What Guava Tree Handles Cold the Best?

Common Guava Hardiness

• Common guavas will grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9b through 11. Temperatures of 27 to 28 degrees Fahrenheit will kill young common guavas, but mature trees can withstand temperatures down to 25 to 26 F. The average winter low temperatures in USDA zone 9b is 25 to 30 F. Those temperatures jump to 30 to 35 F in USDA zone 10a.

Red Strawberry Guavas

• Purdue University horticulturalists report that red cultivars of the strawberry guava can survive to 22 degrees F. The zones of the U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone map are not so clearly delineated that you can step from one zone to another the way you might step across the border from Oregon to California. You should be able to grow red strawberry guava cultivars in warmer parts of USDA 9a, which has winter lows averaging 20 to 25 F. They will do better, however, in USDA zone 9b.

Yellow Strawberry Guavas

• Yellow strawberry guava cultivars are less cold-hardy than red cultivars. You can grow them in climates where you would grow lemons. Young lemons are killed at 29 degrees F, and mature lemons are damaged at temperatures from 28 to 31 F. USDA 10a has average winter lows of 30 to 35 F.

Strawberry Guava Description

• The strawberry guava is a shrub or small tree that grows from 6 1/2 to 14 feet high, although cultivars with yellow fruit may grow as high as 40 feet. The white flesh of red cultivars turns red near the surface while yellow cultivars have yellow flesh. The flesh of both cultivars is aromatic, juicy and translucent. Strawberry guavas tolerate shade and are salt-tolerant. They spread rapidly by shoots that grow from roots to form invasive thickets on Hawaiian, Pacific and Caribbean islands. Wild pigs and other animals eat their fruit and spread the seeds through their droppings.