Chilean guava

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Survives zone 7 through 9

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Chilean guava — small, sweet, intensely strawberry-scented. Excellent.

Hardiness

Zone 7–9

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Autumn

Mature size

Compact evergreen 1–1.5 m; excellent in containers

Light

Full sun to partial

Soil pH

5.5–7.0 (acid–neutral; dislikes chalk)

Environment

Temperate rainforest

Native range

Central and southern Chile and adjacent south-west Argentina; naturalised in parts of Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

2–3 yrs

Growth speed

Slow

Spacing

125 cm (49 in) apart — about 1.6 m² (17 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Opposite, small, oval and leathery, roughly 1–2 cm long, arranged in neat pairs — glossy dark green and aromatic when crushed.

Root system

Shallow and fibrous, needing moist, acid, humus-rich soil; the plant is drought-sensitive despite its tough evergreen look, and containers dry out faster than it likes.

Fruit description

Round dark red berry about 1 cm across, ripening late summer into autumn, with a sweet and intensely aromatic flavour usually described as strawberry crossed with guava. Excellent raw and the basis of Chilean murta con membrillo; the reason it was reputedly Queen Victoria's favoured fruit.

Propagation

Semi-ripe cuttings 7–10 cm with a heel in July–August, in a frame with bottom heat; pot on in autumn, overwinter frost-free and plant out in late spring. Seed works but is slower and variable.

Pollination

Self-fertile

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.