Feijoa - is it possible to grow a southern tree? All about the secrets of growing feijoa at home

Feijoa is a subtropical, heat-loving plant, therefore in gardens middle zone you won't meet him. The fruits of this tree appear on sale in winter; they are used to make very tasty, aromatic jam, which has a lot of useful properties. You can simply grind the berries with sugar, or you can also use them in fresh. Feijoa fruits are also used in the wine industry.

How feijoa grows and blooms, what its fruits look like (with photos and videos)

Feijoa (Feijoa) belongs to the Myrtaceae family, its homeland is South America, where it grows as undergrowth in tropical forests.

Feijoa is native to subtropical regions of South America: southern Brazil, northern Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay. IN growing wild this plant is common in forests South America as undergrowth. This is a typical subtropical plant, and all attempts to grow feijoa in the tropics have failed. This is a unique fruit ornamental plant It was first discovered in the middle of the last century by the botanist Sellov, from whose surname the species name of the plant comes. And the generic name feijoa comes from the name of the director of the Natural History Museum in San Sebastiano (Brazil) - Joani de Silva Fejio.

Watch a video of how feijoa grows in its natural habitat:

It is a small evergreen shrub with oval-shaped leaves, soft green on the upper side and silver-gray below, pubescent. The bark is rough, light brown. Special attention the plant deserves at the time of flowering, when very beautiful, bisexual flowers Pink colour, with bright crimson stamens, fleshy petals. Flowering is long (May - June). Feijoa blooms on the shoots of the current year.

As you can see in the photo, feijoa fruits are oblong green berries with a slightly bumpy surface, weighing 30–40 g:

There are varieties whose fruits are larger - up to 120 g. Their taste is reminiscent of both pineapple and strawberries.

Feijoa Sellova (F. selloviana), or acca (Assa selloviana), is the only species grown in the subtropics of Russia. In more northern regions, the plant can be grown indoors.

In terms of frost resistance, it is much superior to citrus fruits and can safely tolerate temperature drops down to -10 °C.

These photos show how feijoa blooms:

The shrub is suitable for landscaping winter gardens, greenhouses, residential and office premises. On Black Sea coast grown as fruit plant. Feijoa fruits are used fresh, and unique jams, juices, jams, and wines are also prepared from them. Excellent liqueurs are obtained from flower petals.

Feijoa is famous for the special taste qualities of its fruits and their medicinal and dietary properties.

When describing feijoa, one cannot fail to note the main advantage of this plant - its round, bright green fruits, unique in taste and aroma, which ripen in November. Their average weight reaches 30–50 g. Feijoa fruits combine the taste of strawberries and pineapple and contain many vitamins, primarily ascorbic acid, as well as organic acids, large amounts of pectin, etc. The pulp contains iodine, the taste of which is clearly felt.

Feijoa fruits contain: 5.12–10.46% sugars, 1.5–3.6% malic acid, about 2.5% pectin, 2.06–3.9 mg of iodine per 1 kg. The fruits are used in fresh and processed (jam, wine) form; They are stored for no more than a month. In home cooking, feijoa fruits are consumed fresh; they can be pureed with sugar in a 1:1 ratio and stored in the refrigerator. You can make jams and preserves from feijoa, prepare compotes, and preserve juices. Feijoa is eaten fresh, peeled.

Doctors recommend consuming feijoa for thyroid diseases and atherosclerosis. It is also useful to eat feijoa for gastritis and vitamin deficiency. Patients with atherosclerosis are recommended to eat berries mashed with granulated sugar or boiled. In dermatology, doctors use the oil made from the fruit as an anti-inflammatory medicine.

Here you can see a photo of what feijoa looks like at the time of fruiting:

Conditions for growing feijoa from seeds at home (with video)

Feijoa is propagated by seeds. Seeds are sown in January – March to a depth of 0.3–0.5 cm. The first shoots at a substrate temperature of 20–25 °C appear after 2 weeks.

At home, the easiest way is to get seedlings of this plant. To grow feijoa, seeds are extracted from fully ripe, freshly picked fruits. In plants that are overripe and stored for a long time, the seeds are often sprouted and are not suitable for sowing. To extract them, sharp knife it is necessary to cut off approximately 1/5 of the fruit from the stalk side, carefully squeeze out the jelly-like pulp, which contains a few seeds. Then wash them in a weak solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate), trying to completely remove the sticky pulp. Selected seeds are dried. Sowing and caring for seedlings is the same as for most fruit-bearing plants.

