Tree · Myrtaceae
Guava
Psidium guajava
Give it full sun, warmth, and cover from frost, and a guava tree hands you fragrant fruit year after year.
Full sun
Every 5–10 days
90–150 days
USDA 9–11
Overview
Guava's a fast-growing tropical tree from the myrtle family, and it started out in the American tropics before spreading to the warm parts of the world. It can hit anywhere from 10 to 30 feet (3 to 9 m), but don't let that scare you off, because most people just keep it pruned low so the fragrant, vitamin-rich fruit stays easy to reach.
So what makes it such a good tree to grow? It's forgiving and quick to fruit, for starters. It's happy in all sorts of soil, from sand to limestone, and once it's settled in it barely blinks at a short dry spell. Cold's the one thing it hates, though, since a night near freezing will burn back the soft new growth.
Where the winters stay mild, a guava slots right into the garden and starts cropping in a few years. And in chillier spots? You just grow it in a big pot and wheel it under cover when frost's coming. Either way, full sun and steady warmth are what bring on the heaviest, sweetest fruit.
Care
The short version: full sun and warmth come first, water deeply through flowering and fruiting, then ease off once the fruit starts to color up. Feed lightly through the growing season, prune after harvest so you keep getting new fruiting wood, and never let the tree catch even a touch of frost.
Light
Guava wants full sun if you want the best fruit, though it'll cope in partial sun. Too much shade and it just makes leaves instead of flowers, so hand it the brightest spot you've got.
Water
Water deeply and often while the tree's settling in, and right through flowering and fruiting. Older trees can handle a dry spell, but steady moisture gets you better fruit, and backing off just before harvest sharpens up the flavor.
Soil
It's a laid-back tree that's happy in well-drained loam, sand, even limestone. It's fine across a wide pH range of 4.5 to 7.0, so most garden soils will do as long as the water drains away.
Temperature
Guava's happy anywhere from 32°F to 95°F (0°C to 35°C), but frost's a dealbreaker. A night near freezing burns back the soft growth, so warmth is the biggest single thing keeping a tree productive.
Humidity
Ordinary humidity in the 40% to 70% range suits guava nicely, which fits the warm, kind-of-humid tropics it hails from. Outdoors, there's no need to fuss over it.
Feeding
Feed monthly through spring and summer with a balanced fruit-tree fertilizer that's got micronutrients. Young trees do best on light, frequent feeding rather than big doses, and piling on the nitrogen will cost you fruit.
Pruning
Prune after harvest to clear out deadwood, keep the height down for easy picking, and let light and air into the canopy. Because guava fruits on new growth, a little tip pruning keeps fresh fruiting shoots coming.
Repotting
A potted guava needs bumping up every 2 to 3 years, and spring's the time to do it. Keep an eye out for roots circling or poking through the drainage holes, water running straight through, and growth or fruiting that's ground to a halt.
Size & spacing
Left to itself, a guava gets to 10 to 30 feet (3 to 9 m) tall and spreads 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 m) wide. Most folks just prune it well under that so the fruit stays in reach.
When to plant
Guava's a warm-climate tree that just can't take frost, so timing really comes down to dodging the cold. Start seed in late winter somewhere warm, put young trees out in spring once frost's passed, and look for fruit from late summer into fall, with year-round crops in spots that never freeze.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: late winter to early spring in warm conditions
- Plant: spring after all danger of frost has passed
- Harvest: flowers in spring; fruit ripens late summer through fall, with some bearing year-round in frost-free climates
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 9–11
Temperature: down to -7°C
Troubleshooting
Most guava headaches come back to one of three things: cold, pests in the fruit, or a tree that's all leaves and no flowers. Find what matches below and jump on it early, before a little setback ends up costing you a whole season's crop.
Shoots turned black and floppy after a freezing night
Dark, drooping shoots the morning after a cold night? That's frost damage, and guava just can't shrug off the cold. A night near freezing kills the soft tips and leaves, but here's the reassuring bit, the trunk usually pulls through. Leave the pruning until spring so the new growth can show you where the living wood starts, and next time cold's on the way, throw some frost cloth over the tree or wrap the trunk.
Fix:
- Wait until spring to prune out clearly dead wood once new growth shows the live boundary
- Protect with frost cloth, mulch, or trunk wraps during cold snaps
- Grow in a container that can be moved indoors in marginal climates
Grubs in the fruit, which turns mushy and drops too soon
Cut open a guava and find little larvae inside? That's the work of the fruit fly, and guava is right at the top of its menu. The stung fruit turns soft, changes color, and drops way too soon. So pick the crop the moment it starts to ripen instead of leaving it to soften on the branch, bag the growing fruit so the egg-laying flies can't get at it, and clean up every fallen fruit so they've got nowhere to keep breeding.
