So, your guava flowers are falling off?
Don’t worry, in this article, I will present to you the most possible reasons and fixes.
Why are Guava Flowers Falling off?
Your guava flowers might fall off, because the tree is too young, and it takes 4 years to bear fruit. However, other reasons include pollination problem, lack of potassium, inadequate watering, or rapid temperature change.
The most common problem with flowers falling off is a too-young age. The plant should stop losing flowers after 3-4 years and start bearing fruits. However, lack of proper pollination can also be the reason. Guava owners also often fail to provide the right ratio of nutrients.
But there are 8 possible reasons why your guava might be losing flowers. I listed them from the most to least possible. Keep on reading to identify them, and find out what you can do about them.
The Plant is too Young
One of the most possible reasons why your guava tree flowers are falling off is because the plant is too young. Usually, guava plants bear fruit when it’s more than 3 or 4 years old.
If you bought the tree from the nursery, it should be a 1 or 2-year-old plant. Therefore, you should wait another 1 or 2 years for the tree to stop dropping flowers and start producing fruits.
Some guava trees that are 4-6 years old might still lose flowers because younger plants often lack the root structure to support blooms, and this might lead to aborted blossoms. In that case, you can pinch these off to divert the plant’s energy to growth of foliage and branching rather than fruit products at such a young age.
Pollination Problem
If your guava tree is old enough to bear fruits, but it’s still losing flowers, the problem might be a lack of pollination. Guava is a self-pollinating plant, but if you have a single tree, it might not be pollinated enough. If some flowers are growing, and some are falling off, lack of proper pollination is the problem.
That’s especially common if you keep your guava tree indoors, for example in the greenhouse.
Usually, the best guava pollinators are honeybees, wild bees, and bumblebees. If you want to properly pollinate your guava tree, you might need to encourage these pollinators by planting companion plants like roses, sunflowers, or lavender.
Lack of Potassium
If you can exclude the 2 aforementioned reasons, your guava flowers might be falling off because of a lack of nutrients.
All nutrients are important, but the most important when it comes to the proper growth of flowers is potassium
Fertilizers with high nitrogen levels encourage plants to put on lush foliage, but can prevent flowers from developing or cause existing ones to drop off. To flower, fruiting trees require more potassium and phosphorus than nitrogen.
Therefore, apply a 3-5-5 fertilizer like this one on Amazon. If you didn’t use any fertilizer before, or you used a fertilizer with a low potassium ratio, this fertilizer should help.
Inadequate Watering
Inadequate watering-both under watering, and overwatering of a guava plant cause stress.
Under watering may cause plants to redirect water from enlarging buds to the food-producing areas of the plant, which results in the shrinking of buds, and flowers, which eventually dry and fall off. This is an act of self-preservation by the plant.
On the other hand, overwatering often leads to root rot, or other fungal infections that may destroy the developing flower buds and cause them to fall off.
Overwatering is more common than under watering when it comes to guava trees. If the soil remains continuously wet for more than 7 to 14 days, the guava tree can suffer, experiencing leaf and flower drop, and even tree death.
During warm weather, water guavas two to three times per month, deeply. During the winter months, guavas are drought resistant, so water sparingly.
As a rule of thumb, it’s better to keep the guava tree dry than wet. However, water the tree regularly without letting it dry out for longer periods of time.
Temperature Change
Too high, or too low temperatures might also be the reason why the flowers are falling off.
Guava usually doesn’t drop flowers because the temperature is too high. It’s adapted to warm subtropical to tropical climatic conditions.
However, the tree doesn’t do well when the temperature is below 30 °F (-1 °C). This temperature can kill your plant, dying back the root. The first symptoms will be flowers that wilt and fall off.
Even if the temperature is higher, for example, 40 °F (4 °C), the cold affects newly set blooms more than anything else and always prevents pollinators from really doing their job.
The temperatures that guava withstands without showing any side effects are 45-82 °F (7-28 °C).
Other Possible Reasons for Guava Flowers Falling off
If you still haven’t identified the real cause, here are less common, but still possible reasons.
Pest Attack: Thrips are pests that specifically target new buds and feed on petals. It’s hard to see them with the naked eye, but you will definitely be able to see their telltale blotching and streaking on the plant.Â
Wrong Lighting: Guavas living inside may lose flowers because they lack light. Guavas like a lot of bright, direct sunlight, but if your plant is inside, slowly acclimate it to brighter conditions, first leaving it in a shaded outdoor spot for a few hours at a time, gradually working up to a few hours in sun and ultimately, full time in the sun.
Transplant Shock: If the plant has transplant shock, you must have either disturbed the root, or not watered the plant properly before and after the procedure. In order to fix the issue with transplant shock, you should be patient first. Keep the soil well watered, but make sure the plant has good drainage and is not in standing water. The tree should come back to normal after a few days.
Sources
daleysfruit.com.au, gardeningknowhow.com, gardenguides.com, ugaoo.com, homeguides.sfgate.com, gkvks.com