Although cuttings are more reliable way preserving the qualities of the mother plant, it is usually used less frequently for feijoa propagation.

Feijoa can also be propagated by grafting and root shoots. But the grafting was almost not widespread due to the thin bark and the poor survival rate of the eyes during budding. Propagation by shoots is used mainly in industrial horticulture. Aerial rooting of branches of a fruiting tree gives good results.

Location. Feijoa – photophilous culture, so it’s best to place it on a south or southeast window. In autumn winter period The plant sheds quite a lot of leaves. To eliminate this phenomenon, additional illumination is necessary.

Temperature. Adult plants can withstand temperatures down to -12 °C and are resistant to drought. In winter, the plant is best kept in a cool place. bright room with a temperature of 8-12 °C. In summer it is good to take it out into the garden or onto the balcony.

The soil. The plant is undemanding to soil conditions; an ordinary flower substrate is suitable.

As shown in the photo, the best substrate for the feijoa tree is medium-alkaline flower soil:

In the first 2–3 years, due to the active growth of the root system, replanting should be carried out annually. When replanting, be sure to preserve the soil ball and not bury the plant. Subsequently, the transplant should be done once every 3 years.

Watering. Feijoa – moisture-loving plant. Overdrying of the earthen coma leads to loss of leaves, drying out of branches and part of the root system. After watering, the water accumulated in the pan is not removed - after a while it will be absorbed into the earthen lump. IN winter time when the air humidity in the house is low, when caring for feijoa, it is useful to spray the plant a little warm water. In summer, abundant watering is recommended, in winter – moderate.

Feeding. Feijoa is very demanding when it comes to feeding during flowering and fruit set. During the year, feijoas are fed every 15 days, alternating nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Use horse dung(1:10), superphosphate and ash extract. Superphosphate is poorly soluble in water, so first boil 1 teaspoon of fertilizer in 1 liter of water. The cooled solution is diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio. To obtain potash fertilizer, 1 tablespoon of ash hardwood infuse for 1 week in 1 liter of water. Before feeding, water the plant with plain water.

Transfer. In the first 2–3 years, feijoas need to be replanted annually in a fresh nutrient substrate. Adult plants are transferred into a large bowl, filling only the space between the walls of the pot and the root ball with fresh substrate. Roots coming out of the drainage hole should be trimmed.

In order for fruit to set, you must have two plants that bloom at the same time. This in room conditions difficult to achieve. It is better to grow parthenocarpic (self-pollinating) varieties at home, such as Crimean Early or Nikitsky Aromatic. Feijoa seedlings begin to bear fruit in the 5th–6th year, and trees obtained from rooted cuttings - in the 4th. Fruits ripened in the room are no different from those grown in the garden.

Watch a video of growing feijoa at home, which shows all the basic agricultural techniques:

. The most common pests are scale insects, scale insects, and among diseases - gray mold and leaf spot.

After reviewing the photo and description of feijoa care, it is important to learn about correct formation bushes.

Pruning feijoa bush: photo and description

Feijoa plants undergo minimal shaping and pruning, and in practice in the subtropics of Russia they are cultivated without any pruning. Feijoa should be formed as follows: after landing on permanent place, and it is best to plant 2-year-old seedlings; 1/3 of their entire above-ground part is shortened. At a young age, the plants bear fruit well and produce high yields.

Pay attention to the photo - in the feijoa shrub, with age, the lower skeletal branches sag greatly and become almost creeping or semi-creeping and, accordingly, poorly productive and poorly decorative:

On such bushes, the yield sharply decreases, and work on caring and harvesting becomes difficult.

Research by scientists has shown that the most in a suitable way Feijoa pruning is a method in which the plant is given a low-standard shape. It is carried out for 3 - 4 years. In this case, in the first year in March, all main stems should be cut 30 - 45 cm from their base to create the main skeleton, and all weak growths from the lower part of the bush should be removed into a ring. As a result of such pruning, well-leafed shoots are formed in July - August, from which one strong shoot is selected and shortened by 15 - 20 cm.

In the 2nd -3rd year, lateral growths (future skeletal branches) located above the trunk are left at a distance of 30 - 40 cm from each other in a spiral. The angles at which branches depart from the trunk should be 45 - 60°, and between branches - 90-120°.

