Cjr Psidium guajava White Thai Guava

[Cajunrider]

7 ft tall Thai guava in shallow grow box that will be chopped and developed into a bonsai.

 

[Cajunrider]

7 ft tall Thai guava in shallow grow box that will be chopped and developed into a bonsai.
View attachment 395065

Chopped today. Should I chopped further?

 

[Cajunrider]

Chopped today. Should I chopped further?
View attachment 395360View attachment 395359

Didn’t like how that looked so a little more was chopped.

 

[Cajunrider]

My nonbonsai friends are lamenting that I chopped down a prized guava tree. The one I chopped can easily fetch $150.
They would never understand ha ha.

 

[namnhi]

Why you didn't airlayer it? Looks like a good eating guava.

 

[Cajunrider]

Why you didn't airlayer it? Looks like a good eating guava.

I have 4 more so I can air layer any time.

 

[Cajunrider]

12 days later there are a lot of buds.

 

[Cajunrider]

The fruit
Leaves are coming out

 

[Cajunrider]

The fruit View attachment 399412
Leaves are coming outView attachment 399413

That fruit was delicious. It came from another Guava tree seeded from the same seed batch at the same time as the chopped tree. Age-wise, this bonsai should be ready to bear fruit this coming year. My plan is to allow just one or two way out of proportion fruits for the tree each year I know I know - S.E. Asians are funky with their bonsai. We love to develop perfectly proportioned fruiting bonsai with way way way outsized fruit for giggle. A friend of mine has a Keitt mango bonsai tree. Each year he allow one fruit from the tree. That fruit usually weighs 2 to 3 pound and looks ridiculous on a bonsai tree 18" tall. I am hoping to do the same with this Guava tree.

 

[hinmo24t]

so cool! i like the garden setup too with the grape of snappea pergola
i love guava fruit. you get to eat those fresh around where you live?

 

[Cajunrider]

so cool! i like the garden setup too with the grape of snappea pergola
i love guava fruit. you get to eat those fresh around where you live?

Yes. We grow them in containers and bring them in when it is freezing. My lady and I enjoyed the fruit in the picture. We picked it off the tree, washed, cut and enjoyed. It was delicious.
I will miss these trees when I move to Pennsylvania. The bonsai will come with me but the rest will have to stay.

 

[hinmo24t]

Yes. We grow them in containers and bring them in when it is freezing. My lady and I enjoyed the fruit in the picture. We picked it off the tree, washed, cut and enjoyed. It was delicious.
I will miss these trees when I move to Pennsylvania. The bonsai will come with me but the rest will have to stay.

Ross Raddi on youtube grows a ton of figs, peaches, etc. etc. in PA
he is on youtube if youre ever interested

good luck with the move

 

[Cajunrider]

Ross Raddi on youtube grows a ton of figs, peaches, etc. etc. in PA
he is on youtube if youre ever interested

good luck with the move

It's not the PA climate. It's the house where I will live. It doesn't have a yard and not much space to keep trees in the winter.

 

[Cajunrider]

3 weeks later

 

[Cajunrider]

It is still growing and looks decent. The leaf reduction will be a challenge.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

It's not the PA climate. It's the house where I will live. It doesn't have a yard and not much space to keep trees in the winter.

Can you be happy without a garden to work in?

You could do what a friend did, he bought a house with no room for his orchids. He bought a small property nearby, not zoned for "residential use", built his outdoor garden, and a greenhouse for his orchids. It was in an area that was somewhat industrial, on two sides he had "self storage" facilities, and a auto body repair shop on the back side of his garden property. It was not a "show garden" , just a very practical vegetable garden in raised beds, and a utilitarian hoop greenhouse glazed with plastic. His residence was an immaculate show place, with orchids being rotated into the house as they came into bloom. Orchids that had finished blooming, were shuffled back to the greenhouse the minute they were past their prime.

Just a thought, if you have to keep the house with no garden space.

Myself, I simply would not move to a house without an outdoor garden space where I could have my trees.

Although I have been downsizing lately, maybe you are not so crazy. I have reduced my 1300 plant orchid collection to something around or under 300 plants. So I have significantly reduced the amount of pots I'm watering.

Maybe you are doing the wise thing.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I should have commented on the White Thai Guava, That tree is coming along, in some ways reminding me of Chinese quince. In that Chinese quince (Cydonia & Pseudocydonia) leaves don't reduce as much as Chaenomeles and other smaller leaved flowering quince). The large leaves do reduce a fair amount, but still end up large. When in flower and in fruit, the visuals, especially the giant fruit make it easy to ignore the leaf size.

I do like that you started with a good size trunk and brought a tall tree down to a manageable size. Well done. I like the look of the one giant fruit hanging on the tree. Its cool.

Guava (Psidium) in general have leathery leaves that stay a bit on the large size, slightly out of proportion for bonsai. In the same family, with similar flowers but much smaller leaves and fruit, are Eugenia, the bush cherries. I find Eugenia good outdoor for summer, indoors for winter bonsai for us northern growers. Might be a better size for you once you make the move to Pennsylvania. The fruit are small, smaller than culinary cherries. There are a dozen or more species of Eugenia, all have edible fruit, though some are more edible than other. (some are tasty, some are not so much).

Actually the whole guava family has many species that have some good traits for bonsai, smaller leaves, nice flowers and edible fruit. Luma, Ugni, Jaboticaba, and many others.

 

[Cajunrider]

Survived winter without issue.