Feijoas (forum)

Pet starts with ...
I have two feijoa trees from Daleys. They are about a year old and have developed a brown colour on the leaves. I sprayed with White Oil and now some of the leaves are falling off. Can anyone help please

Time: 24th July 2010 1:28pm

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kert says...
It's sooty mould and you may also have scale on the leaves and branches that exude sugars that feed the mould.

Time: 24th July 2010 3:15pm

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sydney
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Pet says...
Thanks Kert, can you tell me the best remedy for this problem.

Time: 24th July 2010 5:21pm

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kert says...
Kill the scale with white oil . i prefer to add malathion to the oil as it seems to be a surer kill. The sooty mould will then wither away.

Time: 24th July 2010 6:55pm

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Pet says...
Thanks very much, I am a bit worried about the falling leaves. I also had pests on my citrus trees and sprayed them with white oil also and some of their leaves are also falling.
I have come to the conclusion I have mould on the plants and also I have overfertilised them. Taking too much care I think as most of the leaves have the dark brown stain (like they have been burnt) and are falling off.
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Time: 24th July 2010 7:34pm

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Original Post was last edited: 25th July 2010 1:19pm

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amanda says...
Hi Pet - can u take a pic of the feijoa leaves? They are usually trouble free. What is the coldest temp u have had this winter?
White oil (in the can) is a harsh product and it can easily cause leaf drop. Eco-oil is a much safer product - for you and your trees.
Your trees shouldn't die from it though.
What are the pests on your citrus tree?

Time: 25th July 2010 12:19pm

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Pet says...
Hi Amanda
Hope you can see the leaves in the photos these ones were on the ground. The citrus trees leaves were being eaten by aphids I think. I sprayed them with the same white oil. It is one I made up myself 1cup oil to 1/4 cup sunlight dishwashing liquid. I sprayed both the citrus and feijoa trees and both are loosing leaves. The feijoa more than the citrus trees.

Time: 25th July 2010 1:23pm

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Pet says...
The coldest it has been this winter has been 3 to 4 degrees

Time: 25th July 2010 1:28pm

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amanda says...
Hi Pet, yes the feijoa leaves are burnt hey. What did u feed them? If u suspect mould then u may need to use an anti-fungicide not white oil (like Bordeaux, Kocide or Anti-Rot)
(The reason I asked about the temp is that guava leaves can "bronze" when it's cold enough - but feijoas usually pretty tough)
Maybe wait until it's getting new growth before feeding it anymore.

Your brew should have been ok on the citrus (did u further dilute it before use?)

Time: 25th July 2010 1:57pm

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Pet says...
No I didn't dilute, used the same brew on both. I fed them cow poo fertiliser and homemade compost. Now I will leave the feijoa alone to heal itself and dilute the brew if I use it again on the citrus. I have great fruit on the citrus it was just because the leaves were being eaten that I sprayed the white oil. Thanks for your advice.

Time: 25th July 2010 2:47pm

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amanda says...
Oh..that may be the problem Pet - I don't have a white oil recipe myself - but someone here will....? I think it needs to be diluted out with water.
In the meantime just give your trees a wash off..they will survive.
Good luck! :)


Time: 25th July 2010 3:22pm

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amanda says...
hi Pet - it's one tablespoon of concentrate per one litre of water (from Organic Gardener magazine)

Time: 27th July 2010 12:54pm

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J says...
Pet, I've had a similar problem with my Mammoth Feijoa I got from Daleys. Major amounts of leaf drop suddenly. However the leaves aren't brown and I don't have soot or anything on them. I have been applying white oil tho. At amanda's suggestion I have stopped. Keep in mind none of my other feijoa's from daleys have dropped leaves even though I have applied the same amount of white oil to them.

Time: 28th July 2010 8:43am

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amanda says...
J, now I'm curious - why did u spray all your trees?

Time: 28th July 2010 9:47am

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J says...
About three weeks ago. I spray the citrus mostly with white oil and natural insecticide for the caterpillars. I don't put much white oil in the spray for the feijoa's. I spray my trees because the hills can get quite damp and pests and fungus etc abound if I don't pay attention. I also use iron chelate snail bait that is apparently not harmful to animals and disintergrates into the soil after a few weeks.

Time: 28th July 2010 10:01am

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Pet says...
Oh I am glad I am not the only one. The feijoa trees are still alive, so just watering when they need it and I will see what eventuates.

Time: 8th August 2010 5:10pm

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J says...
Pet my mammoth Feijoa has stopped dropping leaves thankfully and is now just sitting there with half its leaves. Springs a couple of weeks away so I'm assuming it should be back to normal soon.

Time: 9th August 2010 9:18am

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Pet says...
Mine is the same J, lets hope they turn out OK.

Time: 10th August 2010 3:52pm

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Olga says...
I have similar problem with my 1 year old feijoa. It started loosing leaves about 6 months ago. The coldest temperature was above +10 C. I had to use insecticides because of plenty of different kind of pests and I also used iron chelate last summer. Specialists of two garden centers told me to check water hardness, but it was normal smth about 200-300 ppm. What can it be?
I do apologize for my English :)
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Time: 18th April 2011 6:43am

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amanda says...
Hi Olga, did they test the saltiness (sodium and chloride) of your water also? The hardness level you have mentioned may be in the normal range for human consumption - not plants?
This is an example of the Plant Ranges for hardness from my testing:

Soft 0 - 50 ppm
Moderately hard 50 - 100 ppm
Hard 100 -170 ppm
Very Hard 170+ ppm

You may have a high chloride level - do you have other fruit trees that have the same problem?


