Detailed Guide to Guava Planting Techniques and Management Methods

Guava (Psidium guajava Linn.), a tree of the Myrtaceae family, reaches up to 13 m tall; the bark is smooth, gray, and peels off in flakes; the young branches are angular and covered with hairs. The leaves are leathery, oblong to elliptical, with an acute or blunt apex and a nearly rounded base, slightly rough on the upper surface and hairy beneath, with lateral veins usually sunken and reticulate veins distinct; the petiole is 5 mm long.

 Conditions Required for Guava Planting

  1. Soil Requirements

  Guava is suited to loose, fertile sandy soil with a deep soil layer, which allows the plant to grow quickly and bear abundant, high-quality fruit. If planted in clay soil, yields can still be acceptable, but drainage measures must be well managed to prevent a high water table from affecting plant growth. If planted in sandy soil or gravelly soil with good water and fertilizer retention, then watering and fertilizing must be done well.

  2. Temperature Requirements

  The optimum growth temperature is between 23-28 degrees, and it can grow above 15 degrees, so generally areas with an average monthly temperature above 15 degrees can plant it. If there is prolonged low temperature or frost, with temperatures below 0 degrees, it will directly cause young trees to freeze to death, while prolonged high temperatures are unfavorable for growth, flowering and fruiting, and fruit development.

  3. Water Requirements

  Guava is both drought-tolerant and moisture-tolerant, making it a fruit tree with extremely wide adaptability, but during its growth period it still needs a certain amount of water to grow. It is suitable for planting in areas with annual rainfall of 1000-2000 mm, and within this range it grows extremely fast; once rainfall is too heavy, it may cause the fruit, when ripening, to decline in sweetness and fruit flavor due to excessive water, and in addition, during flowering, excessive drought will cause flower drop and affect yield.

  4. Light Requirements

  Guava prefers an environment with ample light and can also tolerate shade, but under ample light it grows faster and bears fruit earlier, with good fruit quality, allowing it to seize the market as quickly as possible and expand profits.

  Guava Cultivation and Planting Techniques

  1. Planting

  For guava planting, early-maturing varieties and poor soil can be planted at a row-to-plant spacing of 4 m x 4 m; if mid-to-late-maturing or fertile soil, a row-to-plant spacing of 6 m x 4 m or 5 m x 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. After backfilling, the soil should be more than 20 cm above the ground; it is best to apply base fertilizer and backfill the planting holes one month before planting, which helps the soil in the planting holes settle and avoids planting too deep due to sinking after planting.

  2. Pruning

  For guava planting, proper pruning should be carried out. After the seedlings are planted, when the seedling height is 50-60 cm, cut the trunk to encourage new shoots. Select and retain 3-4 oblique branches with even distribution and suitable branching angles as main branches, cut the main branches back to 30-40 cm to produce branches, and select and retain 2-3 as secondary main branches.

  3. Fertilizer and Water

  In fertilizing guava, organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer should be reasonably combined. In the 1st year after planting, apply per plant 2 kg of ternary compound fertilizer (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content each 15%), 1 kg of bean bran (or an equivalent amount of organic fertilizer such as chicken manure or pig manure), 0.2 kg of potassium sulfate, and 0.5 kg of shell lime. In the 2nd year after planting, double the fertilization amount of the previous year; in the 3rd year after planting, no longer increase the fertilization amount, or the fertilization amount may be increased according to tree vigor and yield.

  4. Pest and Disease Control

  The main pests and diseases of guava include canker, damping-off, nematode disease, anthracnose, sooty mold, fruit rot, cotton aphid, whitefly, aphid, and yellow nettle caterpillar, among others. Canker and damping-off can be controlled with 47% kasugamycin.copper hydroxide and 45% metalaxyl.hymexazol. Anthracnose, fruit rot, and sooty mold can be controlled with 50% zineb or 75% chlorothalonil 800-fold solution.

  Nematode disease is the transmission vector of damping-off, and once infected it is quite difficult to treat. For control of this disease, healthy seedlings must be selected as potted seedlings; the potting nutrient soil must be mixed with phoxim, lime, and other disinfectants, and once diseased plants are found they must be promptly pulled out or pruned off and burned to prevent spread. For the peach fruit moth, 25% emamectin benzoate ▪ diflubenzuron can be used. For aphids, whiteflies, and others, 2.5% bifenthrin, 25% acetamiprid, 30% clothianidin, and others can be used for control.