What are the requirements for growing guava plants?

Guava (Psidium guajava)

• Classification of Plants
• Kingdom: Plantae
• Divisio: Spermatophyta
• Sub division: Angiosperms
• Class: Dicotyledonae
• Order: Myrtales 
• Family: Myrtaceae 
• Genus: Psidium
• Species: Psidium guajava L. Synonyms P. aromaticum Blanco, P.pomiferum L., P.pyriferum L. (Dalimarta, 2003).

What are the names of guava in Indonesia?

Sumatra: glima breueh (Aceh), glimeu beru (Gayo), galiman (Batak Karo), masiambu (Nias), biawas, guava biawas, jambubiji, jambubatu, jambuklutuk (Malay). Java: jambu kluthuk (Sundanese), bayawas, guava krutuk, guava krikil, petokal (Java), hambu bhender (Madura). Nusa Tenggara: cuttlefish (Bali), guawa (Flores), goihawas (Sika). Sulawesi: Gayawas (Manado), boyawat (Mongondow), koyawas (Tonsaw), dambu (Gorontalo), guava paratugala (Makassar), guava paratukala (Bugis), guava (Baree), kujabas (Roti), biabuto (Buol). Maluku: kayawase (West Seram), kujawase (South Seram), laine hatu, luhu hatu (Ambon), Gayawa (Ternate, Halmahera), Giawas (Papua).

Guava comes from tropical America, grows on loose or loamy soils, in the open and contains a lot of water. This tree is widely planted as a fruit tree. However, it often grows wild and can be found at an altitude of 1-1,200 m asl. Guava flowers all year round (Dalimartha, 2000).

Shrubs or small trees, 2-10 m high, with many branches. The trunk is woody, hard, smooth, peeling, greenish brown bark. Single leaf, short-stemmed, opposite, smooth-haired young leaves, smooth upper surface of old leaves. Leaves oval shaped slightly oblong, blunt tip, rounded base, flat edge slightly curved upward, pinnate, 6-14 cm long, 3-6 cm wide, green. Single flower, stemmed, comes out of the axillary, gathered 1-3 flowers, white. The fruit is buni fruit, round to ovate, green to yellowish green. Thick flesh, soft ripe fruit, yellowish white or pink in color. Many fruit seeds are clustered in the middle, small, hard, yellow-brown (Dalimartha, 2000).

What are the requirements for growing guava plants?

Guava plants are easy to adapt to dry, low pH environments. In tropical areas, guava plants will grow in the lowlands to an altitude of 1500 m above sea level. Although it can grow at temperatures between 15-45 o C, the best results are at o temperatures between 23 C- 28 C with a rainfall of 1000-2000 mm / year. The taste of guava fruit in the rainy season is less sweet than the fruit produced in the dry season. It seems that this is due to the influence of the intensity of sunlight. Guava plants are very tolerant of a pH range of 4.5-8.2 as well as to salinity (Rukmana, 1996).

How to cultivate guava plants?

Cultivation of guava fruit plants can be done in the following ways:

Land Preparation

As one of the conditions in preparing fruit orchards, especially guava, a fertile soil is chosen, containing lots of nitrogen, even though in hilly areas but the soil is fertile, this is done by making swales (terraces) on a steep section, then to loosen the soil it is necessary plowed or simply hoeed with a depth of about 30 cm evenly. Then given manure at a dose of 40 kg / m square, then made a bed with a size of 1.20 m whose length is adjusted to the required size.

Land Clearance

The land to be used for the guava garden is all done together, the disturbing plants such as bushes and grass are removed, and hard objects are removed then the land is plowed or hoeed in, taking into account the seeds to be planted. If the seedlings come from grafts, then the soil does not need to be too deep (30 cm), but if the grafting results it needs processing that is quite deep (50 cm). Then made a water channel 1 m wide and adjusted to the depth of groundwater, in order to overcome the water drainage system that is not smooth. Soil that is thin and lacks humus / clay enough soil is given green manure which is made by burying the twigs and leaves in this condition and is left for about 1 year before. Then fertilize 2 cans of kerosene (4 kg) per square meter. Continue making beds according to needs.

Bed Formation

Soil that has been loose, made beds with a width of 3 m, and a length as needed, about 30 cm high. The top of the soil is flattened to support the seeds to be planted. The ideal row spacing for planting seeds is about 4 m, the distance in the row of beds is 2.5 m long, stretching from north to south, in order to get lots of morning sun, after being given a protective roof with a distance of 1 m between beds, for transportation -cross the workers and can be used as a drainage channel, to increase fertility can be given green manure, compost / manure that is ripe. The exception is if planting Bangkok guava uses a spacing of 3x2 m.

Liming

Liming is carried out if the plains originating from the ponds and also the newly formed plains cannot be planted, besides the soil is still acidic and not very fertile. You do this by digging holes with a size of 1 x 1 m, the bottom of the holes is sprinkled with 0.5 liter of lime for each hole, in order to neutralize the soil pH until it reaches 4.5-8.2. After 1 month from sowing lime given manure.

