cultivar like ‘Takaka,’ it all comes down to your soil quality and how you treat the plant.
If its being provided with the best inputs, Nigel says a self-fertile plant like ‘Takaka’ should yield quality fruit within one or two years.
Here are some of Nigel’s top feijoa tips:
Feijoa trees need high light intensity to flower and produce tasty fruit, although a bit of shade early or late in the day is okay.
Be mindful of drainage
Though they are shallow-rooted, feijoas can get root rot from frequently waterlogged or poorly draining soil. While its depends on the permeability and gradient of your soil, mounding around stand-alone trees is useful to drain away excess moisture. In his breeding orchard, he has raised rows that run down a slope. These are raised 30cm or more after the soil has settled and been compacted down by rain.
Water plants well
Water demand during fruit swell for an optimum crop can be surprisingly high during droughts, intense heat, and high wind. Nigel suggests hundreds of litres per week per plant, not just a few buckets full. Sufficiently-sized irrigation ponds are a good long-term investment for home or commercial orchards. Feijoa plants are hardy, and can look healthy for a long time in a drought. Then suddenly, over just a few days, the leaves begin to curl, indicating that the plant is dying. Get water to them quick, but don’t overwater a badly stressed plant as it could easily get root rot.
Artificial, sulphur-based fertilisers with trace elements can make all the difference to plant growth and health on low-fertility soils. However, applying these during fruit swell can ruin the taste of the fruit and shorten its storage life. Applying wood chips, bark, manure, seaweed and other organic matter foster good soil and plant health with likely improvements in fruit taste.
Nigel describes the feijoa industry in New Zealand, and internationally, as “fragmented and undeveloped”. He claims that growers are still planting with poorlyperforming varieties, and selling fruit to large retail outlets individually. This results in low returns for the orchard owners, poor quality feijoa produce for consumers, degradation of the feijoa image, and stagnation and saturation of the market.
Currently, Nigel is doing further crossings with Brazilian varieties, still trying to find the perfect fruit. “There could be other new flavours to be uncovered, and potentially new pharmaceutical compounds. I’m probably an idiot because it’s just going to lead to another eight years of hard work, and I’m getting older.
“But I should give it a try.”
“There could be other new flavours to be uncovered, and potentially new pharmaceutical compounds.”