Eriobotrya Species, Japanese Plum, Loquat

Several large specimens exist here in Fairfax County, Virginia (DC burbs). Likely they do not produce fruit -- perhaps only 1 out of 10 y...Read Moreears, depending on if the planets all allign properly!

However this plant can take more cold than most people think. Easily down to 0 degrees if properly hardened off. Should be kept out of wind this far north. Snow loads can cause breakage. Up here it's more a novelty broad-leafed evergreen.

I planted two of these trees in the front yard.
The soil is red clay and they seem to love it.
They went through two years ...Read Moreof temperatures of 10 dgreesF with no damage.
After about 6 years one of them is blooming(finally got enough water).
I love these trees and hope the fruits make it through the winter.

I am going the air layer some of the suckers and plant them in the back yard.

I was given a small sapling in the fall. It was grown by seed from Milan.I live on the North Shore of Long Island, NY. I kept the seedl...Read Moreing indoors by my kitchen window where it has thrived and grown nicely. It is about 6 inches tall right now with many healthy leaves. Can I put this sapling in the ground where I live (mid-May)? If I do/can would I care for it as I do for my fig trees (wrapping and covering it in the fall)? I have a bright sunny spot all picked out.

The loquat seems to be a very popular plant all over the state of Texas. I was given 12 plants that my friend had in pots and just ignor...Read Moreed except for watering , so they had rooted deep into the ground. We just took a shovel and broke the roots outside of the pots and they didn't skip a beat. I just kept them well watered until planting. After planting them 2 years ago I lost several but still have 5 that are loaded with fruit now, the first week of April. Ripe and juicy. I am wondering if anyone knows a good way to juice the fruit. Since they have such large seeds I wouldn't think they would do well in a conventional juicer. Or a recipe for making jelly. I have heard somewhere that it makes a great one. Thanks for any suggestions.
But if I have to stand at the tree and suck the juice from as many as I can to keep from wasting any, so be it......lol.

We have had some unusually cold winters for the past 2 years in central Florida. This is the "little tree that could." It has remained h...Read Moreealthy through the winter without any special treatment. Which is nice, because I am busy hauling plumerias, a flamboyant, and orchids in and out of my house during December and January. It is nice to have something that stays green year around and grows without fuss. My tree is still only about a foot tall, but looking forward to the flowers and fruit.

two plants placed in courtyard that our house surrounds...

one is blooming, second year we have had it...still in nursery ...Read Morepot

other is planted but not blooming

only about 3 feet tall and caliper is about 1/2 inch.

The loquat in South Africa has become a Category 3 Invader, which means it may no longer be traded. Only existing trees may be grown. Thi...Read Mores is the Government's strategy to phase it out of the country. I've never seen these fruits for sale, but I do have childhood memories of eating them off the trees.

I was born in Chile where the Japanese Loquat is known as nispero. Both my grandparents had loquat trees in their yards and it was one of...Read More my favorite fruits. Growing up in NY I scoured the markets always looking for the tasty fruit and never found it :( Now that we moved to S FL I was pleasantly surprised to find that I am able to plant it here in zone 10. Now I just have to find a nursery that sells the tree close to fruiting age, I have been waiting almost 25 years to taste it again. I will repost once I find one and plant it.

Got my loquat baby home today will be in ground tomorrow, we are very excited, and looking forward to the fruits in the years to come, an...Read Mored the fact that it will block some unattractive tool shed of our neighbors'.

I've read that loquats won't produce fruit North of Jacksonville on the East coast and that simply isn't true. I live about 10 miles Nort...Read Moreh of Savannah GA about a mile inland from the ocean and there are many fruiting loquat trees around here.

Nice looking smaller evergreen tree with early spring fruit as a bonus. I've never had a pest or disease problem. Nice tree for those in sub-tropical climates.