Fix:
- Harvest fruit early as it begins to ripen rather than leaving it to fully soften on the tree
- Bag developing fruit to exclude egg-laying females
- Collect and destroy fallen and infested fruit promptly to break the breeding cycle
Plenty of leaves but little or no fruit
Loads of green leaves but hardly any fruit? Usually that comes down to too much nitrogen or too little sun, and both of them steer the tree toward leaves instead of flowers. Old wood that never gets a trim is the other thing to check, since the fruit comes on fresh growth. Move it into full sun, swap over to a balanced fruiting feed, and give it a light prune to get new fruiting shoots going.
Fix:
- Move to or maintain full-sun exposure
- Reduce high-nitrogen fertilizer and use a balanced fruiting formula
- Lightly prune to stimulate fresh fruiting shoots
Toxicity
Good news, guava's one of the easy ones. The fruit's a well-loved food you can eat skin, flesh, and seeds, and none of the plant is listed as poisonous to cats, dogs, or other animals. So share the ripe fruit freely, and just keep the portions sensible like you would with any treat.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
If a cat sneaks a nibble of guava, there's nothing to worry about, since none of the plant is poisonous to them.
Dogs None
A bit of ripe guava won't hurt a dog at all. Just don't overdo it, because too much of any fruit can upset the tummy.
Horses Safe
Guava's fine for horses too, so if one grazes on the leaves or fruit, there's no harm done.
Rabbits Safe
A little fruit is safe for rabbits, though hay should still be most of what they eat, not the sweet stuff.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep can browse guava with no trouble, and the fallen fruit's a familiar snack all over the tropics.
Birds Safe
Birds go for ripe guava and carry the seeds all over the place, which is exactly how it ends up growing in the wild.
People Safe
People love guava fresh or cooked, and you can eat the whole thing, skin and seeds and all.
The ripe fruit is safe; as with any new food, offer pets only small amounts and avoid letting them swallow large seeds or pits of other fruits.
Varieties
Guava comes in loads of named cultivars, sorted mostly by flesh color, sweetness, and how big the tree gets. A few of them show up again and again in home gardens.
Ruby Supreme
It's a Florida favorite with pink flesh, sweet aromatic fruit, and crops you can count on.
Mexican Cream (Tropical White)
You get mild, sweet, creamy white flesh on a fairly compact tree, so it's a good pick for a smaller garden.
Lucknow 49 (Sardar)
This popular Indian one really delivers, with heavy crops of big, white-fleshed fruit.
How to propagate
Guava's easy to multiply, and the method you go with decides whether the new tree matches the parent. Seed's the simplest but a bit hit-or-miss, while cuttings, layering, and grafting all keep a cultivar true.
SeedEasy
Spring in warm conditions · Germinates in 2 to 8 weeks; bears fruit in 2 to 4 years
Growing guava from seed couldn't be easier. Pop the seed in during warm spring weather and it'll sprout over 2 to 8 weeks, but the catch is the tree won't match its parent and takes 2 to 4 years to fruit, so seedlings are really best for rootstock or just having a play.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Warm growing season · Several weeks to root under mist or high humidity
Take semi-hardwood cuttings during the warm growing season and root them with a bit of bottom heat and some rooting hormone. Give them several weeks under mist or steady humidity to settle, and the nice thing is they keep every trait of the tree they came off.
Air layeringModerate
Warm growing season · Roots in about 6 to 10 weeks before severing
Air-layering's a really reliable way to copy a cultivar true to type. Do it in the warm season and the wrapped branch roots in about 6 to 10 weeks, and only once you see those roots do you cut it free to grow on its own.
GraftingDemanding
Warm season onto vigorous seedling rootstock · Unions establish over several weeks
Grafting's the go-to for named cultivars and the safest bet for good fruit. Join it onto a vigorous seedling rootstock in the warm season, and the union knits together over several weeks before you've got your tree.
Myths
There's a notion that a guava can't set fruit on its own without grafting or a neighboring tree to pollinate it.
Nope, guava's mostly self-fertile, so even a seedling will fruit all by itself. Grafting's still handy, but for a different reason, since it locks in a cultivar you know and gets you fruit faster. One tree fruits just fine on its own.