Sunday, August 22, 2010

Strawberry Guava

My apologies if you stumble across this blog in hopes to find a recipe for a Strawberry Guava Pie. This is about the plant with that name, not two different ingredients.
It is a well known fact that the Southeast, at least my little neck of the woods, has gotten it's fair amount of rain....and then some!! In the past two weeks I have recorded 13+ inches of rain in my yard. This would be very welcomed news if my part of the neighborhood block was not at the bottom of the bowl. ALL the rain water collects out in back. And of course it is right in front of my exotic tropical fruit collection. The weeds, mud and water had gotten so bad back there I avoided it like the plaque. Well, I had had enough, so I took my weedeater and attempted to wade through the La Brea Tar Pits. The mud and water and three foot weeds were just a flying, I am sure had anybody been around, it would be all over Youtube right now. Anyway, while I was back there, I noticed my Strawberry Guava (Psidium cattleianum) was finally starting to ripen. The fruits are smaller this year, I guess I should have thinned them a little.....it sure wasn't from lack of water!!

Strawberry Guava, also known as Cattley Guava, is Dark red and is actually distantly related to Allspice and Eucalyptus trees.
It is a fairly slow growing tree that will reach heights of 6-14 feet high. It has slender, smooth, brown bark on the stems and branches The leaves are evergreen glossy, and somewhat leathery.
The flavor of the fruit is slightly acid and said to have a Strawberry like taste. Personally I don't taste it, though I do enjoy the flavor of the fruit.
The Strawberry Guava is believed to be native to the lowlands of eastern Brazil, especially near the coast. It is cultivated to a limited extent in other areas of South America and Central America and in the West Indies, Bermuda, the Bahamas, southern and central Florida and southern California.
It propagates very easily from seed. As a matter of fact, if you have any friends from Hawaii, DON'T mention that you grow this plant. It is the worst pest in Hawaii's rain forests. The feral pigs that inhabit the islands love the fruit. The seeds pass through their digestive tracts unharmed and are often deposited in soil disturbed by the pigs. Dense wild plantings can suppress growth and establishment of native species, and support high populations of crop damaging fruit flies. It is on Hawaii's invasive species list. It is also considered a weed tree on Norfolk Island and has escaped into the wild on Jamaica.
The Strawberry Guava is hardier than the common Guava (Psidium guajava) another of it's distant relatives, and can survive temperatures as low as 22 degrees. It can succeed wherever Citrus is grown without any problem.
This plant will grow in soils that would not support any other fruit tree. It likes lots of water, especially when fruiting, but it is also very drought tolerant.
It is a long lived tree. In 1884, a commercial planting of about 3,000 trees was established at La Mesa, California, it was still producing 50 years later. No word on if it still producing today.
The Strawberry Guava is usually reported as disease and pest free. The Caribbean fruit fly attacks the fruits in southern Florida and wherever else this pest exists. In India, birds compete with humans for the ripe fruits. The fruit is very perishable and will only last 3-4 days once picked, at room temperature.
You can eat the fruit right off the tree. It is made into tart fillings, Jams, Jellies, Sherbet and in some places made into a punch.
There is a Yellow version that I don't have yet. I found this picture online of what that looks like.

I hope to be able to get one soon.
I have a Pineapple Guava (Feijoa sellowiana), but this again is another whole different plant, distantly related, but still different.
  

And yes, I actually do have a regular Guava also. Maybe one day, I will be able to make a mixed Guava fruit cocktail.
Happy Growing!
Darren

17 comments:

  1. I have been thinking about getting this plant to grow here in Tucson. Thanks for the info.:)

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  2. Strawberry guava, introduced to Hawaii in 1825, is considered an invasive species in Hawaii. It replaces the native under-story in the forests. For 20 years they have been looking for a biological control for this plant in Hawaii. In the summer of 2008 the US Forest Service and Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry have submitted a proposal to release a Brazilian insect - a scale, Tectococcus ovatus. I don't think approval has been given to release this scale yet and it is a controversial subject among Hawaii residents.

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  3. Hey Darren, send a little bit of that rain out here to the Plains, will ya?