I had the weirdest experience today. I was so thrilled to find I had huge Japanese Plum tree in my yard of my new house, which was fully ...Read Moreloaded w/fruit. I have been eating breakfast off it every day for 2 wks now as the fruit w/in reach ripened. However, today I went outside, as usual, only to find this tree was completely stripped of fruit! I mean...not one single Japanese plum left on the whole entire tree, and not one trace on the ground of there having ever been a fruit! I was totally freaked out...felt like I was in the twilight zone. Not a trace! I looked at the branches to see if they had been cut off or broken, but it did not seem there were really any fresh cuts or tears. Does anyone know what could have happened? I am thinking if it was some animal, like a flock of birds, the job w/h/b messier...that some w/b left, or some on the ground or some not fully eaten. So I am wondering if someone came onto my property, in broad daylight, while I was at home even, and stripped it clean. But in order to do that so quickly, I am thinking they w/h had to break the branches and I'm not seeing that. I mean I had thousands of these fruits on that tree, I am sure, and am totally perplexed. I never have seen such a thing

I have recently purchased the coppertone variety and I love this tree. We use it as a small patio centerpiece to screen from our neighbo...Read Morerhood. It is easily shapped, has beautiful thick foilage and very fragrant flowers. It is difficult to distinguish this tree from the Indian Hawthorne (slightly longer leaves and smaller white vs larger pink flowers)

I have a six-year-old loquat that finally bloomed last fall. I was so excited because I had just about given up on it (thought central V...Read Moreirginia might have been too cold for it). Now I'm hoping that maybe next year I'll get fruit. I've eaten them in Italy (where they're called nespole), but never in the U.S.

Hello John_hosie, sorry I am posting a comment so long after you. I live in zones 9 (a breakdown to that zone exactly were I am is betwee...Read Moren 8b and 9a). I have a Loquat Tree aka Japanese Plum grown from seeds. Seven years ago, as of March 2011, my husband and I was at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville Florida, the Loquat tree was in full fruit. We pick the fruit, was great, and I kept the seeds. I soaked the seeds for approx 1-1/2 weeks before planting them. They all came up. I gave some away but unfortunately when they were approx 2yrs old I thought they were fair the winter without protecting them, I was wrong. I lost all but one Loquat tree. But, that one tree has grown to approx 12-14 foot tall and is producing its first fruit crop this year. If should have fruit to pick around March.

What a feeling to pick fruit straight from the tree, taste its wonderful flavor, plant the seeds, what them grow, and then watch it produce its own fruit. Talk about a great life cycle. I plan on turning those seeds into more Loquats. I have had so many people ask me to please grow some for them.

So, I would say keep your Loquat inside or protected (covered) from the cold if left outside during the winter months.

We are so looking forward to tasting the fruit of our labor in March.

Happy Planting!!!

At this point my experience with this tree is about 2 hours old. So don't count it for much. I just bought 5 seedlings - still have the c...Read Moreotyledons on them - via eBay. They're all of about 4 inches tall, but at a cost of $1.75 each, I figured they were OK. I'm in zone 7 - near the edge of zone 6. I actually bought these without realizing what they really were. I thought I was getting a hybrid kumquat like the limequat that would be hardy in this area. I should have read the entire description. But regardless, I've got to say that they shipped well and were quickly potted. I'm just wondering if I want to over-winter them outside. I plan to turn them into Bonsai over the coming years, so I want them to at least get through the first year or two before exposing them to severe weather. Any advice would be appreciated.

My loquat tree here in Tokyo have finaly fruits now,
I guess the tree is about 15 maybe 20 years old
and 12 feet high.

I bought my first loquat 5 years ago, and this year, for the first time, it has fruited. I thought the climate here was too cold for thi...Read Mores to occur - last winter was very cold with many lows in the teens - but obviously it isn't. I don't know the specific cultivar I'm growing, but I hope the fruit is flavorful. Regardless, it is a beautiful, tropical looking tree that reminds of old southern gardens. This tree also grows quite rapidly here in central SC.

I Love these trees, I remember my father had two when I was little. Now I have a total of 6 in my yard. But I want to know if anyone has ...Read Moreever come across a Loquat, Japanese Plum (Eriobotrya japonica) that only had one seed in every fruit on the tree. I have seen a plum with 1 or 2 seeds before but for all the fruit to only have one seed all the time, strikes me as different. If this is a species of Loquat you know, please let me know. these things bug me lol.

I have had fruit from my tree every year for the last four years in zone 8b. We regularly get below 24 degrees in winter and the fruit st...Read Moreill seems to form. I believe that the flowers are sensitive to 24F but I believe that once the fruit form, they are maybe tolerant to 22F. My tree is a seedling so it may be the characteristics of my tree. We had temps down to 14F this year and some of the fruit is still maturing. I am not sure what to think of that. I will see how many ripen in Spring. I just love the tree. It takes heat, drought, cold and just looks great. They will drop leaves but that is really only 15-30 minutes of cleanup work a year. I dont know why anyone would complain about that in exchange for 50-70 pounds of delicious fruit.