Preparation of Seeds

Guava can be propagated by seed. However, propagation in this way is not preferred because the plant takes a long time to mature and will also change the nature of the parent. The propagation that is currently being carried out is vegetatively, especially by means of grafting (Wikipedia, 2011).

Planting

1. Determination of Planting Patterns
• After the germination process occurs, the seedlings that are old enough are placed in the prepared beds. In addition, the preparation of the base tree should go through the germination process and then plant it at a distance of 20 x 30 cm after germinating and aged 1-2 months or 2- 3 leaves have grown so the seeds can be transferred to a second bed that has been formed as wide as 3- 4 m with a spacing of 7-10 m with a depth of about 30- 40 cm, the distance between the beds is 1 m wide, preceded by leveling the soil in the middle of the beds to make planting holes. To avoid direct sunburn, a roof that is tilted higher to the east is made with the intention of getting the full morning sunshine.
2. Making Planting Holes
• Making holes in the plots that are ready for planting the finished guava seedlings is done after the soil is thoroughly processed and then made holes with a size of 1 x 1 x 0.8 m which should have been prepared 1 month before and at the time of excavation. The soil above and below is separated, which will later be used to cover the holes that have been planted with plants, the excavated soil is left for 1 week so that microorganisms that will disturb the plants are destroyed; while the distance between the holes is about 7-10 m.
3. Planting Method 
• After going on for 1 week the hole is closed with the soil composition as before and the soil at the top is returned after being mixed with 1 blek (1 blek ± 20 liters) of ripe manure, and about 2 weeks of land in The excavated hole has started to decline and then the guava seeds are planted, the planting does not need to be too deep, just enough, meaning that the boundary between the roots and stems of guava is cultivated to the level of the surrounding soil. Then do the watering regularly 2 times a day (morning and evening), except in the rainy season there is no need to water it.

Maintenance Fertilization

To keep the fertility of guava plant land stable, it is necessary to periodically apply fertilizer with the following rules:

• In year 0-1, the planting age of seedlings is given to each tree with a mixture of 40 kg of manure, 50 kg of TSP, 100 grams of urea and 20 grams of ZK by sowing around the tree or by digging around the tree as deep as 30 cm and a width between 40- 50 cm, then enter the mixture and cover again with the previous excavated soil. Plants can bear fruit 2 times a year.
• Fertilize 1-3 years old plants, after the plants bear fruit 2 times. Fertilization is done with NPK 250 grams / tree, and TSP 250 grams / tree, and so on this way is done every 3 months with TSP and NPK with the same amount.
• Fertilization of plants aged 3 years and above, if the plant growth is not perfect, especially seen in the growth of the trunks pruning results, it means that in addition to TSP and NPK with the same size the plant requires manure as much as 2 cans of oil per tree.

The method of fertilizing is done by making a shaft that surrounds the plant just below the tip of the canopy with a depth of about 30-40 cm and the fertilizer is immediately planted in the piston and covered again with the former excavation.

Weeding

In order to keep the possibility of disease or pests growing either due to weather conditions and destructive animals, it is necessary to spray pesticides, generally with Nogos, between 15-20 days before harvest and also need to be sprayed with Sevin or Furadan, especially to prevent the presence of guava caterpillars. , mice or ants, in addition, spraying is done with Delsene 200 MX type fungicide to eradicate the fungus that will invite the presence of ants.

Besides that, insecticides are also used to eradicate fruit flies and aphids, sprayed twice a week and after a month before harvest the spraying is stopped. To spur the emergence of guava flowers, a KNO₃ (Calcium Nitrate) solution is needed which will accelerate 10 days earlier than not given KNO₃ and also has the advantage of increasing the "bunch" of guava flowers (bunches) at each stage (development stage) and also accelerating growth guava fruit, how to give KNO₃ by spraying on the shoots of the branches with a dose of 2-3 liters of KNO₃ solution for every 10 plants with a size of 10 grams of KNO₃ solution dissolved with 1 liter of technical diluent.

Pests and Diseases

Saragih's (2005) study of using several attractants against fruit flies Bactrocera dorsalis H. found that the largest percentage of affected fruit was in the control (without attractant treatment) 86.12% and the smallest was the methyleugenol treatment of 17.26%.

Control of B. dorsalis flies by wrapping should be done at the level of development of guava fruit with a diameter of ≥ 2-4 cm (Gultom, 2005). Pests on guava plants include:

1. Leaf caterpillar (Trabala pallida) Control: using nogos.
2. Ketet caterpillar (Ploneta diducta) Control: the same as leaf caterpillar.
3. Ants and mice Control: by spraying sevin and furadan.
4. Bat and Squirrel. The existence of these insects is influenced by environmental factors both biotic and abiotic environment. Which includes biotic factors such as food supplies, Control: using natural enemies.
5. White caterpillar. Symptoms: the fruit turns black and white, Control: spraying with the appropriate insecticide 2 times a week for up to one month before harvesting the spraying is stopped.
6. Stem borer caterpillar (Indrabela sp). Symptoms: making bark and able to make a hole as long as 30 cm; Control: the same as the white caterpillar.
7. Caterpillar (Berta chrysolineate). Young leaf-eating caterpillar, shaped like a brown petiole and segmented Symptoms: dry leaf edges, yellow brown curls. Control: the same as the white caterpillar.