In some forms of feijoa, characterized by strong growth and a tendency to form an overly spreading crown, the shoots are cut to V3 length. In subsequent years, the crown of the formed bushes is only periodically thinned, while fatty and damaged shoots are cut off.

In winter gardens and other enclosed spaces, with poor ventilation and insufficient lighting, the crown thickens quickly. In this case, it should be periodically thinned out, removing weakened and diseased shoots.

See how feijoa pruning is done in the photos below:

The feijoa fruit has become widely known relatively recently. It was discovered in the forests of South America by the German botanist Friedrich Sello in the mid-19th century. The plant was first brought to Europe in 1890, first in botanical gardens Yalta and Sukhumi, later to California and Italy. From Italy, feijoa spread throughout the Mediterranean and further into Southeast Asia. Nowadays, this plant is cultivated in Crimea, Latin America, Australia, Turkmenistan, Southeast Asia, Italy, and New Zealand.

Feijoa - description

The plant belongs to the Myrtaceae family. There are not many species in it, and among them the only one grown is feijoa. Few people know what feijoa looks like, being familiar only with its fruits. The plant itself is an evergreen tree-like shrub. It is capable of growing up to 4 meters in height. Densely branched root system located in top layer soil. Feijoa is a moisture-loving plant. Its leaves are hard, pubescent, attached to the branches with short petioles. The leaves are green above, silvery below. The trunk is covered with green-brown rough bark.

The feijoa fruit itself is a fragrant, soft, fleshy, juicy berry that tastes similar to kiwi, pineapple and strawberry at the same time. This combination of flavors can captivate you from the first bite. The shape of the fruit can vary from spherical to oval. Its size is small - only 2-5 cm, weight - up to 60 g. The pulp of the fruit contains seeds, and on the outside it is protected by a lumpy skin from yellow-green to dark green.

How does feijoa grow?

Feijoa grows wherever it is warm. Her homeland is the subtropics, in this climate she feels very good. As for the tropics, the plant does not tolerate this zone well. Many, impressed by the benefits of berries and decorative look shrubs, trying to grow feijoa at home. It must be said that with certain knowledge about care and with suitable climate(or his artificial creation) in many cases this is quite successful.

Feijoa flowering

The feijoa bush blooms in May-June with axillary four-membered flowers, both single and inflorescences. The inflorescences are bisexual, they contain many stamens (50-80 pieces). Pollination occurs thanks to insects. The feijoa tree looks very elegant during the flowering period. Mass flowering lasts three weeks, after which the petals and most of the ovaries fall off. Of the entire mass of flowering, the useful ovary occupies only 17-18%.

When does feijoa ripen?

Tasty and rich in iodine and vitamin C, feijoa fruit ripens from mid-October to late November. Ripe fruits fall from the branches and are collected from the ground. For sale, berries are picked a little earlier. While the berries are not ripe, they are collected from the branches. This way it can withstand transportation better. The first feijoa fruits will ripen indoors 6 years after planting the seeds. If you planted cuttings or root shoots, you will be pleased with the first harvest after three years.

Feijoa species

Before you start growing feijoa home plant, let's learn about its main types:

1. "Andre." Feijoa variety that came from Brazil. Its fruits are medium-sized, oblong or round, their surface is rough, light green in color. The pulp is thick, there are few seeds in it. The taste is very rich and intense. The plant is self-fertile and always bears a lot of fruit.
2. "Besson." The homeland of this variety is Uruguay. The fruits are small or medium-sized, oval-shaped, with a burgundy blush. The skin of the fruit is thin, the flesh is not very thick, fine-grained, juicy, aromatic, with many seeds.
3. "Coolidge." Grown primarily in California. The fruits are either oblong or pear-shaped, medium in size. The skin is slightly corrugated. The aroma of the fruit is indeterminate. The plant is self-fertile, strong and erect.
4. "Superba". The fruits of this feijoa variety are round or slightly oval in shape, medium smooth, and good in taste. No less than 33% self-fertile. Spreading bush medium strength.
5. Choiceana. The fruits are round or slightly oval, smooth, medium in size, and have a pleasant taste. The bush is of medium strength, the plant is 42% self-fertile.

How to grow feijoa at home?

Since the feijoa fruit comes from Brazil, to grow it, two main conditions must be met - heat and humidity. The plant is bred not only for its fruits, but also as an ornamental plant - its flowering is very beautiful, its flowers are complex, with many red stamens against the background of snow-white petals and burgundy stipules. If you are able to provide subtropical conditions for feijoa, growing it will become a real hobby for you.