They grow well here in North Florida. One of the few things I have outside that don't get freeze damage (other than the very young leave...Read Mores which can get burnt by a deep freeze).

My backyard neighbor has these trees growing all along the fence. They are a somewhat attractive tree and seem to be drought tolerant onc...Read Moree established. The fruit are small and have a pleasant taste. The only (slight) negative I find is that little trees seem to pop up in the lawn, but I just mow over them otherwise we'd have an orchard!

There aren't many evergreen trees we can grow here in Bulgaria, and this is one of the best.
The leaves of the Loquat are large ye...Read Moret stiff, so they hold up well to wind. Their texture is quite impressive, and the tree grows reasonably fast. For me this is a totally carefree, valuable species that is very unusual and still a rarity here.
Some people have tried growing it in the colder parts of the country with limited success. It does need a lot of warmth and is really a borderline zone 7/8 plant. It grows well along the coast and perhaps would do well in mild locales elsewhere, though it will succumb to long periods of winter weather.

Re;(loquat) Eriobotria, encouraging flower and fruit in England.

I have a couple of really healthy, vigorous specimens, ...Read Moregrown from seed, that are around 7 years old, still a bit early for flowers/fruit (?) but would love some tips on how to give them a 'nudge'.

they are beautiful little trees as they are, but it would be wonderful to have them fruit!

I live in Central England, with a sheltered and south - facing garden, they are very happy in their little warm spot, if anyone has any tips for me, that would be great:)

Yes, this tree will do well even in zone 7, and harvest begins in March.

Amazingly this tree thrives in zone 7-8. I planted this tree 4 years ago.It was 3 feet, now 12 feet.Have not seen flowers, or fruit :( ...Read More
Leaves are tough like magnolia's,does not shed that much here.Did not know it was considered so tropical, I wont tell the tree- made it through some long cold spells here (once 9-17F for about a week, and windy)

When we lived in Southern California my folks bought a house with a loquat tree in the yard. I tried eating the fruit - once.
...Read More /> I've never had such a violent allergic reaction to anything else in my life. Like many people I have a few mild allergies - ragweed gives me hay fever, avocados make my lips itch a little (but they're worth it). My reaction to loquat was almost life-threatening - lips and tongue burning and swollen, throat swelling, difficulty breathing.

I just mention this because loquat, for some reason, apparently has the potential to affect some people like that. If anyone in your family has allergies, be careful with it. I'm just glad I don't react that way to any other fruit or vegetable.

Pretty, small evergreen tree here in Portland, OR. Blooms in winter
w/ fragrant small white flowers. Frost usually wrecks the flo...Read Morewers but
the occasional fruit occurs in summer. Not an amazing fruit- nice
tree though. Leaves have burned in temps below 12ºF. Recovered
quickly.

As long as I can remember, we've had a Japanese Plum growing in the yard of my childhood home. The first was planted at the corner of the...Read More house, but Dad removed it because of the near-indestructible fallen leaves so close to the house. He planted another farther away, thank goodness. In November when it begins to bloom, its intoxicating fragrance fills the whole yard. For me, that scent is a sure sign that the holidays are just around the corner. We've never eaten the fruit, but the tree's attractive appearance and the delightful fragrance in an otherwise dreary time of year are more than enough.

These trees grow like weeds here! I have 2 trees in my backyard that I did not plant that must have grown from birds and they are about ...Read More12 - 15 ' tall. Fortunately, they seeded in a perfect area and offer good privacy and are evergreen. The fruit is good when very ripe and the birds love them.

I am 56 years old, and when I was a child in Savannah Georgia we had a "Japanese Plum" in our yard....I have many fond memories of the wo...Read Morenderful sweet yellow fruit and the very attractive flowers. Unfortunately, when I was about twelve years old, our tree died from an unknown cause...just this year I decided to research, find, and plant a new tree. I have now introduced my grandchildren to the tree and fruit that were such an important part of my own childhood.

Loquats grow in the lower desert if they receive some protection from the afternoon sun and adequate water. Their large exotic looking fo...Read Moreliage is very attractive and select varities produce delicious fruit. Freezing is not a problem anywhere in the lower and upper sonoran desert. The most challenging aspect of growing loquats is their sensitivity to salty soil.

http://www.phoenixtropicals.com/loquat.html

These only produce fruit in areas that do not get below 27 in winter, basically in citrus growing areas. They can grow as far north as A...Read Moretlanta or even farther north but they will not bear fruit.

