Overview

Discover the joy of growing your own exotic fruits with this vibrant strawberry guava live plant. Also known as Cattley Guava or Chinese Guava, this charming evergreen shrub (Psidium cattleianum) is celebrated for its delectable, strawberry-flavored fruits and attractive foliage. Originating from Brazil, the strawberry guava tree is a resilient and adaptable plant that thrives in various climates and growing conditions, making it an excellent choice for both novice and experienced gardeners. This particular specimen arrives ready to plant in a convenient half-gallon pot, ensuring a healthy start for your new edible landscape addition. Its compact size makes it suitable for container gardening on patios, balconies, or as a focal point in smaller garden spaces. The glossy, dark green leaves provide a lush backdrop for the small, white, fragrant flowers that eventually give way to an abundance of bright red, sweet-tart fruit, offering a continuous harvest over several months.

Key Benefits

Adding a strawberry guava live plant to your collection offers a multitude of benefits, from its aesthetic appeal to its delicious yield. This versatile plant is not only a source of fresh, homegrown fruit but also contributes significantly to the beauty and biodiversity of your garden or indoor space.

• Delicious, Homegrown Fruit: Enjoy the unique, sweet-tart flavor of fresh strawberry guava tree fruits, which are perfect for eating fresh, making jams, jellies, juices, or desserts. Harvesting your own fruit ensures peak ripeness and flavor.
• Attractive Evergreen Foliage: The glossy, dark green leaves provide year-round visual interest, making it a beautiful ornamental shrub even when not in fruit. New growth often emerges with an attractive reddish tint.
• Compact and Versatile Growth: Its manageable size makes it ideal for container gardening, especially for those with limited space or in colder climates where it can be moved indoors during winter. It can also be grown as a small tree or hedge.
• Easy to Care For: The strawberry guava live plant is known for its hardiness and low maintenance requirements, tolerating a range of soil types and conditions once established. It’s an excellent choice for beginner gardeners.
• Pollinator Friendly: Its fragrant white flowers attract bees and other beneficial pollinators to your garden, contributing to a healthy ecosystem and improving fruit set for other plants.
• Nutrient-Rich Fruit: Strawberry guavas are packed with Vitamin C, antioxidants, and dietary fiber, making them a healthy addition to your diet.
• Drought Tolerance: Once established, the Psidium cattleianum exhibits good drought tolerance, reducing the need for frequent watering compared to many other fruit trees.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

Caring for your strawberry guava live plant is relatively straightforward, ensuring you’ll be enjoying its delicious fruits in no time. Understanding its basic needs for sunlight, water, and soil will help your plant thrive and produce abundant harvests. This robust shrub is forgiving, but providing optimal conditions will maximize its growth and fruit production.

For sunlight, the strawberry guava live plant prefers full sun to partial shade. In hotter climates, some afternoon shade can protect the leaves from scorching, while in cooler regions, full sun ensures the best fruit development and ripening. Aim for at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily if possible. When it comes to watering, keep the soil consistently moist but never waterlogged, especially during flowering and fruiting periods. Allow the top inch or two of soil to dry out slightly between waterings. Reduce watering during cooler, dormant months. Good drainage is crucial to prevent root rot, so ensure your pot has drainage holes or your garden soil is well-amended.

The ideal soil for a strawberry guava tree is well-draining, slightly acidic to neutral, and rich in organic matter. A good quality potting mix works well for containers. For in-ground planting, amend heavy clay soils with compost or sand to improve drainage. Fertilize your Psidium cattleianum with a balanced slow-release fertilizer, or an organic fertilizer high in phosphorus and potassium, especially during the growing season (spring and summer). Prune in late winter or early spring to shape the plant, remove dead or crossing branches, and encourage new growth and fruit production. While generally pest-resistant, keep an eye out for common garden pests and treat as needed with organic solutions. Understanding how to grow strawberry guava successfully involves these simple steps.

Size & Details

This strawberry guava live plant is supplied in a half-gallon nursery pot, providing a well-established root system ready for transplanting. At the time of shipment, plants typically stand between 8-16 inches tall, depending on seasonal growth. Strawberry guavas are moderate growers, reaching a mature height of 6-15 feet if left unpruned, though they can be easily maintained at a smaller size (3-6 feet) with regular pruning, making them excellent candidates for hedges or container specimens. The plant will begin to produce fruit within 1-3 years of planting, with peak fruiting occurring in late summer to fall. The fruits are small, typically 1-1.5 inches in diameter, with a vibrant red skin and creamy, aromatic pulp. This plant is shipped as a live, actively growing specimen, carefully packaged to ensure its safe arrival at your doorstep. For those wondering how to grow strawberry guava, selecting a healthy, well-rooted plant like this is a great start.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big does this plant get? A: A strawberry guava live plant can reach 6-15 feet tall in the ground if unpruned, but it can be easily kept smaller (3-6 feet) with regular pruning, making it suitable for containers or smaller garden spaces.
• Q: What size pot does it come in? A: This strawberry guava tree is shipped in a half-gallon nursery pot, providing a healthy root system for successful transplanting.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: While primarily an outdoor plant, the strawberry guava live plant can be grown indoors in a bright, sunny location or overwintered indoors in colder climates. It thrives outdoors in USDA Zones 9-11.
• Q: How much sunlight does it need? A: This plant prefers full sun (6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily) for best fruit production, but it can tolerate partial shade, especially in very hot climates.
• Q: Is this plant easy to care for? A: Yes, the Psidium cattleianum is considered an easy-to-care-for plant, known for its hardiness and adaptability once established, making it great for beginners.
• Q: What condition will it arrive in? A: Your strawberry guava live plant will arrive as a healthy, actively growing specimen, carefully packaged to minimize stress during transit.
• Q: Is it shipped in soil? A: Yes, the plant is shipped in its half-gallon nursery pot with its established soil and root ball to ensure its health upon arrival.
• Q: How long until it blooms and fruits? A: With proper care, your strawberry guava live plant typically starts blooming and fruiting within 1-3 years of planting, with the main harvest season being late summer to fall.
• Q: Can I use strawberry guava in cooking? A: Absolutely! The fruits are delicious fresh, and ideal for making jams, jellies, pies, tarts, and refreshing beverages. This is a key aspect of how to grow strawberry guava for culinary use.
• Q: Will it survive winter in my zone? A: The strawberry guava tree is hardy in USDA Zones 9-11. In colder zones, it should be grown in a container and brought indoors before the first frost.