Feijoa plant - soil

The optimal soil for this plant is sand, humus, turf and deciduous soil in equal proportions. In general, the plant is not particularly demanding on the soil, so an ordinary flower substrate will do. The first 2-3 years after planting are important. How to grow feijoa during this period: you need to replant it annually in a fresh nutrient substrate. Adult plants should retain the root ball when transplanted, and with fresh soil you only need to fill the space up to the walls of the pot.

How to plant feijoa?

Like many plants, feijoa can be planted by seed. How to grow feijoa from seeds:

1. The seeds must be fresh, in no case from last year. It is best to collect them yourself, without relying on store-bought ones. They must be taken from an unripe fruit.
2. The seeds are washed and dried for 6 days.
3. The seeds laid out on the surface of the soil are sprinkled with a 5 mm layer of soil.
4. Watering should be very careful so that the seeds are not washed away. To do this, you can cover the container with a napkin.
5. The first shoots will appear within a month when winter planting and after 2 weeks if they were planted in the summer.

Feijoa in a pot - watering

Watering and proper soil and air humidity are important components of caring for feijoas at home. This plant is moisture-loving; on hot days, in addition to watering, it needs frequent spraying. You need to water the soil as it dries, removing water from the pan after watering. In winter, it is useful to spray the plant with warm water; watering at this time of year should be more moderate.

How to feed feijoa?

Another condition for growing indoor feijoa is feeding. It is especially important to do this during flowering and fruit set. Throughout the year, feijoa, a fruit from the subtropics, is fed every 15 days, alternating phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. To do this, horse manure is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10, and ash extract is also used. Before each feeding, the plant is watered with plain water.

How to care for feijoa?

For the feijoa plant, care is important in terms of lighting and compliance with certain temperature regime. In summer, you can keep a tub of flowers on the balcony, where the temperature stays at +30° C. At the same time, direct sun rays best avoided. In winter, the plant’s development naturally slows down, so it needs rest. The temperature should be reduced to 14° C.

If desired, formative pruning can be done. To do this, in the first year, all main stems are cut 30-45 cm from the base. This creates a skeleton and eliminates unnecessary growth at the bottom of the bush. In 2-3 years, lateral growths above the trunk are formed. They are cut at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other in the shape of a spiral. Their angles from the trunk should be 45-60°, between branches - 90-120°. In subsequent years, thinning pruning and removal of dry and weak shoots are carried out.

Feijoa - reproduction

The fruit called feijoa is propagated mainly by cuttings or root shoots. When cutting, you need to find the mother feijoa or take a large piece of the crown, remove all the leaves from it, leaving only the top pair and place it in a heteroauxin solution for 16 hours. After this, you can plant it in a mixture of humus and sand to a greater depth, leaving only a third of the cutting on the surface.

Growing feijoa at home from root shoots is also easy. This method is used no less often than cuttings. It’s easy to get shoots - feijoa is a fast growing plants, producing abundant root shoots that must be constantly removed. Some of it can be used for reproduction. To do this, when transplanting an adult plant, you need to carefully separate the shoots.

Hello friends! Today we will talk about the feijoa fruit, and we will also talk about beneficial features feijoa.

Something seems to have drawn me back to the exotic...

Well, okay, since we are already talking about feijoa, I will definitely share information with you about rambutan, medlar, and some other fruits. Walk, just walk.

But we will talk about them separately. Now, let's figure this out with you.

As for the fruits of this plant, some claim that feijoa is a fruit, and some claim that it is a berry. Which one is right?

If you use a source such as Wikipedia, it clearly states that this is a berry. But, since it has become the custom among the people, it is often classified as a fruit - then it will remain so with us.

Feijoa

If we talk about the fruit itself, it is so unique that it is used not only as a delicacy or food for a variety of nutrition, but also in medicinal and cosmetic products. But since now we have more we're talking about about its edible properties and characteristics - then we’ll focus on them.

But about the cosmetic properties of feijoa, as well as medicinal properties we will talk in a separate article, which I called everything. By the way, we will also talk a lot about the presence of vitamins and minerals in it.

Where and how does feijoa grow?

To be honest, this plant can even be grown in your kitchen. This is due to the fact that although it is exotic, it is, however, quite picky. But, if you grow it at home, you can’t count on fruits. And if there are any, then, as they say, “one tooth at a time.”