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  4. While your busy sending rain to the guy above me, send some out here to Israel, we have had almost no rain since the beginning of the rainy season in September! The seasons got confused, it is still summer here! Just bought a Strawberry Guava tree and am very excited, thanks for your helpful info and pictures.

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  5. We just moved to Southern California and discovered that we have one of these in our garden. We like it so much, we just ordered two more trees. The kids enjoy eating the fruit straight off the tree (a bit tart for me) and we all love it in a simple jam/puree form. The color it produces when you boil the skins with the flesh is GLORIOUS! I have been thinking of making a cocktail with the puree and some St. Germain liquor, maybe a splash of bubbly.

    I liked your image so much, I used it to make a label for my jars!

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  6. In our garden in Costa Mesa, California, there are few of these trees. Today only i tested the red ripe fruits...its flesh is like guava but its tart..i enjoyed eating though..

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  7. One person's weed is another person's snack. I live on Maui and I absolutely love strawberry guavas. While they are very bad for the forests on the windward side of the island, they taste amazing. They are my favorite fruit. I live on the leeward side, so I don't get them very often. But when they're in season, it's worth the drive. I have seen strawberry guava jams for sale, but you don't want to confuse them with the guava strawberry jams, which are a blend of strawberries and guavas.

    I hope there are places where strawberry guavas can be grown where they won't harm the environment, because the fruit is amazing.

    Cheers,
    John

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  8. Hi, very nice post. I have a strawberry guava in my garden at Junin, Argentina, one of the countries of origin of this fruit tree, look:

    http://www.huertasurbanas.com/2013/03/01/tasting-the-fruits-of-araza-strawberry-guava-psidium-cattleianum

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  10. I have the yellow strawberry guava version and personally, I think they taste like a pear, not a strawberry. Thanks for the information though :)

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    1. The yellow strawberry guava (some call it a lemon guava) has a completely different taste, and you are right it's more pear-ish in flavor, but smoother in texture, and not as tart as the red one can be if it's not dead ripe. The fruit on the yellow one gets bigger (ping pong ball size) and the growth habit is more tree like (weeping sometimes) where the strawberry version tends to naturally grow more like a bush (although it can be trained to grow more like a tree. The yellow form seems weaker - I have to keep mine staked or they fall over and they have a shorter fruiting season. I have several of each growing in my yard. I prefer the taste of the yellow one but I get way more fruit from the red ones.

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  11. I have strawberry guava tree growing in a container on my patio. It was doing very well for about 6 mos and then a spider infestation took over. Also the soil in the pot seemed over run with some type of little critter. I just changed the soil and added more sand to my mixture along with native soil and the organic garden soil originally in the pot. Added more sand because I heard they do well in a sandy soil in Florida and Calif. I live in Phoenix area and the high temps didn't burn the leaves so I think full sun is OK. Anyone else in a desert area try growing these in pots and having them fruit? Mine has flowered 2 or 3 times but has never set fruit. The aroma from the flower is very strong and onerous at least to my taste. I hope to have it survive after the soil change out.

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    1. I can come up with two reasons as to why it may not have set fruit after flowering.
      1) Where there any bees around during the flowering period? Next time it flowers, tried using a small paint brush and dab some pollen from flower to flower.
      2) This one will negate the first one, it is possible that due to the high heat the pollen it is producing is sterile. I have no scientific proof if this possible, just a gut idea.
      I don't think you will have any problem with the soil change.
      Please keep us posted.

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  12. I have a photo of what I was told is a Strawberry Guava. I could not get it to copy. My relative has a tree in San Diego CA . I watched this tree with bits GREEN fruits grow over the past few months. Then they turned yellow with some white stripes. Then they were falling on ground.a pest for my relative. Then two days ago I went to visit, this wonderful aroma! Mango? Strawberry? Unknown. We took dome home, washed them, cut them open to this beautiful pink/ted flash with seeds.The taste was amazing! Strawberry mango flavor to me. My husband said they were strawberry guavas as his family had a tree in northern CA. I am not sure what thy are. I just know they are absolutely delicious.! I am a baker, food decorator, and can make about a hundred different recipes with them. I am starting a blog just to Test this product. I live close to LA Mesa so will check out that farm and history. I can be reached at angellsvi@AOL.com if you would like the photos and confirm what this delicious fruit is.

