Propagation

• Guava propagated from seeds germinates in about three weeks.
  
  
• Freshly extracted seeds of fully matured fruits should be used for this purpose.
  
  
• Seedlings can be raised in nursery or in polyethylene bags.
  
  
• Seed viability declines very quickly after extraction from fruits.
  
  
• Considering the hard coat of the seeds it is necessary to pour boiling water on the seeds and allowing it to soak in water for two weeks prior to sowing or treating them with strong sulphuric acid for five minutes facilitates their germination.
  
  
• However the raising of the guava plants form seed is not desirable, since the seedling trees differ greatly from their mother plants

• Air-layering is the commercial method in practice for propagation of guava.
  
  
• The most ideal time for airlayering in guava is between April and June in the warm and humid climate, when the average temperature varies between 29.3 and 30.5°C and relative humidity between 69.0 and 80.0 per cent.
  
  
• A shoot from previous year's growth of 1cm in diameter is selected for air-layering. A ring of bark about 3cm long is removed.
  
  
• This area is covered with wet sphagnum moss and tied with polyethylene film.
  
  
• The rooting takes place in about 30-40 days. Veneer grafting, T-budding, Forkert budding are some of the other methods of propogating guava