Red feijoa

Welcome to the sunny hills of San Diego. If you’re standing in my orchard right now, looking out over the rows of subtropicals catching the Pacific breeze, you might notice a shrub that looks unassuming from a distance but offers an explosion of color and flavor up close. I’m talking about the Feijoa, specifically the varieties and characteristics often dubbed the “Red Feijoa” due to their spectacular crimson stamens and blushing skin.

You might know this plant as the Pineapple Guava, or by its scientific handle, Acca sellowiana (formerly Feijoa sellowiana). In South America, locals call it Guavasteen. Here in Southern California, we cherish it not just for the fruit, but for the show-stopping red flowers that taste like cotton candy.

There is often confusion in the nursery trade about “Red Feijoa”—sometimes referring to the ornamental Acca lanuginosa (which has fuzzy brown-red skin but tastes like cardboard) or high-blush varieties of sellowiana. Today, I’m walking you through growing the delicious sellowiana, focusing on getting those vibrant red blooms and top-tier fruit production.

Here at Exotic Fruits and Vegetables, we’ve found that the Feijoa is the single most underappreciated heavy hitter in the American garden. It is landscape-hardy, drought-resistant, and produces fruit that you simply cannot find in a standard grocery store because it bruises the second you look at it wrong.

Understanding the Beast: Climate and Chill Hours

Many folks assume that because this is a “guava” relative, it wants unmatched tropical heat 24/7. That is a fast way to get a nice bush with zero fruit. Feijoas are oddballs; they need a winter chill to wake up their flower buds. We aren’t talking freezing temperatures, but they crave between 50 and 100 hours of temperatures below 45°F.

If you live in a zone that never drops below 50°F, you will likely get lush green leaves and absolutely no fruit. The plant treats the lack of chill as a sign to stay in vegetative growth mode forever.

In San Diego, our inland valleys provide this chill naturally. If you are right on the coast where it stays 60°F at night, fruit production drops by about 40% compared to my inland plots. I once planted a row of ‘Coolidge’ varieties right against a south-facing stucco wall. The reflected heat kept them too warm at night, and I didn’t see a single flower for four years. The moment I moved them to an open field with cooler airflow, they exploded with red blooms the next spring.

Ever wonder why your neighbor’s bush is loaded while yours is barren? It usually comes down to that specific micro-climate chill factor or a lack of pollination partners.

Soil Prep: The Battery of Your Garden

Think of your soil as a battery storing nutrients. If the battery is corroded, it doesn’t matter how much you charge it (water/sun); the energy won’t transfer. Feijoas are rugged, but for that premium fruit with the reddish blush, they need specific soil structure. They hate “wet feet.”

I aim for a sandy loam with a pH between 5.5 and 7.0. When I plant a new 15-gallon tree, I dig a hole twice the width of the root ball but no deeper. I mix the native soil 50/50 with aged compost—specifically composted horse manure, which is readily available here in San Diego county. I steer clear of chicken manure for young Feijoas; it’s too “hot” and burns the shallow feeder roots.

Do not bury the trunk. Plant the tree about 1 inch higher than the surrounding soil line to allow for settling. If the crown sinks below grade, crown rot will kill the tree within a single wet winter.

Watering: The Non-Negotiable Rules

People call Feijoas “drought-tolerant.” This is technically true—the plant won’t die if you ignore it for a month. But we aren’t trying to just keep a bush alive; we are trying to grow juicy fruit. Drought-stressed Feijoas drop their fruit prematurely, and the insides will be dry and hollow.

My irrigation schedule is strict. In the cool season (November–March), I let the rain do the work unless we go 3 weeks without precipitation. However, during the flowering and fruit set period (May through August), the game changes. I apply 5 to 7 gallons of water per mature tree, twice a week, via drip emitters placed at the canopy drip line. You cannot sprinkle the trunk and expect results; the feeder roots are out wide.

I learned this the hard way. Seven years ago, I tried dry-farming a patch of ‘Mammoth’ Feijoas. The trees looked fine, but the harvest yielded fruit the size of marbles with a bitter, resinous aftertaste. I ruined an entire batch by being stingy with the water bill.

Fertilization and Feeding

Feijoas are light feeders compared to citrus. I use a balanced organic fertilizer with an NPK of 8-8-8. I apply 1 cup per inch of trunk diameter in late February (before the bloom) and another half-dose in July (during fruit swell).

