Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I will do my best to use this post as a grow journal, appending info on dates of major improvement and updating my star rating as the situation evolves. Hopefully this post/review will serve as a good reference for anyone thinking about purchasing these. I ordered the plants on Apr 28, 2017 and received them on May 05, 2017. May 05, 2017: No markings on exterior of box/package so these were delivered by USPS in mailbox and I didn't know that they had been left there. Found out like 6 hrs later. Hit 103F that day. Lady who delivers is very good about hand delivering fragile/special packages at the house, as my mailbox is for the neighborhood and is situated at the foot of a mountain, in the middle of the AZ sun. It gets pretty hot in there. These plants are evergreens so damage/shock is hard to notice. When unboxed, noticed that both plants were pressed up against the top of the box. I immediately removed them from the package and took a picture of the plants next to measuring tape so you can appreciate their height. They are smaller than I expected. The dimensions are listed as 4x4x14 inches in the Product Information section above, but those are dimensions for the box. The actual plants are 2x2x5.25 inches, with about 3" of that being the plant/stem itself (Pic 1). Transplanted into 7gallon planting pouch/bag after taking first pic and set under tree canopy where it would receive mostly shade from sunrise to about 3pm. It got full sun from 3pm to about 5:30pm and then full shade. I filled the grow bag with 50% potting soil w/ yucca coir, 10-15% worm castings, and the rest "soil" (Southern AZ has no soil, it was pure caliche sand). I also added 2" of wood chip mulch on top. May 09, 2017: 2 new leaves about 1/2 way developed (Pic 2). All week, temps have been 90's in day and 50's at night. One plant made it, the other died. Notified 9GreenBox (seller) and they were VERY PROMPT in sending replacements. May 15, 2017: Moved to full sun (shade from trees until about 9:30am, full AZ sun until about 5:pm, full shade until sundown) (Pic 3). Past few days temps have been 80's to low 90's in day and mid 40's to mid 50's at night. Leaves reported on May 09 not completely developed but 2 new ones developing (Pic 4). Watering deep when soil is damp, roughly every 7 to 10 days. May 19, 2017: Received replacement plants but will continue to post updates only for plant I started on May 05th. Will probably post next update after summer. Let's see how this bad boy handles monsoon wind, rain, real full sun without a single cloud in the sky, and temps above 110F. Sept 21, 2017: 15/16" of growth in the past 4 months. Shortly after posting, our temperatures began to flirt w/ 110F. Mid-June, we had about 10 continuous days w/ 113F - 116F. I'm attaching a pic of what it looks like now in the container, another at 20" of height, and another showing all of the branches it is sprouting (pretty cool to see it sprouting so many branches, as usually trees fruit from branches, not the main stem/trunk). So? Are these really plants that can survive full sun, droughts, and in heat? Hmmm, not quite. More like, pick your 2 poisons and be merciful w/ the 3rd. They're no cactus but, to be fair, they are champs. In the 110F+ w/ full sun, they need to be watered before the dirt reaches moist/dry stage. I had to water these every 4 days since mid-June. Temps have cooled down in past couple of wks - now hitting highs around 98F and nightly lows in the low-70s. Will likely post my next update towards the end of January (after winter's freezing temps). When asked in may of this year ('17), seller said that these would like fruit in 18 months. I think these flower in May, so that would only be 12 months of me having them so I may have to wait until '19 (18 months from NOW). I have attached a screenshot of that reply. Definitely looking to hit that mark. Mar 13, 2018 I PLANTED IT IN GROUND THIS AM! But before that, let's talk about winter... We had a warm winter this year but there were a few wks when temps dropped down below freezing. I didn't cover the plant and it seemed to not care at all. It's grown to 30 inches and was getting too big for the 7 gallon root pouch it was in so I decided to plant it along w/ it's sibling and a volunteer avocado that sprouted from pit I used as mulch. The guavas are about a foot and a half apart and am hoping that, as they grow, they can provide the avocado with shade this summer. I don't think the feijoa will bloom this year, as suggested by seller, but an hopeful that they will next yr. I've attached a pic of the 2 guavas and the baby avocado that has somehow made it through summer and winter (I did baby it by covering it up most winter nights). I will update in May if I see flowers. Apr 19, 2019 1 BUD!!!!! The growth on these guys is incredible. I will upload a pic of what it looks like and how tall it is on the 2-yr mark (a few wks out). Today, I just wanted to report that I see a bud. Yes... 1 (single) bud. I'm looking forward to seeing it bloom in May. I noticed it last wk but wasn't sure what it was. It's definitely a flower bud. May 01, 2019 1 BLOOM! The bud kept growing and growing, it turned pink a few days ago, and finally bloomed this morning. The flower is definitely unique and colorful - Light pink, rose petal pink, red, yellow pollen. Really nice contrasts. I've attached a picture. Aug 01 2021 Last year some 30 blooms... Sadly, 0 fruits. Same thing this year. Roughly 50 flowers but none fruited even though I hand pollinated them using a brush. Both are tall, 4ft bushes and about 6ft diameter at the base. This will be my last update to this log, unless it ever fruits. The day I pick up a fruit from the ground is the day I will update this.