How to Grow Guava? The Latest Cultivation Techniques and Methods Tutorial

Guava is a tropical fruit tree with strong adaptability, native to tropical America, spread to tropical and subtropical regions worldwide in the 16th-17th centuries, and introduced to China around the end of the 17th century. It is now cultivated in Taiwan, China, Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiangxi, Yunnan and other provinces in our country, and in some places it has escaped to become a wild fruit tree. It has extremely high cultivation value. Let's take a look at guava cultivation techniques together below!

Growth Habits of Guava

Guava grows on wasteland or low hills, suitable for tropical climates, afraid of frost. Generally, young trees will freeze to death when the temperature is -1~2°C, and the suitable growth temperature requires an average summer temperature above 15°C. It has low soil requirements, growing better in well-drained sandy loam and clay loam, and can be planted in soil with pH 4.5~8.0.

Propagation Techniques of Guava

1. Grafting: Generally, own-rootstock is used. When the seedling diameter reaches 0.7 cm, grafting can be done. Bud grafting or branch grafting can be used, preferably in winter and spring. The scion should not be too old or too tender, and branches that have just shed their bark are best. Remove leaves 10~15 days before collecting scions. Cutting when buds are about to sprout gives the best results. Thick rootstock accumulates more nutrients, which is beneficial for graft survival. Generally, unbind 1 month after bud grafting. After the grafted bud heals and survives, cut the rootstock to encourage scion sprouting and growth, and it can be outplanted for field planting after 1 year.

2. Air layering: For air layering, select 2~3-year-old branches with a diameter of 1.2~1.5 cm, girdle at 40~60 cm from the branch tip, with a girdle width of 2~3 cm, and wrap with rooting medium. Before wrapping the rooting medium, apply indolebutyric acid aqueous solution or lanolin to the girdled wound, which can promote early rooting, more roots, and higher survival rate. After 2 months, when new roots grow densely, saw it off from the mother plant for temporary planting. Plant after two new flushes emerge and turn green.

3. Cutting: For cuttings, cut 2~3-year-old branches with a stem diameter of 1.2~1.5 cm and a length of 15 cm, and take cuttings in February to April. Treating the base of cuttings with 0.2% indolebutyric acid can promote rooting, and adding 2% sucrose is even better. You can also use 0.2% naphthaleneacetic acid treatment with leafy cuttings, which works even better under mist conditions. After treatment, cultivate in a cutting bed at 28~32°C for fast and good rooting.

Cultivation Techniques of Guava

1. Planting: For early-maturing guava varieties and poor soil, a row spacing of 4×4 m can be used. For mid-to-late-maturing varieties and fertile soil, a row spacing of 6×4 m or 5×5 m can be used. Combined with soil improvement, dig planting holes 80 cm deep and 80 cm wide, and bury weeds, green manure, organic fertilizer and lime in layers.

2. Backfilling: After planting and backfilling guava, the mound should be more than 20 cm above the ground. It is best to apply base fertilizer and backfill the planting hole 1 month in advance, which helps the soil in the planting hole settle and avoids planting too deep due to sinking after planting. After planting, cover the tree base with grass and water thoroughly to settle the roots. If there are too many shoots and leaves, some leaves can be pruned to reduce water consumption. After planting, set up supports to prevent wind from shaking and breaking tender branches.

3. Pruning: After guava seedlings are planted, cut the stem when the seedling height is 50~60 cm to promote new shoots. Select and retain 3~4 evenly distributed slanting branches with suitable branching angles as main branches. Shorten main branches to 30~40 cm to induce branching, and select 2~3 as secondary main branches. Then cultivate fruiting branches on the main and secondary main branches. This can form a round-headed canopy with a short trunk, multiple main branches, dwarfed tree shape, and many effective branches.

4. Fertilizer and Water: The quality of guava fruit is closely related to fertilization. There is a clear difference in taste between fruits mainly fertilized with organic fertilizer and those mainly fertilized with chemical fertilizer. In fertilization, organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer should be reasonably combined. In the first year after planting, apply 2 kg of ternary compound fertilizer, 1 kg of bean bran, 0.2 kg of potassium sulfate, and 0.5 kg of shell lime per plant. In the second year after planting, double the amount of the previous year's fertilization. In the third year after planting, do not increase the fertilization amount, or increase it according to tree vigor and yield.

① Young trees: Generally, fertilize 2 times for each new flush cultivated, once at new shoot budding and once when new shoots reach 40 cm, applying 2.5~5.0 kg of decomposed manure water or bran water plus 0.3% urea liquid fertilizer per plant, or applying 25 g of urea plus 50 g of potassium fertilizer.

② Flower-strengthening fertilizer: After each pruning to promote flowering, apply ternary compound fertilizer, accounting for 30% of the annual fertilization amount, and 1 kg of lime powder.

③ Fruit-setting fertilizer: During the guava fruit growth period, apply ternary compound fertilizer plus potassium sulfate, accounting for 30% of the annual fertilization amount.

④ Pre-harvest fertilizer: Before harvesting guava, apply decomposed poultry and livestock manure, farmyard manure or peanut bran, accounting for 40% of the annual fertilization amount. Stop applying chemical fertilizer at this time.

⑤ Foliar fertilizer: During the new shoot greening stage, flower bud stage, and young fruit development stage of guava, spray 1~2 times with 0.5% magnesium sulfate or 0.1% boric acid or 0.2% borax solution, at intervals of 7~10 days, or apply extra-root topdressing according to element deficiency.

5. Pests and Diseases: The main pests and diseases of guava include canker, damping-off, nematode disease, anthracnose, sooty mold, fruit rot, mealybug, cotton aphid, peach fruit borer, whitefly, aphid and yellow stinging caterpillar, etc.

① Canker and damping-off can be prevented and treated by applying Bordeaux paste (1 part copper sulfate, 2 parts slaked lime, 3 parts cow dung mixed into a paste) to the wounds.

② Anthracnose, fruit rot and sooty mold can be controlled with 50% zineb, 50% thiophanate-methyl 1000-fold solution, or 75% chlorothalonil 800-fold solution.

③ Once nematode disease infects, it is quite difficult to treat. Once diseased plants are found, they should be pulled out or pruned and burned in time to prevent spread.

④ Peach fruit borer can be controlled with 2.5% cyhalothrin EC 2000-fold solution.

⑤ Aphids, whiteflies, etc. can be controlled with 25% buprofezin 1000-fold solution or 40% omethoate 1000-fold solution.