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  13. I have a photo of what I was told is a Strawberry Guava. I could not get it to copy. My relative has a tree in San Diego CA . I watched this tree with bits GREEN fruits grow over the past few months. Then they turned yellow with some white stripes. Then they were falling on ground.a pest for my relative. Then two days ago I went to visit, this wonderful aroma! Mango? Strawberry? Unknown. We took dome home, washed them, cut them open to this beautiful pink/ted flash with seeds.The taste was amazing! Strawberry mango flavor to me. My husband said they were strawberry guavas as his family had a tree in northern CA. I am not sure what thy are. I just know they are absolutely delicious.! I am a baker, food decorator, and can make about a hundred different recipes with them. I am starting a blog just to Test this product. I live close to LA Mesa so will check out that farm and history. I can be reached at angellsvi@AOL.com if you would like the photos and confirm what this delicious fruit is.

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    Replies
    1. Patricia, Send me a picture if you don't mind. TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com.
      I am curious and might want to hit you up for some seed! LOL

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  14. I would love to have Strawberry Guava, also known as Cattley Guava, but it's unavailable here where I live. I live in the Northeast US, in New York state. They sell Common Guava which I love, but they aren't selling Strawberry Guava. Not even frozen Strawberry Guava is available. Why won't the supermarkets sell them here?
    I understand it's considered an invasive weed in some parts of the world, but that does not mean it's going to be an invasive weed everywhere. Come on folks, this is a gorgeous, tasty, tropical fruit. It's no weed for me. Isn't it a shame to just let so many Strawberry Guava trees just go to waste? Isn't it a shame to just throw poison on them and to cut them down? This wonderful fruit is a treasure and people don't know how lucky they are to have it. This fruit can feed homeless and starving people, it can feed various fruit eating animals, pets, and birds, it can supply tons of food for supermarkets and grocery stores, and it can make lots of money by selling the fresh fruit, selling it in frozen fruit form, making it into fruit jelly, fruit smoothies, ice cream flavors, fruit rollups, and even cake ingredients, pie ingredients, cookies, wafers, and dried fruits. Why not have Strawberry Guava smoothie, Strawberry Guava shave ice? All these things can make money with this fruit. And there are fruit lovers such as me who would love to have Strawberry Guava and other exotic tropical and sub-tropical fruits. If the Hawaiians don't want them, then why can't they be shipped to other places where people do want it? I want it, and other tropical fruit lovers want it. Don't deprive us fruit lovers. I would be a regular lifelong customer buying this fruit, but nobody has them, and nobody is selling them. That's a shame.
    Some questions I have. Some sources say Strawberry Guava has a short ripening season, while other sources say it can stay ripe for 8 months of the year, and one source says it can give ripe fruit all year long. Who is right? What is the ripening season for this fruit in the Hawaiian islands in the wild state? What months of the year is it ripe in Hawaii?
    Miami Fruit in Florida ships exotic fruits by mail and they have a wonderful selection but they are missing the Strawberry Guava. I asked them and they said they don't have it. That's a shame, because it's one of the best tasting and healthiest of fruits, and it's possible to make many things out of it as I mention here.
    Is it possible to grow a Strawberry Guava in a potted plant and keep it indoors during the winter months (at least 4 months of the year) here where I live, from December to March, and from April to November it can stay outside. Will it survive and produce fruit if kept indoors for at least 4 months of the year?
    Now with this blasted Corona virus any hope of having exotic fruits shipped to me by mail is lost. This is disheartening. Let's hope this crisis will be fixed soon.
    In the meantime, let's encourage supermarkets and farmers markets to start selling Strawberry Guava, Blue Java Banana, Chocolate Sapote, Vanilla Sapote, Eggfruit, Rambutan, and Mangosteen. The best things in life are fruits. Thank you.

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