How to plant guava

The surest way is to buy a healthy air-layered or grafted plant from a government or other reliable nursery and plant it at the start of the rains, in a pit on land that never stays waterlogged. NHB says air-layering is the main commercial way to raise guava, because plants grown from seed differ greatly from their mother tree.

When to plant

Plant guava in the rainy season in most of India: Vikaspedia's guava calendar plants layers in July with the rains, and TNAU gives June to December for Tamil Nadu. As a guide:

• Northern plains, north-west dry zone (Rajasthan), central India and the east: July–August.
• North-east: June–August.
• Tamil Nadu coast: TNAU gives June to December; October–November planting suits only places like this, where the main rains come with the north-east monsoon.

These months are a guide: plant when the rains have properly wetted the soil in your district, and avoid the hot, dry months of April to June.

Pit, spacing and planting

• Pit: Vikaspedia's calendar suggests a pit of about 60 × 60 × 60 cm (NHB also gives 0.6 m; TNAU uses 45 cm). NHB advises keeping the top half of the dug soil separate, leaving the pit open for 2–3 weeks, then refilling it with the topsoil mixed with well-rotted farmyard manure and letting it settle.
• Spacing: NHB says guava is usually planted about 6 × 6 m apart, or 5 × 5 m in some orchards; TNAU gives 5–6 m. For a single garden tree, leave room for a crown that wide. This is only a rough starting point, not a safe distance from a house, wall, pipe or septic tank, so ask your local horticulture office if space is tight.
• Planting: make a small hole in the centre of the filled pit, set the earth ball in it without breaking it, press the soil gently and water at once (NHB). Keep any graft union well above the soil, and tie the plant to a stake if your area is windy (NHB). Fence it where cattle roam (Vikaspedia).

Growing guava from seed

Guava seed sprouts easily, but NHB says seedling trees differ greatly from their mother plants and start bearing later, at about 4–5 years. If you want to try, sow fresh seed from a fully ripe fruit soon after taking it out, because NHB says it loses its ability to sprout quickly; NHB says it germinates in about three weeks, in a nursery bed or a polythene bag.

First-year watering (rough starting point)

Check the soil a few centimetres down near the roots: water deeply when the root zone is drying, skip watering after rain, and never let water stand around the stem. NHB says no watering is needed in the monsoon unless there is a long dry spell, and that very young plants may need water every 2–3 days in the dry season. The intervals below are only a rough starting point, not trial results.

Season	Rough interval (check the soil first)
Monsoon (Jul–Sep)	Usually none; only in a long dry break
Post-monsoon and winter (Oct–Feb)	About every 7–10 days if the soil is dry
Spring (Mar)	About every 5–7 days
Summer (Apr–Jun)	About every 2–4 days in hot, dry places