Guava Trees

How to choose a guava

The Thai White Guava and the Hawaiian Guava are common guavas (Psidium guajava) with large fruit that can be eaten fresh or cooked. The Strawberry Guava and the Yellow Cherry Guava are cherry guavas (Psidium cattleyanum): smaller bushes with sweet, aromatic small fruit.

The Feijoa Pineapple Guava is not a true guava. It is a feijoa (Acca sellowiana), a hardier shrub with grey green leaves and edible petals, and it prefers a cooler climate.

Where guavas grow

True guavas grow best in the subtropics and tropics, and in warm temperate areas with mild winters and full sun. They are frost tender when young and mature plants will take only a light frost. Cherry guavas are hardier. Note that cherry guava can self seed in warm, wet climates, so in those areas pick up fallen fruit and do not plant near bushland.

Browse more fruit trees and edible plants, or the plants for subtropical climates that share a garden with guavas.

The fruit differs between groups. Common guavas carry large fruit with pink or white flesh and a musky, sweet smell, and they are eaten fresh, stewed or made into jelly and paste. Cherry guavas bear marble to golf ball sized fruit, ripening red or yellow, with a flavour often compared to strawberry. The feijoa produces egg shaped green fruit with a perfumed, tangy flesh.

Common guava is one of the richest garden sources of vitamin C among tree fruit, but it is better picked for its flavour than anything else.

Planting and spacing

Plant in full sun in well drained soil with compost worked in. Common guavas reach three to six metres and need about three to four metres between plants, while cherry guavas stay smaller and can be spaced about two metres apart. In a pot, use a large container with citrus or fruit tree mix.

Care basics

Water regularly while the tree is young and through fruiting. Feed in spring and summer with a fertiliser for fruit trees, and mulch. Prune after harvest to keep the tree open and at a height you can pick from. In regions where fruit fly is a problem, bag fruit or use netting and traps. Fruit forms on new wood, so a light annual prune encourages crops.

Cherry guavas make a dense, evergreen hedge or screen when planted about a metre apart and clipped lightly. In warm, wet climates, collect fallen fruit so seedlings do not spread into nearby bushland.

Common questions

How long until a guava fruits?

Often within two to three years of planting, and sooner on a well fed tree.

Can I grow a guava in a pot?

Yes. Cherry guavas in particular suit large pots, and potted plants can be moved into a sheltered spot over winter.

Is a feijoa a guava?

Not a true guava. It belongs to a related genus and enjoys cooler, drier conditions than tropical guavas.

Do guavas need a second plant to fruit?

No. Guavas and cherry guavas are self fertile, so one plant will fruit on its own.