Avoid high-nitrogen fertilizers (like lawn food) near your trees. Nitrogen acts like caffeine for leaves; it makes the plant grow foliage aggressively at the expense of those beautiful red flowers and subsequent fruit.

Varieties Matter

Not all Feijoas are created equal. If you want reliability, look for these specific cultivars we use:

The “Red” Flower Delicacy

Let’s talk about the secret weapon of this plant. Before the fruit arrives, you get these alien-looking flowers: white fleshy petals with a burst of bright red stamens in the center. The petals are edible. Actually, they are delicious.

Our team at Exotic Fruits and Vegetables loves using these petals in salads or as a garnish for cocktails. They taste like a mix of guava, pineapple, and spicy mint. You can pluck the fleshy petals off the flower without damaging the reproductive parts. The fruit will still form even if you eat the petals, as long as you leave the central red stamens for the bees.

Harvesting the petals is a great way to get kids involved in the garden. It’s the only plant I know where you can eat the flower and still get the fruit later. It’s like having your cake and eating it too.

Harvesting: The Gravity Test

This is where 90% of new growers fail. They treat Feijoas like apples and try to pull them off the tree. A Feijoa is only ripe when it falls from the tree on its own. If you pull it, the sugars haven’t fully developed, and the texture will be like a unripe pear.

What’s the real secret to success during harvest season? Daily patrols. I walk my rows every single morning from September to December. I look for fruit on the ground.

1. Touch Test: If I see a large fruit hanging that looks ready, I gently cup it and lift. If it falls into my hand with zero resistance, it’s ready. If it holds on, I walk away.
2. Ground Collection: I gather fruit from the ground immediately. In San Diego heat, a fruit on the ground will rot or get eaten by ants within 24 hours.
3. The Squeeze: A perfect fruit should yield slightly to thumb pressure, like a ripe avocado.
4. Ripening: If the fruit is hard but fell on its own, I bring it inside and let it sit on the counter for 2–3 days until it softens and emits a perfume that fills the whole kitchen.

We mulch heavily (3-4 inches of wood chips) under our trees not just for water retention, but to provide a soft landing pad for the falling fruit. This prevents bruising.

Eating and Using the Fruit

The flavor of a good Feijoa is a burst of tropical complexity—pineapple, strawberry, and a hint of wintergreen mint. The texture near the skin is gritty (like a pear), while the center is a clear jelly.

My favorite way to eat them is simple: slice them in half equator-style and scoop out the insides with a teaspoon. The skin is technically edible but is usually too tart and bitter for most American palates, though some varieties like ‘Nazemetz’ have non-bitter skins.

Ever wonder why some fruits split before ripening? It’s usually inconsistent watering. A sudden heavy watering after a dry spell causes the flesh to expand faster than the skin can stretch.

Common Pests and Problems

Fortunately, in San Diego, we don’t battle many pests on Feijoas. We don’t have the Guava Moth that devastates crops in New Zealand. However, we do fight Black Scale.

Black Scale looks like little raised bumps on the stems, usually accompanied by black soot on the leaves (sooty mold). The mold grows on the honeydew the scales excrete. I don’t use harsh chemicals. I use a high-pressure hose nozzle to blast the scales off physically. If that fails, a horticultural oil spray in the cool evening usually suffocates them.

Never spray horticultural oil when temperatures are above 85°F. You will fry the leaves and cause more damage than the bugs ever could.

Why Grow This?

Growing Feijoas is an exercise in patience followed by abundance. One mature bush can produce 30 to 40 pounds of fruit. It’s a sustainable, low-input crop that fits perfectly into the Southern California ethos.

Emily Rodriguez

We at Exotic Fruits and Vegetables believe in growing food that connects you to the rhythm of the seasons. The Feijoa signals the coming of our mild winter. It provides fresh fruit when most stone fruits are long gone. It’s a bridge between the tropical and the temperate, hardy yet exotic.

So, grab a shovel. Go find a spot with 6 to 8 hours of sun. Dig that hole. In three years, when you are standing in your garden eating sweet, minty flower petals while waiting for the fruit to drop, you’ll understand exactly why this plant is a San Diego staple.