Time: 18th April 2011 11:43am

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Olga says...
Hi Amanda! Thank You for your kind reply.
-No they didn't test saltiness.
-water hardness about 300 ppm(don't remember exactly) is normal for human consumption. It is what we have from the water tap. Should I use filtered water for my feijoa?
-if i'm not mistaken, there is no chloride in water in Cyprus.
-Yes, i have other plants (hibiskus, honeysuckle. Two feijoas are the only fruit trees i have) with some leaves problem. Later i'll add some photos.


Time: 18th April 2011 3:06pm

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Olga says...
Hi, Amanda!
-There are photos of hibiskus, honeysuckle, viburnum and feijoa.
-There is chloride in water. Sorry for confusing you.
-I'm going to buy test and measure water pH.
What else can I do?
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Time: 19th April 2011 6:03am

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amanda says...
Hi Olga - salinity is a bit of a pain to deal with :-( (We are coastal and our tap water salty too...) It would be worth getting your tap water tested - and your soil - for sodium and chloride.

What has worked for me is - never wet the leaves of your plants with this water. I use dripper irrigation and microsprayers and practice deep long soakings rather than short waterings.
Gypsum is needed to help flush the salts out of the soil. Works very well - except that the chloride is harder to dislodge...
Don't use any fertilisers with a high chloride or salt content (eg potassium chloride) I have found that if my trees get some liquid nitrogen now and again - they cope with the salt better.
Liquid Seaweed fertiliser also helps.

Do you have sandy or clay based soil?
I have 50,000 rain water tanks - I use this water on my trees towards the end of summer when the salt really starts to cause problems due to the heat and dryness here.
What is your annual rainfall in Cyprus?

Time: 19th April 2011 11:35am

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About the Author amanda19
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Olga says...
Hi Amanda
-Unfortunatelly I confused you. There is chloride in water. I'm going to test water and soil for sodium and chloride.
-I use fertiliser NPK 20-20-20. Do You buy seaweed fertiliser or it is homemade? may the fertiliser overdose cause the leaves' problem?
-We have clay based soil.
-Annual rainfall (only in winter period) in our area is about 300-400 mm. In years 2007,2008 Cyprus hardly saw any rainfall at all. I don't have place enough for rain water tank, my patio is 38 sq.m. only :)



Time: 20th April 2011 7:21am

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amanda says...
Hi Olga - I am not much good with clay soils - maybe another member can shed more light for you...?

There are some advantages with clay in this situation though. But gee - that rainfall is not much better than mine here....
Some good compost would be helpful for you too. You can buy liquid seaweed fertiliser.

Are these plants are in the ground yes?

Time: 20th April 2011 10:59am

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Olga says...
Hi Amanda! First of all I'll try to find soil and water tester. It may be a problem in Cyprus. So i'm going to take time out until i don't get it :)
Yes, my plants are in the ground, except honeysuckle growing in a big pot.
I have some more questions. Why do you fertilise your garden in winter time? How often do you fertilise?


Time: 21st April 2011 5:26am

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amanda says...
Hi Olga - I try to get my solid fertilisers out when the first rains come, and through winter, as the rain helps to make them work (eg: manure, compost, slow release pelleted chook manure) I have many trees and water is very expensive so I don't have the luxury of being able to waste much in summer - only to keep the trees alive and maintain any fruit.
It's quite warm here over winter so I can get good growth on the evergreens this way. I have sandy soil - so bulk organics can be a problem for me.
I use liquid fertilisers in summer so that 2 jobs done and the nutrients quickly available to the plants.
I liquid fertilise every month - but often not - as I try not to get too much new growth as it just gets fried in the hot winds (40oC+).
Winter is my time for building better soil :)

Try to get some good compost for your clay - it will help a lot. Water quality may be one of those things that is decline in many semi arid zones like ours...I am guessing this will become more of a problem for more people as time goes on. If only plants had kidneys too!?

Time: 21st April 2011 11:58am

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Piedy says...
I have a feijoa tree that is 7 years old. it has good size fruit on it for the first time in its life. (not many) they are dropping off before they are ripe, and still rock hard. any reasons why this is happening?

Time: 28th April 2011 9:38pm

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Rowan says...
Hi Piedy, the fruit drops off naturally before it is soft - just place them in a bowl for a few days until they smell fruity and soften then enjoy.

Time: 29th April 2011 6:43pm

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Brenda s says...
My fejoia tree had a lot of fruit last year but only 1 in 5 was edible, the rest had a worm or something inside! I was told I need to spray at flower point to stop this, but spray with what? Any ideas? thanks.

Time: 3rd November 2012 5:03pm

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Julie says...
Was it fruitfly? Or something else?

Time: 3rd November 2012 9:27pm

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Roleystone WA
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Brenda s says...
I think fruitfly. I had baits out, but obviously need to spray?

Time: 9th November 2012 7:38am

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Sudeep says...
Can someone suggest the best place to get grafted Feijoas (Apollo or Duffy) in Perth, WA.

Time: 10th September 2019 11:16pm

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Piara Waters
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