Growing Feijoas in the UK

erintansy.benham · September 2018

Im a Kiwi living in the UK, and desperately miss this fruit from back home-nothing reminds me of summer more than the heavy fruit laiden trees, the wafting smell and the yummyness of a fresh Feijoa. But they don't seem to exist in the UK?! Can they grow here? Any tips for someone who would need to grow them in a pot due to limited space? Is it possible?

Alan Clark2 in Liverpool · September 2018

There is at least one seller of the trees in the UK, and they seem to be hardy here. However, I have never seen them growing and I have never seen the fruit for sale, but I would certainly like to try them!

https://www.paramountplants.co.uk/plant/feij/feijoa-sellowiana.html

BobTheGardener · September 2018

I think the only one you'll find in the UK will be Acca (new name) sellowiana (aka Pineapple guava) which will only ripen outside in a long hot summer, so it probably doing ok this year. Growing it in a pot is probably best in the UK anyway as you can bring it inside during really cold spells (only hardy to -12C.) I tried it from seed intending to grow it in the conservatory which is probably the only reliable way to get ripe fruit here. Unfortunately no germination but might try buying a plant now your post has reminded me.

heathermills57 · January 2019

I've had a tree for about 5 years now, in a big pot against the west wall, as instructed for this climate (I'm in the South East). It had a couple of flowers 2 years ago, a few more last year, then around 10 this summer, quite late on. I messed around with the flowers hoping to pollinate, and lo and behold there's fruit on it! It's very late though and it probably won't ripen now. The fruits are only about an inch long but I'm thrilled and have covered it with fleece and crossed my fingers. I'm also a kiwi and miss the taste. I found them at Borough market once and paid $2.35 for one but it was worth it.

mtaukiri · February 2019

I know I'm a few months late to the party but here's my feijoa stories...hubby bought me a feijoa tree last Feb and we planted it right before the beast from the east hit! Needless to say we thought we'd killed it 😩 To our surprise and probably thanks to our super hot summer (we're in Southampton) we got a couple of flowers and new growth (see pics) in November. We also went to Marwell Zoo after Christmas to find feijoas on trees and the ground (pics again) next to the tiger enclosure. I've been going to Marwell for 14 years and had no idea they were feijoa trees! (Not gardeners but we try). Dunster Castle near Minehead also has feijoa trees. Anyway I now have hope for feijoas here. We bought our tree from paramount nurseries. It's pruned oddly to Kiwi eyes, but now growth is coming in at the bottom I have hope. We're planning on buying another but we'll go for a much cheaper (and less trimmed) shrub next time. Give it a go you have nothing to lose.

camnz24 · April 2019

Hi all,

Fellow Kiwi been living here for 6 years and sick of paying ridiculously prices at borough market for rubbish fruit. Planted two trees in the back yard, praying for lots of yummy fruit in years to come!

heavenred · May 2019

Hi there,

I lived in New Zealand for 5 years and think of it as my second home. I have been back in the UK for a while not but still miss feijoa. I decided to try and grow my own and so far they are growing well, I have 3, they are 4, 3 and 1 years old. On the 2 older ones I have had a few flowers over the years but no fruit yet. I got mine online from Burncoose Nurseries online as they sell 3 different varieties which I've heard is good for fruiting. I have 2 growing in pots and 1 in the ground. The 3 year old got a battering from Beast from the East and I thought it was a gonner but it bounced back and is looking better than ever. Now all I need is some fruit...

camnz24 · July 2019

My parents came over from NZ at Xmas and brought with them a couple of trays of export grade feijoa's from Katikati. They were so good that it was such a sad moment when they were all gone. I managed to save a couple hundred seeds from those fruit, so I have been propagating a few of them this summer. So far so good, they are very easy to get started from seed.

The two plants I bought from burncoose nursery, one died in the heat and the other in the picture from a previous post is doing well.

valgodfrey · May 2020

I came across these posts when I searched pollinating Fejoias. We inherited an unusual plant in a pot when we moved in 14 years ago and eventually moved it into the ground when it was getting too big. We would occasionally get one or two red flowers which reminded me of those I had seen in Australia. Imagine my surprise when I walked down the garden at the end of Oct 2017 to see it full of an even stranger fruit which I eventually found to be a fejoia - much excitement amongst any kiwis I knew! It was a v hot summer, warm autumn and then I’m sure I remember snow early nov when they were falling off the tree.
Since then we have had a few Flowers again but they are never very bright and do not attract bees, much to my husband’s annoyance.

We are very much amateur gardeners and would appreciate any advice.

camnz24 · June 2020

Great looking tree Val. Here's a link with loads of good information //feijoafeijoa.wordpress.com/growing-feijoas/

My seedlings are only 1 yr old now, so I've probably got a couple more years to wait before any fruit. My larger tree didn't give me any flowers this year, hopefully next year it will start flowering..

davidtys1au82TqXa · October 2020

I've had a good harvest this year... I pick them off the grass when they fall.

Growing Feijoas in the UK

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