Description
Kaiteri is a pineapple guava bred by Roy Hart in New Zealand from a cross with the cultivar Apollo. Its fruit is large for a compact plant, sweet, aromatic, and finished with a faint acidic edge, and it grows as a compact, spreading plant about 6 to 7 ft each way.
Kaiteri is self-infertile, so it needs a second feijoa flowering at the same time to set fruit; almost any variety blooming together with it will do the job.
Overview
- Large fruit for a compact plant, sweet with an aromatic, faintly acidic finish
- Self-infertile; needs a second feijoa in bloom nearby
- Compact, spreading habit, about 6 to 7 ft each way
- Bred by Roy Hart in New Zealand from a cross with Apollo
- Hardier than it looks; an established plant shrugs off brief single-digit cold
Growing Details
Latin Name: Acca sellowiana (Feijoa sellowiana)
Site and Soil: Full sun to part shade; well-drained soil; tolerates salt spray; site sheltered from wind
Hardiness:Hardy to roughly 10F – mature plants have survived lower
Rootstock: Grafted onto pineapple guava seedling rootstock
Bearing Age: 2 to 3 years after planting
Size at Maturity: Compact, spreading, about 6 to 7 ft each way – often maintained smaller
Ripening Time: Mid season; October into November
Pollination: Self-infertile; needs a second feijoa in bloom at the same time
Pests & Diseases: Very resilient; minimal issues in most climates
Yield: Heavy cropping
Additional Notes
- Grower’s Insight: Kaiteri pairs a compact habit with unusually large fruit, sweet and aromatic in the same profile prized across the genus.
- Regional Insight: Feijoas need a long, mild growing season to ripen a full crop, so gardeners in the mildest climates, coastal California, the Gulf Coast, and the Pacific Northwest, see the most reliable harvests.
- Explore more subtropical species in our collection: Subtropical Plants