Diseases in the guava plant include:

• Diseases caused by algae (Cihephaleusos vieccons) Attacking old leaves and appearing in the rainy season. Symptoms: small spots on the top of the leaves accompanied by orange fine fibers which are a collection of spores. Control: by mengempotakan fungicide such as Disene 200 MX.
• Cercospora psidil fungus, Poccinia psidil rust fungus, Allola psidil fungus, Symptoms: black leaf spots. Control: by mengempotakan fungicide such as Disene 200 MX.
• Disease due to the fungus (fungus) Rigidoporus Lignosus, Symptoms: white rhizome that sticks to the roots and when the roots are peeled, they will appear brownish in color. Control: by mengempotakan fungicide such as Disene 200 MX.

Harvest and Post Harvest

1. Characteristics and Age
• Harvesting guava fruit generally at the age of 2-3 years will start to bear fruit, in contrast to guava seedlings which are done with grafts / cuttings, the age will be faster, approximately 6 months can already bear fruit, guava that is ripe with the characteristics of seeing a customized color with the type of guava that is planted and also by smelling the smell and the last one by tasting ripe guava compared to guava which is still green and not yet ripe, it can be ascertained that the harvesting is done after the dark green guava becomes young to whitish in this condition. then the guava is ready to be harvested.
2. How to Harvest
• The best way of harvesting is to pick and pick the stems, which are ripe (only ripe ones) as well as pruning the tree so that it doesn't become damaged, after 4 months of age the fruit is then put in the basket carried by the picker and when it is full it is lowered with a rope that has been prepared beforehand, until harvesting is complete. Pruning is done at the same time as harvesting so that it can sprout well again in the hope that it can quickly bear fruit again.
3. Harvest Period
• The harvesting period after the guava fruit is limited to about 2-3 fruit in one branch, this is so that the fruit can develop large and evenly. With this system it is expected that fruit harvesting can be done twice a year (6 months) or about 2-3 months after fruiting, by looking for ripe and unripe fruit so that they are left and then harvested again, note if the fruit is ripe but not picked. it will result in fruit eating animals such as bats, squirrels, etc.
4. Production Forecast
• If the handling and maintenance from seeding to harvesting are carried out properly and properly and comply with existing regulations, it can be estimated that the expected results will be obtained. In planting 400 trees after 2-3 months the grafted trees after planting have begun to flower and 6 months have started harvesting, harvesting is done every 4 days with the yield of each harvest weighing 100 kg of guava fruit. In Indonesia per year it can reach 53,200 tons with a plant area of ​​17,100 hectares. The current selling price to consumers reaches Rp. 650, - per bunch or up to Rp. 750 / kg.

Post-harvest

1. Collection
• After harvesting is done correctly guava fruit must be collected properly, usually collected not far from the location of the tree so that the harvesting is complete. The harvest results are then put in a basket and given the leaves to the shelter, namely in the warehouse / hut.
2. Sorting and Classification
• The purpose of sorting guava fruit means that a good guava has a high selling price, usually chosen based on size and quality. Small but good quality fruit can be mixed with large fruit of the same quality, which are usually sold in kilos or seeds. Keep in mind that in sorting it is cultivated to be of equal size and of the same quality. And done according to the type of guava, don't mix it with other types.
3. Storage
• Storage of guava is usually not too long considering the durability of guava cannot be too long and while it cannot be sold to the market, it is first accommodated in huts or warehouses using PE bags, temperatures around 2325 degrees C and guava can last up to 15 days in a bag PE and added 7 days after being removed from the PE bag, so that it can increase the shelf life 4.40 times compared without treatment. A good pressure is -1013 mbar and can produce the condition of PE to adhere perfectly to the surface of the fruit, a concentration of C0² of 5.21% and damage of 13.33% after storage in a PE bag. The best way to store guava fruit with preservation, usually done by making pickles or sweets and put in cans or bottles or you can also use a plastic bag. This can maintain sterility and durability so that it can be stored for a long time. In addition, guava is generally made a drink or cocktail.
4. Packaging and Transportation
• Guava with high selling yield does not depend on taste alone, but on appearance and binding method. If the sales location is not far away, simply put it in the basket on a bicycle / motorbike. For shipments with a rather long distance (between islands) which takes up to 2-3 days to travel the guava fruit is packed by means of a box measuring 60 x 28.5 x 28.5 cm, the four corners are long with a distance 1 cm, the short side should be made of 1 or 2 pieces of 1cm thick board, because this side of the transportation will be placed at the bottom, it is better if the crate is made sparsely in order to allow air freedom to enter and exit the chest.

Before being put into the crate, the guava fruit is selected and packaged. After that, a row is arranged in an angle to the side of the crate, which was previously covered with moss / coconut coir, or other soft and smooth material. Then, after the top layer is full, it is covered again with coconut husk and the last one is covered with a board, it is better if the two long sides are slightly puffed up, usually the placement of the short side of the chest is placed under the way.