Home Garden Tropical Guava Tour - AZ 9B

[@adamwelker218]

Love the content! Great to see all of the success you are having grow cool stuff here in phoenix.

[@yotan1001]

Thumbs up on your videos, always very informative . Thanks for sharing your experiences on desert gardening, I learnt a lot. In zone 10a , have tropical white, red Malysian and ruby supreme

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks! Great varieties you have growing!

[@keithlong5461]

Your videos have been very helpful. Your suggestion on using alfalfa was brilliant. Thanks for your suggestion on growing different plants in our area.

[@brandasar7913]

I was so happy, I got 5 pinks this year, already gone! This is its first year in ground from a 3 gallon pot from Home Depot. My favorite fruit. Great video.

[@xeso92]

Would be cool to see an update on your Guavas

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks for commenting! I post a full tour of my yard every year around the first week of November so that's one way to get a good update on how they are doing. The Pink Barbie and Tikal (also pink) produced so much fruit this year I had to compost a good portion of it in the ground as I could not keep up. They were rock stars this year! The white guavas for whatever reason did not produce much this season.

[@xeso92]

@@EnlightenmentGarden thanks for the update, cool to hear!

[@keithlong5461]

Howdy, I’m a snowbird from WA. I come down in November and leave in April. I have 6 acres in the castle Hot Spring s area at 2,700 feet. I would like to grow several grave trees. Each year I plant 200 plus trees. Any variety suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Hi. 85342 is zone 9A with lows down to 20. Tropical pink/white guava can't tolerate that but you could grow Strawberry Guava, Pineapple Guava and/or Chilean Guava. These can take the cold in your zone.

[@packdog70]

Kind of unrelated, but I noticed that you have several fountains in the yard. Some of them look DIY. Any chance you cover them, and how you set them up? By the way, your garden is BEAUTIFUL! Awesome work.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks! They are both cast stone fountains manufactured by Henri studio. I purchased them thru Amazon/freight delivery. Looks like prices have gone up and these were not cheap to begin with. I had resin prior at a much lower price tag but they don't last more than a year in the AZ sun and crack apart. These were heavy but modular which was a plus for me in setting up. Hope that helps. www.amazon.com/Henri-Studio-Renaissance-Fountain-Roho-Eligante/dp/B011VBGCVC?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_8

[@packdog70]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Thanks so much!

[@mykvass]

i have a rather large guava tree, flowered this year but no fruit ? should I be fertilizing ?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Guavas are heavy feeders; I'd recommend fertilizing in Spring. Do you know the variety of guava you have growing?

[@mykvass]

@@EnlightenmentGarden I'll do that. its a white guava , dont think I have the tag

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

@@mykvass Great! Tropical white varieties should all be self fruitful. Best wishes for a good harvest next year.

[@mykvass]

thanks ,I was wondering about that lots of flowers no fruit so maybe its lack of fertilizer

[@neatos3]

Hello, another great video! have you also grown any pineapple guavas? As I am interested in planting either a pineapple guava or Barbados cherry could you please advise if is it worth planting a pineapple guava for fruit production in Phoenix against a south facing wall? I heard it struggles in full desert sun and I guess it may not fruit (even though it will be a self-fertile variety)? thanks!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Glad it was helpful! I had pineapple guava (Nazemetz ) in the yard for 5 years and found it struggles in full sun and never fruited and took it out. I have since planted Nazemetz again and plan to get another variety (probably from One Green World) for cross-pollination if I want fruit as most pineapple guava needs another variety to fruit. In cooler climates, pineapple guava would be a great option and better than Barbados cherry for fruit. Here, I highly recommend Barbados cherry. I have 4 in my yard and love them. They take the hottest location and fruit like crazy in spring and fall once established.