But if you shelter him in some kind of greenhouse, where there is more space and a special microclimate, then everything is possible. Well, feijoa grows in both tropical and subtropical climates. At the same time, the subtropical climate is more natural for it.

So, those southern parts of Russia (the same Krasnodar region), which belong to a subtropical climate, may be quite suitable for its cultivation. If we talk about those countries where it is cultivated the most, then the list includes:

• Central and South America,
• Eastern countries (India, Japan, Korea),
• region of New Zealand,
• Southern countries of Europe,
• southern regions of the Caucasus,
• South Coast (Crimea), although it is not cultivated as much as we would like.

Feijoa grows in relatively small bushes from which you can collect good harvests. So, if one such bush is well looked after, it can produce up to 25 - 30 kilograms of fruits (berries).

Feijoa fruit

Feijoa fruit is a green fruit with a yellowish tint, the average weight of which is about 70 grams. Well, depending on the growing region and conditions, the weight can be either 20 grams or reach 120 grams. Everything, of course, depends on the care and skill of the person who grows it.

If we directly approach the consideration of this miracle - the fruit - then I want to say that everything in it is edible. Although, of course, the most edible is the pulp, the peel that covers it is also used in cooking, and not only in it.

But, due to the fastidiousness and variety of other fruits, local residents of the regions where feijoa grows prefer to immediately get rid of the sour and bitter peel and gobble up only the juicy pulp. For us (especially for residents northern regions former scoop) the peel will serve as quite suitable food.

This can be immediately explained by some important properties:

1. the peel contains a lot of fiber,
2. it contains many antioxidants that are always necessary for humans,
3. contains, like the fruit itself, vitamins and minerals.

Speaking about myself feijoa fruit and you don’t have to worry about what it tastes like, since it’s quite sweet. Due to the fact that it contains a lot of natural sucrose, as well as fructose, its sweetness is very reminiscent of a very juicy, ripe and very sweet pear.

In terms of consistency, the inside of the fruit is a jelly-like mass, which the local population devolves with a spoon. But you can eat without resorting to the help of this cutlery. By the way, eating feijoa fruit is somewhat similar to eating pudding.

Feijoa contraindications

Of course, before trying feijoa fruit for the first time, you need to find out about possible contraindications. In general, there is no danger for the average person. Danger may occur if:

• a person has an individual intolerance essential oils, what is contained in the fruit, and especially in the peel,
• eat more than 400 grams of fruit per day.

Due to the high sugar content, a large number of fruits can cause digestive upset or worsen the functioning of the cardiovascular system.

Articles on the topic

In order to give you, my dear reader, even more useful information– I decided to provide you with more detailed information that I found on other sites:

Well, now, as promised at the beginning, let’s talk about other fruits, which I also recommend trying.

Rambutan

If we talk about rambutan, then in terms of the consistency of the pulp it is very similar to the feijoa fruit. It also has a “pudding-like” pulp, which is simply saturated with various sugars. It is very, very sweet and just melts in your mouth. In general, in order not to greatly stretch an already rather lengthy article, I wrote a separate article for you, which you can read.

Medlar

Medlar is more common here, as it is grown in the south of Russia, as well as in Crimea and other similar climatic zones. If you haven’t tried it yet, it means either you don’t know about its beneficial properties, or no one has yet told you about its unusual taste. One way or another, for you, I also decided to work on a separate article in which we talk in detail.

To summarize our conversation today, I will say that it is advisable to consume all of the above fruits at lunchtime and it is not recommended to gorge on them in the evening. The most optimal time, in which our body easily digests and assimilates them - this is from 9 a.m. to 6–7 p.m..

P.S: I ask you to leave a comment on this article, and also share information about the feijoa fruit with others through the buttons social networks below.

Every year in the fall, a nondescript-looking product with the strange and unpronounceable name feijoa appears on sale. What is this - the thought flashed through my mind, but it always passed by. This year I decided to pay attention to it, since people buy it and the reviews are positive. If you also don’t know anything about this exotic, then let’s get to know feijoa - what it is, a fruit or berry, where it grows and how to eat it.

