Also known as Hawaiian, Tropical or Mexican Guava.
Highly fragrant edible fruit rich in vitamins A, B, and C (higher vit C content than citrus). It also contains high amounts of calcium – which is unusual in a fruit.
The shrub or small tree (usually grows to <10m max height, usually 3-6m) has a slender trunk, spreading branches, and characteristic copper-coloured bark which flakes away to reveal the pale green layer beneath. The wide green leaves are oblong in shape, leathery, aromatic when crushed and downy on the underside. Fragrant flowers appear mostly in spring and summer are self pollinating (i.e. only one plant needed to grow fruit) and fruit ripens in Autumn. There may be multiple fruiting and flowering seasons throughout the year, depending on local climate conditions.
The rounded fruits have yellow skins when ripe, with pinkish red flesh, and can be between 5–10 cm in length.
Uses include: Juice, pulp eaten fresh or cooked, and used to prepare jellies, syrups, ice-creams and preserves. The fruit is used against diarrheas and digestive disorders. Leaf teas are used as a remedy for coughs, throat and chest ailments, gargled to relieve oral ulcers and inflamed gums, as an emmenagogue and vermifuge, treatment of lencorrhea; vomiting. Also used to clean wounds and accelerate healing (Madagascar). Tea from leaves used to aliviate heartworm symtoms in dogs.
Wood used in carpentry and turnery. Good fuelwood. The bark is used for tanning ludes (Central America). Black dye from leaves (Malaysia).
Although not a declared weed, it is very hardy and caution is recommended if growing in Qld and northern NSW. Eaten and spread by birds and mammals.
Note: limited stock, only 2 per customer please.
Guava's grow well in full sun, except in hot tropical regions, where part shade is best. They are tolerant of some cold, drought, and poor soils but not of salty soils or moderate frost.
If growing in a marginal climate (ACT, inland Vic and SA), plant near a building or provide some sort of protection from the cold. Grows well outdoors in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide. Useful for self sufficiency in cold areas as grows to fruiting size in a pot that can be moved under shelter or indoors in extreme cold.
Guava's are very adaptable and will flourish with little care. Although the plant is drought hardy, we have given it the rating "moderate to drought" as you need to keep the soil moist during flower and fruit set if you want a good yield.