How to Grow Guava Tree From Seeds

Learn to grow guavas from seeds quite easily at home by this step-by-step guide. First you need to germinate guava seeds and then plant them in soil. The guava tree started from seed will produce fruit in 2 to 3 years, for about 30 years. I have grown many guava trees from fruit bought from grocery store in Sydney, Australia, and all produced super sweet large sized guava fruits. 

Growing Guava From Seeds at Home

Seed Grown Guava Tree

Guava Seeds

For growing guavas from seeds, first buy a good quality fully ripe guava or get seeds from a garden shop. Choose a variety that is suitable for your climate and preferences, such as common white guava (Psidium guajava), strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum), cherry guava, pineapple guava, white guava and Hawaiian guava.

Seed Extraction: Getting Seed from the Fruit

Scoop out seeds from the ripe guava. To get the guava seeds out of the fruit easily, put the pulp containing the seeds in water for 2-3 days and place at a warm place. The seeds will easily separate from the pulp due to fermentation. It is then easy to collect the seed, wash them thoroughly to get clean seeds.

Take out seeds from guava fruit and wash them.

Guava Seeds Germination

The guava seeds have a hard coating. The first step in guava seed germination is to break the seed dormancy to speed up germination. For this, place the seeds in boiling water for 5 minutes to soften the hard coating of the seeds, encouraging the inner embryo to germinate. Alternatively, you can soak the seeds in water for about 10 days before planting them.

Dried Guava Seeds

Germinate Guava Seeds in a Paper Towel

You can also germinate guava seeds in a paper towel. Wrap the treated seeds in a damp paper towel, and seal it  in a plastic bag or Ziploc bag, and place it at a warm and bright place, not in direct sunlight. The seeds will germinate in a few weeks, depending on the temperature and seed age.

Planting the seeds in Pot

Take a small pot having drainage holes and fill it with seed raising soil. Plant the soaked seeds or germinated seeds about one cm deep in the soil. Mist the soil surface and cover the containers with plastic wrap to create a humid environment.

Place the containers in a warm bright location at temperature above 20°C (68°F), with indirect sunlight.

Guava seeds germinate at temperatures between 20 to 25°C. If the temperature is low, you can germinate the seeds indoors.

The soil needs a humid environment for germination, so mist the soil surface regularly to ensure a humid environment for germination.

The guava seeds germination takes about 3-10 weeks when the tiny sprouts will emerge out from the soil. Remove the top plastic cover once the seeds germinate.

Continue the pot in shade or filtered sunlight to provide morning sun  to the seedlings.

When the seedlings have developed 2-3 sets of leaves, transplant them into larger pots filled with potting mix.

Guava Seedlings

Transplanting Guava Seedling

1. Select a sunny location in your garden with well-draining soil.
2. Make a hole twice the size of the root ball of the seedling. 
3. Gently remove the seedling from the pot and place it in the hole.
4. Backfill with soil and water thoroughly.

Guava Tree Grown from Seed

Seedlings Care

Watering: Water the guava plant regularly, especially during hot summers.

Fertilizing: Mix some aged manure or compost in the soil. Fertilize with a balanced fertilizer every 6 weeks during the growing season.

Pruning: Prune the guava tree to encourage branches and make it bushy. Remove any dead or diseased branches.

Fruits: The seed grown guava trees will start bearing fruit within 2-4 years. My most of the guava trees grown from seeds started bearing fruit in the second year and from third year they started to produce several large sized sweet fruits. My one seed propagated guava plant reached quite high, about 24 inch in just one year and produced its first flower, to my surprise.