A little history about the exotic feijoa plant

It is unknown how long this plant has existed; attention was paid to it relatively recently. The discoverer of feijoa is considered to be the naturalist scientist Carl Otto Berg, who, during his research flora South America, saw green fruits growing on evergreen trees. He gave the name to the plant. He named it in honor of a man who devoted his whole life to studying the flora and fauna of Brazil and Portugal. The name of this man is Joao da Silva Feijo - he was at the origins of the creation, and later was the director of the natural museum in Lisbon.

This exotic plant also has its own romantic legend.

It says that in the same village there lived a young man and a girl who loved each other. They had to separate and he long years I was waiting on the seashore for my beloved.

But the ship his girlfriend was on sank. She ended up in the kingdom of the Sea Lord and he, taking pity, allowed her to see her beloved, turning her into a sea breeze.

Suddenly the young man also disappeared, and in his place a beautiful evergreen tree. It leaned towards the sea, and the sea breeze gently played with its leaves. People decided that the Gods took pity on the young man and turned him into a tree growing on the sea coast.

Soon it appeared beautiful flowers, and then the fruits.
Not only did they have an exquisite taste, they were rich in iodine. People decided that it was the sea breeze that endowed the fruits with an unusual taste and medicinal properties.

They called this tree Feijoa, because that was the name of the young man who was faithful to his beloved girl for many years.

Feijoa - what is it, a fruit or a berry, photo

Look at the photo of the plant itself, the feijoa fruit. After such a romantic fairy tale, it no longer seems inconspicuous, but arouses interest. And if you add to this the taste, which they say combines kiwi, pineapple and strawberries, then you’ll want to try it.

The size of the fruits varies, from 15 to 120 grams, depending on the type. But despite its rather large size, feijoa is considered a berry. The shape of the fruit is oval, color from yellow-green to dark green. The skin of the berry can be smooth or pimply. Feijoa pulp is light translucent with small seeds.

Where does feijoa grow?

If you suddenly hear the name “akka”, know that this is also feijoa, as some peoples living in South America call this plant. You can meet him in Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and northern Argentina.

In other countries, acca has not gone unnoticed. Now it grows in Southeast Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan. We grow feijoa in the Crimea and Krasnodar region.

Although the height of the plant can reach 4 meters, feijoa is considered not a tree, but a shrub; it belongs to the myrtle family. This evergreen shrub loves warm climates, but can withstand frost down to -12 degrees.

Feijoa is a moisture-loving plant; its branched root system lies in surface layer soil. Grown from seeds begins to bear fruit after 6 years, grafted earlier. Lovers exotic plants they even grow it at home.

Feijoa - as is, with or without peel

The rough, green peel gives the impression that it is not edible and the berry needs to be peeled. And I was sure that this was so. But in fact, the peel of feijoa is edible, but they say that not everyone likes it. I’ll tell you my opinion - I liked its tart taste. The pulp has a different taste, it is tender and pleasant.

How to eat feijoa correctly:

• Like all berries, feijoa is best eaten fresh. If someone does not like to eat it with the peel, then the pulp can be eaten with a spoon, cutting the fruit in half.
• the peel contains a lot of valuable and useful substances, so it is recommended to add the berry with the peel to salads, and these can be not only fruit ones. Feijoa goes well with dietary chicken and turkey, so it can also be added to meat salads.
• the feijoa season is very short and connoisseurs of this healthy berries prepare it for the winter. Eat different ways, but the best way is to grind it together with the peel through a meat grinder and mix it with sugar, store fresh jam in the refrigerator.
• they say that the peel can be dried and then added to tea.

Fresh fruits are stored for 1 to 3 weeks, depending on ripeness and storage method.

How to choose feijoa

The peculiarity of the berry is that when ripe it is very tender and does not tolerate transportation well. Therefore, it is removed in an unripe form, but the advantage is that feijoa is able to ripen without losing its useful qualities.

It is problematic to determine the ripeness of fruits by appearance; the crust does not change its color when ripe. When choosing, pay attention to appearance- the crust should have a uniform color, without brownish spots.

When buying at the market, you can ask the seller to cut the berry lengthwise:

• if pulp Brown with a musty smell, then the berry is overripe and it is better not to take it.
• if the flesh is transparent, pale cream in color, with pleasant aroma, then this is what you need.
• if the flesh is white, dense, odorless, the fruit is not ripe, but we remember that feijoa can ripen at your home.

Beneficial properties of feijoa berries

In its homeland, acca is considered the berry of youth and joy. In terms of its iodine content, it is compared to seafood. It also contains many useful vitamins, macro- and microelements. The calorie content of feijoa is 49 kcal per 100 grams of product.

