Guava tree leaves turned purple

sbear · Joined: 31 Oct 2011 Posts: 20 Location: Tempe

I have 2 guava trees and recently thier leaves started to turn purple. Photos of each are attached.

Did I water too much or too little? Or this is due to sunburn in summer?

Please help and thanks a lot!!

Datropicalman · Joined: 22 Sep 2010 Posts: 132 Location: phx

sunburn

sbear · Joined: 31 Oct 2011 Posts: 20 Location: Tempe

Thanks for the reply. How could I take care of sunburn?

myamberdog · Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 12:55 pm Post subject:

yeah, sbear, in my humble opinion they look burned and the hue on the second picture you could say has purple overtones...

Don't think you did anything wrong - they are young plants - you should cover them with some shade cloth or screening material (which I use) at least this summer, if not next. Hopefully at some point they harden up and self-shade a bit so they can take the full sun.

Also, another small observation - they look like they are next to a concrete block wall and have gravel around the base - both those create VERY hot growing conditions for any plant. I'd pull the gravel back a couple feet and mulch the bare ground with at least 3-4 inches with something organic being careful to not let any of it touch the trunk. And that wall - can you get a vine to grow on it or plant some tree near it to shade it a bit? I hope the guava is not on the west side of that wall - super hot, but even the east side will be plenty hot with out cooling help of some kind.

Let's see what others might have to say....

GOOD LUCK!

myamberCorgie

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 10:45 am Post subject:

Yah, that's sunburn. Not really too bad though. Overall your trees are looking healthy. I agree with others that some mulch around the base would help to keep the moisture in the soil from fluctuating so dramatically as well as provide nutrition. A south or west facing wall is a tough place for a plant but east facing should be fine for a guava. A north facing wall would almost be too shady for a guava.

By the way. Everything sunburns this time of year, even the citrus, so as long as it doesn't get much worse your plants should push through that just fine. Don't trim your trees because even those burned leaves will provide shade for the ones underneath.

Another consideration. If you just bought those plants then of course they will sunburn because those leaves are not acclimated to our bright light conditions. The newer leaves that develop in our climate will be better adapted.

sbear · Joined: 31 Oct 2011 Posts: 20 Location: Tempe

One of the tree is facing north and the other one is facing east. Both planted in March this year and they have been growing rapidly.

I just found the sunburn 2 weeks ago and wondered if I water them too little or too much.

BTW, should I apply fertilizer to them now?

Thanks for all the help!!

myamberdog · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:13 am Post subject:

my opinion would be NO fertilizer until they recover a bit and MORE WATER just to be safe, as you can't overwater plants this time of year in the desert.

The thing with fertilizer in the hottest part of summer is it encourages tender growth that really suffers....but I'd be curious to hear what PT has to say about that - I'm still a bit confused - some play it real safe and add just well-diluted stuff to their plants, but I don't know....

myamberLICKER

sbear · Joined: 31 Oct 2011 Posts: 20 Location: Tempe

Also, should I water the plants more in terms of volume and frequency?

Thanks for all the help!!!

phoenixtropicals · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:21 pm Post subject:

This time of year I water my guavas on a grass schedule which means they get water every other day.

People that have flood irrigation can get away with watering less often because they put down a couple 1000 gallons of water at once and really soak the soil deep, but with a high water use plant like a guava they need to mulch very heavily to keep the soil moist between the floodings. I think flood is typically every one to two weeks.

Guavas are generally fast growers and heavy feeders, but this time of year you want to be really careful not to over fertilize. However, a light application of fish emulsion 5-1-1 will benefit a guava even in the middle of summer. I recommend a cap full (approximately a tablespoon) of the Alaska fish emulsion 5-1-1 mixed with a gallon of water in a water pail. Then pour it around your two trees at the drip line or a little further out. You could split this gallon between 2-4 trees. Water the trees really good afterward.

You can't go wrong with mulching around yours trees to slow evaporation. Just don't pile on a thick layer of green mulch because it can actually get hot as it decays. If you are going to use a real green mulch put it down thinly. Dried out mulch like old leaves can be piled on more thickly.

myamberdog · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:00 pm Post subject:

...but also remember, younger plants don't have the depth of root to drink the moisture way down deep. For your younger plants, I would water more frequently and perhaps not as long and then over time and as the plant(s) become bigger you can stretch out the watering frequency and amounts....

M.a.D.