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GENERAL
CROP INFORMATION
This summary was prepared from a publication by
Shigeura, G. T. and R. M. Bullock.
FAMILY: Myrtaceae SCIENTIFIC NAME: Psidium guajava L.
ORIGIN: Tropical Americas
DESCRIPTION
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Neal (1965) describes the guava tree as a low evergreen
tree or shrub 6 to 25 feet high, with wide spreading
branches and downy twigs. The branches are very strong
and highly tolerant to high winds. The leaves are oblong
or oval and blunt, 3 to 6 inches long, and
feather-veined. The flowers are an inch or more across,
the calyx bell-shaped and splitting irregularly, the four
to six petals are white, and the stamens are white with
yellow anthers (Neal, 1965). The fruit is yellow and
lemon-shaped. Some fruits may be brownish yellow. The
inside of the fruit has pink or cream-colored pulp and
small hard seeds.
VARIETIES Back To: Menu Bar
Neal (1965) indicates that there are a few varieties
recognized by Hawaiians that differ only in the fruit
produced: the lemon guava (kuawa-lemi) has sour pink
pulp, kuawa-momona has bigger seeds and thicker skin,
kuawa-keokeo is like the lemon guava but has
whitish pulp. The purple strawberry guava and the yellow
strawberry guava are a different species, P. cattleianum
Sabine and P. cattleianum f. lucidum Degener,
respectively.
The cultivars Beaumont, introduced in 1960
and Ka Hua Kula, identified in 1972 and
introduced in 1978, are the only processing guavas now
recommended and grown commercially (Shigeura and Bullock,
1983). Both of these cultivars are high yielding, have a
high puree recovery percentage, are pink in color, are
somewhat low in acidity, have a pleasant aroma, and are
delicate in flavor, and high in total solids. Commercial
field trials indicated that Ka Hua Kula
appears to be a better yielding cultivar. It is also a
lower tree with less branch extensions. There are other
cultivars that may have potential for later introduction.
USES Back
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Guava is used to produce jams, jellys, and juices
commercially. Guava may be eaten raw or cooked. Guavas
are an excellent source of vitamin C and also contain
iron calcium, and phosphorus.
Despite its use commercially, guava is considered a weed
in lower elevations in Hawaii. It is also a serious pest
plant in pastures.
PROPAGATION Back To: Menu Bar
Guava trees can be nursery propagated by grafting, by
budding, by stem cutting (succulent green stems), or by
root cuttings (Shigeura and Bullock, 1983). The use of
seedlings to establish an orchard is not recommended at
the present time; most of these seedlings will not be
like the parental type in yield, taste and fruit flesh
color.
Seedlings used for grafting or budding may be propagated
from seeds from wild guava or clonal trees. There appears
to be no differences in the seed source at the present
time. Regardless of the seed source, fresh seeds should
be from healthy, clean, ripe fruit. The seeds should be
thoroughly washed free of any pulpy material and treated
with a fungicide to prevent damping-off. If damping-off
occurs as the seedlings emerge, both the seedlings and
the media surface should be treated with a fungicide. The
seedlings may be planted in small containers for later
nursery row planting when they are 1-1/2 inches high, or
they may be planted in 1 gallon containers for the
propagation of larger seedlings for budding or grafting
in the future. Grafting or budding can be done when the
seedlings are 1/2 inch in diameter and 10 inches above
the ground. The seedlings can be grafted or budded by
using any acceptable method.
Only strong, succulent greenwood should be used in stem
cutting propagation. Shigeura and Matsuyama (1981)
recommend the use of a three-node stem cutting with two
leafy nodes and a basal node without leaves, or a similar
cutting without a basal node. The cuttings should be
placed in an intermittent mist chamber with bottom heat
and a media temperature of 27 degrees C (80 degrees F).
The next step would be to treat the cuttings with a
mixture of 2% indolebutyric acid (IBA) suspended in fine
dolomitic limestone or insecticidal talc. After 6 to 8
weeks in the mist chamber, the cuttings should be
adequately rooted for container transplanting. The
transplant containers should be large enough to sustain
the cuttings for 4 to 6 months until the resulting plants
are ready for field transplanting. Careful handling, a
well drained potting soil, and adequate water are
necessary at this stage to prevent any damage to the
plant.
Propagation from root cuttings is appropriate only if the
parent orchard was started from cuttings and not from
budding or grafting on a seedling rootstock. This method
is not recommended for large nurseries because the amount
of available root cuttings is low.
SOIL TYPES and
LOCATION Back To: Menu Bar
In Hawaii, soil type as a requirement for guava growth is
not a major consideration. Guava grows in almost any type
of soil.
For fruit production, it is recommended that the guava
trees are not planted in areas of high wind. A low
windbreak that does not have much lateral growth can be
used along the field edges in areas with constant
prevailing winds of 10 - 15 miles per hour. Larger
orchards extending over 500 feet in length or width will
benefit from the use of tall columnar or upright trees on
the edges and possibly within the field.
Water supply throughout the production cycle is very
important. Irrigation should be used to supply adequate
water in any commercial orchard.
Field observations indicate that heavier set fruit are
grown in lower elevations. Plants grown at 2000 feet or
higher become very erratic depending on temperature
differences due to cloud cover. Guava can be economically
grown at elevations where pineapple, macadamia, coffee,
papaya, mango, and banana are profitably grown. Except
for a few areas with a definite southern exposure, most
of the areas above 1800 feet are not suitable for growing
guavas profitably.
CULTURAL PRACTICES
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The growth habit of the tree, its response to pruning,
harvesting method, and other cultural methods should be
considered before determining the planting design of any
crop. Guava can be pruned and trained into a large, low
hanging bush to permit hand harvesting or into a small
tree with a single trunk to permit mechanical harvesting.
Judicious pruning can maintain the tree radius to about
11 or 12 feet in conjunction with crop cycling. To
maximize production in clonal orchards, tree limbs must
cover the land area as completely as possible. Pruning
and tree training over time can achieve this, but perhaps
a better way to this is to initially reduce the blank
areas between trees by planting the trees along an
equilateral triangle (quincunx) system and at a desired
distance between trees rather than on a square system.
The farmer ultimately must make the final decision on
spacing between trees. The farmer must consider the
production potential of the land based on fertility,
availability of water, intensity of sunlight, wind
exposure, and other factors. A quincunx design with 25
feet between trees, 21.7 feet between perpendicular rows,
80 trees per acre, and 543 square feet per tree optimizes
production. However, a farmer may choose closer spacing
with more trees.
A seedling orchard should be planted with an operational
area of 24 to 25 feet between rows with trees planted
in-row at 8 to 12 foot spacing because of economic
reasons. Off-types should be rouged out or topworked when
they develop or when cash flow is available for
topworking of undesirable trees.
Guava trees should be pruned and trained within the first
3 to 4 months after field planting to increase yield and
to reduce the total cost of field operations by
eliminating obstacles and branch hazards which allows
easier movement around the trees. Pruning is done to
train trees to a single trunk and to develop a canopy.
Pruning is also used in crop cycling.
Crop cycling is done to keep fruit production constant
throughout the year and as a result, increase yield and
profit. Crop cycling depends on the natural flowering and
fruiting tendencies of the guava tree. Guava trees bear
more fruits in certain times of the year, a light crop in
the spring and a heavier one in the fall. Production of
guava fruit can be cycled by systematic cultural
manipulation, for example, pruning, fertilization,
irrigation, and defoliation. Each cultural manipulation
technique, alone or in combination, can influence flower
bud formation by forcing the trees into vegetative
growth.
Crop cycling should be initiated immediately after a crop
is harvested or when the next cycled crop is desired. The
crop harvest will begin approximately 7 months after
cycling treatment. As an example, if cycling starts on
the first of January, the crop can be harvested on the
first of October. The second cycling begins on the first
of October and ends on the first of July. Eight separate
fields could be separately cycled so that the fruits
could be produced around the year.
FERTILIZATION
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Presently, there is no data available that would indicate
Hawaii soil pH (3.5 to 7.0) has any effect on guava.
Unless there is data that indicates pH is a factor in
guava production, pH need not be considered for the
Hawaii soil types used to grow guavas
During the first few months in the field, guava trees
should be fertilized at a 2 to 3 month interval with a
complete fertilizer including calcium, magnesium, and
other trace elements. Leaf sampling should be done as
leaves become available to determine deficiencies.
Appropriate fertilizer should be applied to compensate
for any deficiencies. At the end of the second year or at
the beginning of the third, the trees can then be put
into production cycling. If a crop cycling program
prevents the use of fertilizer, the fertilizer should be
applied after the completion of the current crop as a
benefit for the succeeding crop.
Leaf sampling involves taking a sample of leaves and
having those leaves analyzed for its elemental
components. For guava, the index leaf is the fourth leaf
in a whorl of leaves of an actively growing major
terminal. The first expanding young leaf in the whorl is
considered the first leaf. A 10 leaf sample should be
taken from 10 trees with similar appearances in the area.
HARVESTING Back To: Menu Bar
Currently, guava fruit are hand picked. Guavas require
care when being picked and harvest cannot go on for more
than 2 to 3 days during the height of the season because
of potential losses from insects and overripe fruit.
POSTHARVEST Back To: Menu Bar
The picked fruit should be placed in a cool place away
from the sun. To maintain quality, it is best to process
the fruits soon after harvest. The puree can be chilled,
frozen, or aseptically packaged. If the fruits need to be
stored overnight, the fruit boxes should be places in a
covered well ventilated area. Clean green fruits can be
set aside for later use and ripened with ethophon.
DISEASES Back To: Menu Bar
Mucor rot - Mucor hiemalis
Rhizopus rot - Rhizopus stolonifer
Firm rot - probably not pathenogenic but physical in
origin
Blossem-end rot - origin unknown, may be due to calcium
deficiency
Fruit spots - origin unknown
Mummified fruits - caused by insufficient water
Sooty mold - Asterina psidii and Meliola psidii
Parasitic alga - Cephaleuros virescens
INSECTS Back To: Menu Bar
Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis)
Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata)
Green scale (Coccus viridis)
Red-banded thrips (Selenothrips rubrocinctus)
Coconut mealybug (Nipaecoccus nipae)
Striped mealybug (Ferrisia virgata)
Red and black flat mite (Brevipalpus phoenicis)
Chinese rose beetle (Adoretus sinicus)
Fullers rose beetle (Pantomorus cervinus)
Transparent-winged plant bug (Hyalopelpus pellucidus)
Guava moth (Anua indiscriminata)
Spiraling whitefly (Aleurodicus dispersus)
Green shield scale (Pulvinaria psidii)
PRODUCTIONBack To: Menu Bar
In 1992, the State of Hawaii processed 13,300,000 pounds
of guava at 14.3 cents per pound. The value of sales for
the processors was $1,902,000.
A total of 125 farms grew guava on 930 acres (including
planting intentions) in 1992. There was 765 acres that
was harvested. Farm production was 13,260,000 pounds that
commanded 14.3 cents per pound. The value of sales for
the farmers was $1,896,000.
REFERENCES Back To: Menu Bar
Neal, Marie C. In Gardens of Hawaii. Hawaii: Bishop
Museum Press, 1965.
Shigeura, G. T. and R. M. Bullock. 1983. Guava (Psidium
guajava L.) In Hawaii-History and Production. Research
Extension Series 035. HITAHR, CTAHR, University of
Hawaii.
Shigeura, G. T. and M. Matsuyama. 1981. Propagation of
Guava (Psidium guajava L.) Using Green Stem Cuttings. In
Manuscript.
Statistics of Hawaiian Agriculture 1992. Hawaii
Agricultural Statistics Service. Hawaii Department of
Agriculture and United States Department of Agriculture.
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