More detailed information in the video and in the blog article, in which you will learn not only about the benefits and harms, you will also find different recipes and not just for food.

Educational program about feijoa

In conclusion, a short lesson in Russian. The word "feijoa" female with emphasis on "O". The word is not inclined, so in any variant it will only be feijoa and nothing else. There is no adjective with this word either. Therefore, unlike raspberry jam, we will make feijoa jam.

This concludes my acquaintance with a citizen from South America; I am sure that I was able to answer the question: feijoa - what is it? The berry is worth paying attention to and enjoying this exotic fruit while you still have the opportunity to buy it. I don’t know where, in Volgograd the price for feijoa is 170 rubles per kilogram. Hurry up, as I already said, her season is short.

Elena Kasatova. See you by the fireplace.

Akka can become a decoration for any garden or home. So how to grow feijoa in the garden?

Feijoas are valued for their aesthetic appearance, beautiful bloom and for delicious and useful fruits.

When growing feijoa in open ground The plant can be formed using a bush or a tree.

Attention! Pineapple grass can only be grown in open ground in warm climates. If winters are cold in your region, you can plant indoor feijoa.

The plant can withstand temperatures as low as –10. In severe frost - acca freezes to the roots and begins to grow again in the spring.

If you want to decorate your garden with pineapple grass, but do not live in the Crimea or the Caucasus, you can “move” the bush to winter Garden.

These are the features of growing acca in open ground. Read on to learn how to grow feijoa at home.

Growing at home

Pineapple grass is a unpretentious plants. Therefore, feijoa will take root well at home.

When growing feijoa at home, it is important to remember that the plant is light-loving, but direct rays can cause burns, so you should keep the plant in diffused light. In summer it is recommended to take the battery outside Fresh air- on the balcony or on the street.

IMPORTANT! If you want your indoor feijoa to bear fruit, grow varieties that self-pollinate. Such as Nikitinsky aromatic, Crimean early, Superba.

Planting, soil requirements

How to plant feijoa if climatic conditions allow? You can plant acca in open ground in March - April. When planting and caring for feijoa in the garden special conditions not required. When planting feijoa seedlings, they need to be placed at a distance of 4 m from each other.

Before planting feijoa at home, you need to buy a substrate for planting indoor acca, or you can prepare it yourself: mix turf and deciduous land, peat and sand.

IMPORTANT! For pineapple grass It’s good when the soil is slightly acidic, air- and moisture-permeable.

Transplant indoor plant It is necessary every year for the first 3 years, then every 2-3 years. With each transplant, take a pot 8–10 cm larger than the previous one.

A lump of earth is left around the root. If the root system is very extensive, you can prune it a little before placing it in new pot.

Lighting, humidity and watering

Feijoa, like all southern residents, loves light. Therefore, at home you need to keep it on sunny side, and in warm weather take it out onto the balcony or street.

If there is insufficient lighting, the acca plant does not bear fruit, the shoots become elongated and the plant loses its decorative appearance.

Costs protect pineapple grass from scorching direct rays. And in case of insufficient lighting, to grow feijoas at home, you need to illuminate them with fluorescent lamps.

Akka loves water. Watering in summer time should be plentiful, but make sure that the soil does not become waterlogged. Water as the top layer dries. In winter, you need to water moderately, but do not allow it to dry out.

IMPORTANT! The plant is comfortable in humid air. Therefore, if your feijoa is a home plant, it needs to be sprayed. The more often the better. In winter they also spray, but with warm water and less often.

Temperature

During the formation of feijoa flowers, a temperature of 21–24 °C is needed.

In winter, the acca rests; 10–14° C will be enough.

Garden trees can withstand -10 in winter, some up to -15.

Reproduction

There are several possible ways to propagate feijoa:

• seeds. The seeds are obtained from ripe fruits. The seeds are separated from the pulp, washed and dried. Such material is suitable for planting for 3 years. Before planting, the seeds are disinfected, for example, with a weak solution of manganese.

