My Dads a kiwi, but lives here now, and misses a lot NZ food, one of which being fejoias. So, we got him a tree a few years back. (It was delivered damaged slightly so we got a free extra one) We planted them both in our garden and tried our best to look after them. But alas, life got in the way, and we just left them alone. They haven’t shown any signs of fruit, but they did flower a few times. I know it’s not much use doing anything to them now in august, but is there anything we could do to increase our chances of fruit next summer? Or is it hopeless in Irelands dull weather? Will they ever bear fruit at all? It really is his favourite fruit and it’s hard to get fresh here.
by Responsible_Panic242
5 Comments
It’s hardy to 5 degrees C, our winter temperatures overnight are routinely colder than that. If you want any hope at all you need to move it to a sheltered spot or against a sunny wall where it gets full sun, maybe put it in a big pot and put it in a greenhouse over winter as the fruit ripens over the winter so ir needs a lot of babying.
No use to you, but lived in NZ years ago and I still miss fejoias! Always thought about planting a tree. Where did you buy it? Have you managed to buy the fruit over here at all?
Find it hard to imagine they cant withstand Irish winters because where I was often got down below -10 C and people had bucket loads of them.
You’ll need two different varieties for cross pollination. They won’t produce fruit otherwise. A friend of mine in Kilkenny has a good few varieties growing outside and the last time I was there they had tons of flowers on them so he’ll possibly get fruit this year.
Another friend grows a few varieties in a polytunnel here in Dublin. They are mature trees and he gets a lot of fruit from them. This year is looking to big his biggest yielding year so far.
They are fully hardy for our climate and will handle winters no problem. There is a few very large mature trees in the botanic gardens and at airfield estate in Dundrum.
The fruit is quite nice actually. Very unusual taste.
They have fejoia trees in the Bamboo Park, Glengarriff, West Cork. I asked the lady who works there about them and she said they don’t always bear fruit but they do tend to flower every year.
I think feijoas need paired plants to pollinate (unless you have one of the special breeds.) you’ll also need to have them in a greenhouse or poly tent to keep them healthy I reckon.
We struggled to get ours growing in Wellington and i even there it never got close to freezing while we had them.
My point being, they’re a bit sensitive. But once you have the right temp and pollinator combo they should be good to go.
I miss them too. I hope whichever loves in our house today appreciates all the effort we put in to the trees in our old garden! 😂