[@neatos3]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Thanks so much for the helpful answer, I will go with the Barbados cherry then, but since I will be planting this in a tight backyard space as well, so could you please advise whether I can keep a Barbados cherry to a 7' x 7' maximum height and width indefinitely as it will be near a fence as well by pruning it or this plant cannot tolerate hard pruning and may develop dead branches or not fruit well? Also do you know if this plant can be coppiced like mulberries in case I want to reduce its height drastically? Best regards

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

@@neatos3 The Barbados cherry is a very hardy bush that can be kept compact/does not mind pruning. You'll find the growth rate is slow to medium. You can keep it in a 7'x7' shape. I would just hedge it for shape and not severely cut it down to a stump like you can with mulberry as the plant does not grow aggressively like mulberry. Prune or hedge for shape in spring so the plant is not exposed during winter.

[@neatos3]

@@EnlightenmentGarden thanks so much, very helpful! Are your Barbados Cherries the Florida sweet variety or common malpighia Emarginata, as yours grow more upright than shrubby which is a characteristic of Florida sweet, except if this is related to richer soil/better environmental conditions? Thanks again!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

@@neatos3 All of my plants came from Green Life in Phoenix. I believe them to be FL Sweet. Shape is all about time and training. It took 6- 7 years to get mine into a tree form. They naturally want to be a bush.

[@sheri023]

Now I must go out and buy a pink guava. I wonder why some don't like the taste of them--does it taste like a papaya, that has an unusual taste to it too.?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Yes; some people swear it smells like feet and tastes like it but others like me love the tropical taste. If left to overripen on a counter it can become pungent and unpleasant on aroma but has a wonderful aroma otherwise. Like papaya, you either love it or hate it.

[@sheri023]

@@EnlightenmentGarden thank you. If it smells like feet, my cat would probably try to bite it. We will see.

[@R1M1r1m1]

My mango is in full sun and seems to be drought tolerant as well.

[@downunderfulla6001]

Of all guava, cherry is my upmost favourite

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

I agree they are tasty! Cherry and cattley guava don't do well here with the Summer and fry up in direct sun.

[@downunderfulla6001]

That’s a shame but like you have said, we need to work with what does well in our areas

[@thegr8stm8]

Greetings from SoCal...Does your juicer separate seeds? How are the fish handling the heat?? It has been a gr8 year for figs so far.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

I actually don't use a juicer for guava--I throw the whole fruit into a Ninja blender to reap the benefits of the seeds also. Fish are doing well though I will be very happy when the heat is done and we are in Fall (my favorite season here). Glad you are getting a good fig harvest!

[@judybullock6739]

We live in SCWest. I don’t know if we are 9B or not but my problem is my plumerias are in pots. With this heat I can keep them more in the shade. They are not bright green anymore, they have faded. Wondering about Epsom salt in the water plus liquid fertilizer. Help please! Thank you...

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

It could be a nitrogen, calcium or magnesium deficiency--this link should help you determine that--www.floridacolorsplumeria.com/how-to-spot-nutrient-deficiency-symptoms/. If it's a deficiency with magnesium, epsom salt will help and green it back up/strengthen the plant

[@judybullock6739]

Am looking at shade cloth, what percentage of coverage do I need? Some say 40, others 60 and even 70.....I really don’t want to lose these plants, we are from OR originally and I need flowers in my yard! So glad I discovered you! Thank you so much!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

@@judybullock6739 30-40% is best as it allows enough sun in to still promote growth. That's what I'm using this year kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGW4aIOig7ilbbc

[@adwinjones]

I feel bad for you. I also was sold guava tree that was the wrong variety. Kind of irritating because I wanted one of a few different types. Now I think I have duplicates. Mine came from lowes

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

That would be. Red Malaysian and variegated are unmistakable so those are a sure thing but I have heard of La Verne mislabeling the Lowes tropical pink/white plants too. It can happen at any nursery. It's tough when you buy the tree young and don't know for a few years what you have but as long as the fruit tastes good I don't mind too much

[@khmericankitchenseeds8776]

Do you have any air-layer variegated guava starter plants to sell?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Sorry; I do not. Top Tropicals in FL is where I bought my original plant from