  The seeds are poured onto the ground and sprinkled with a small layer of soil on top. Place a plastic bag over the pot. Place in a warm, dark place. Light will be needed when the seeds germinate. You can, of course, buy seeds in a store, but it’s better to prepare them yourself;

• cuttings. Cut cuttings 8–20 cm long with several leaves; it is better to take them from the middle of the crown. This is done in late autumn - early winter. Before planting, you can keep it in a root formation stimulator for about a day. Then they are stuck into the soil and covered with a jar or cellophane. Periodically you need to ventilate and water. Planted in a permanent place after roots appear;
• root shoots. Most convenient way if you already have feijoa. When transplanting, part of the roots is carefully separated and planted.

Growing feijoa at home from seeds is a very painstaking process. And the fruits will appear only after 5–6 years. Propagation by cuttings is convenient if there is no plant from which you can take part of the root. Because root transplanting gives the most top scores.

Growth process

Akka belongs to the fast-growing ones. The height depends on the conditions of detention.

At home it grows 1 - 2 m, in the garden - up to 6 m (on average 2 - 3 m).

The root system grows greatly. Therefore, when transplanting It is recommended to remove some of the roots.

Cut parts can be great planting material. To keep the tree from growing upward, it is worth plucking young shoots 20 cm high.

The lifespan of feijoas varies greatly, depending on temperature, watering, and lighting. In Sochi there are specimens that are more than 70 years old.

For good growth and harvest needs to be fed from spring to autumn. It is better to alternately fertilize with organic and mineral fertilizers every 2 – 4 weeks.

Bloom

The plant blooms very beautifully - feijoa flowers are white on the outside and crimson on the inside, with long bright stamens.

The flowering period of feijoa is long (up to a month). At home - from May to June. In open ground, with favorable conditions blooms in June.

Fruit

The feijoa ovary begins to form after 3 - 4 years if grown from cuttings, after 5 - 6 years - when feijoa is propagated by seeds. If the variety is not self-pollinating, you need to grow several copies.

The shape of the berries is similar to lemons, 4–7 cm long. The taste is reminiscent of kiwi, strawberry and pineapple at the same time. Ripening occurs in October – December. Ripe fruits fall from the tree. Under favorable conditions, in a warm climate, one bush produces 5–30 kg of fruit.

Application of fruits

In addition to its pleasant taste, feijoa has many beneficial qualities. The fruits contain:

• Iodine. In large quantities, it contains water-soluble compounds that are easily absorbed by the body. Daily norm an adult is provided with 1-2 fruits.
• Vitamins, especially C.
• Pectin.
• Cellulose.
• Sugar, acids, essential oils.

Fruit have good anti-inflammatory properties.

This allows feijoa to be used to treat diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, liver, and pancreas.

Also used for thyroid diseases and as a source of vitamin C.

Fine helps feijoa in the fight against Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli. More about healing properties feijoa, as well as about who can eat this fruit and who can’t, read.

Interestingly, feijoas, which grow near the sea, have the most healthy and tasty fruits.

Eating fresh, ripe fruits correctly will ensure maximum benefits for the body. Maturity is checked by the appearance of the pulp: in a ripe fruit it is transparent. If the fruit is a little unripe, it will reach home in a few days, but If the pulp has darkened, then it cannot be consumed.

The larger the fruit, the more beneficial it is. Feijoa is used in cooking for making marmalades, jams, and drinks. They even make wine from pineapple grass.

IMPORTANT! Despite its exotic nature, the fruit does not cause allergies. The only drawback is the short shelf life of the product. So without refrigeration, the fruit will last only 15 days.

Diseases and pests

There are several possible problems when growing feijoa:

Defeat by false scale insects.
Young plants are especially vulnerable and may even lose their leaves. The best control measure is prevention - the leaves and stems are periodically washed with a soap solution.

If pests do appear, they are manually shaken off the plant with a soft brush. And then the branches are treated with a soap solution. The procedure is repeated once a week up to 5 times. The ground under the feijoa is covered to prevent soap from getting into the soil. Or you can spray with a solution of karbofos: 5 g diluted in 1 liter of water. Often two procedures are sufficient.

Red spider mite.
Appears in conditions of low air humidity. Prevented by regular spraying of the plant.

Fungal diseases.
Possible when the soil is waterlogged. Compliance correct mode Watering will help prevent disease.

In garden conditions, spraying with 1% Bordeaux mixture is used to prevent diseases and pest damage.

By growing it at home, you will receive not only a beautiful ornamental plant, but also tasty, healthy fruits. Pineapple grass quite easy to care for. Decorate your conservatory with a new one exotic specimen.

Useful video

How to plant feijoa, how the plant grows at home, watch the following video: