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Kings Plant Barn Love Feijoas

Wednesday 18 May 2016, 10:15AM

By Beckie Wright

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Kings Plant Barn have a great selection of Feijoa plants and this is the month when they produce their delightful, if unusual fruit. Feijoas are hardy, evergreen plants that are easy to grow, and look great as a tree or when planted in a hedge. There are heaps of different varieties available at Kings Plant Barn, but with a few pointers it should be relatively easy for people to figure out what varieties will work best for them.

At Kings, often the cheapest Feijoa trees available are sold as ‘Sellowiana’. These are seedling-grown trees, which means that the fruit is at best variable, and more commonly small and sour. However, they are great for those who want to create a hedge. Regarding pollination, Kings advise that there are a few varieties around, that are self-fertile (such as Unique) but most varieties require a pollinator before they will fruit well. Thankfully sorting out a pollinator for Feijoas is easy and all that is needed to do is grow two or more varieties. Of course the birds that pollinate trees don’t respect property lines, so if any neighbours have a feijoa tree of a different variety then pollination will be sorted.

Feijoas should be planted in a decent-sized hole (at least twice the height and width of the pot, and after digging the hole, and placing the tree in it, the tree should be backfilled with a mix of soil, compost, and sheep pellets. In heavier clay soils where drainage is likely to be an issue the tree can be planted into a slight mound. It’s also worth breaking up the edge of the hole while it is backfilled as this means the hole is less likely to act like a giant bucket that can fill up with water. The tree should then be mulched to finish, using Kings’ Living Earth More Than Mulch.

Feijoas are hardy and fairly bombproof. However, a stressed tree is unlikely to fruit amazingly, so to make sure that the tree quickly comes to fruition, keep the tree well fed and make sure it is well watered through the summer months. Feeding trees with Kings Fruit and Citrus fertiliser is an easy, hassle free way to ensure they are well fed. However, for those whose preference is to grow organically trees can be mulched occasionally with sheep pellets and then use Kings Ocean Grow as a liquid feed.

For more information on growing Feijoas and for everything else to do with the garden, please visit the website at http://www.kings.co.nz .