The fruit is delicious. Some trees produce a tart, apricot tasting fruit while others produce a meltingly sweet fruit. I like both! The fruit usually ripens in Florida in march or april. The blossoms appear in fall and smell fragrant, attracting bumblebees and honeybees.

Native to China and Southern Japan. Also called Japanese Medlar. Important fruit crop in southern Japan.

Extremely sensitive to fire blight. If you find fire blight on a plant try to prune the infected leaves as soon as possible and sterilize your pruning shears afterwards. Isolate the infected tree if possible (say if it's in a pot). It's best to plant these trees far enough from each other so that if you have a problem with fire blight, it won't spread as bad. I already lost two loquat trees to fire blight.

It took me some time to finally locate a loquat small enough to transport back to Virginia. I found a lovely specimen in Naples, Florida...Read More but it was simply too large to fit inside our vehicle without extensive pruning (something the nurseryman was more than happy to do!).

I finally located a small one and it has been doing really well in central Virginia (7a). Although this plant is hardy here with protection and in a southern exposure, because of its habit of setting fruit in the fall and carrying it over the winter I decided to keep it as a large potted specimen. This way the fruit will not be damaged by winter storms.

Eventually the tree will be too large for a pot and then it can go into a well-protected part of our garden. Until then I leave it outside until the weather gets really bad, December, then bring it into a cool porch until things improve in February.

We had a large loquat growing when I lived in SC, long time ago and was quite fond of it. Have tried to plant one everywhere I've lived ...Read Moresince. I have a small tree at the moment, still in a large black pot. It will be transplanted soon. I have always love the loquat and love using the leaves and buds in flower centerpieces. The fruit is wonderful in a pie or pudding.
They are a bit messy, but to me the benefits outweigh the negatives.

January 31, 2005
We finally planted it in the ground last June. It has grown about 4 feet and many branches since we took it out of the pot and planted it in the yard. Hoping for blooms this fall.

I have ALOT of these trees.... because when the loads if fruit drops.... and the fruit breaks... the seeds go into the ground and germina...Read Morete new plants. They do drop large leaves every where in your yard! But the fruit is delicious if you have a good tree. I have two VERY LARGE trees in my front yard... and one tree's fruit is good... but the other tree's fruit is sour!

A couple of points about this plant. It is unusual in that it flowers late in the year and matures its fruit over Winter to be the (very ...Read Morewelcome) first fruit of the year. This makes them a serious problem in a fruit fly area if they aren't sprayed, as they can get the population off to a flying start.In parts of Australia owners are required by law to spray these trees.

Our tree is very definitely a biennial fruiter, with large crops in alternate years. I've read that this is common.

I find the leaves almost impossible to breakdown if left intact. I run over them with the mower before heaping them to let them rot down.

I had one of these growing when I moved in. VERY MESSY! They drop large leaves covering my plants in the planter and drop rotton fruit ...Read Moreall over. These can be invasive in San Diego at the coast. When they are 20 to 30 feet tall you cannot control where the fruits will fall. Usually all over my patio and planters. I am constantly pulling up lowquat plants out of my planter. Fortunately I cut it down recently. So hopefully I will not have to pull them out much longer.

I grew up climbing this tree and eating its fruit. many wonderful memories of my childhood happened near a loquat tree. i can still tas...Read Morete the fruit when i think about it.

Overall I do like these trees, especially the fruit. However, they are messy, dropping large leaves or loads of rotting fruit from high ...Read Morein the canopy. Furthermore, here in New Orleans at least, they are prone to root fungus which make them short lived or at least unattractive. Nevertheless, I do have one in my patio and the birds love it.

This is another plant my parents grew both in Louisiana and South Georgia, zone 8 mostly, but their trees were under part shade from huge...Read More oaks and never flowered or had fruit, so I've never tasted one! They are a pretty ornamental small tree, but thanks to all of the above information, especially about the cultivars, I will be on the lookout for one or two trees for my place here in Northcentral Florida, zone 8b.

We found this delightful fruit and beautiful tree in Greece, and spent half of our trip trying to find an English translation of the Gree...Read Morek name pronounced "Misthilee". We brought seeds home and grew them, but they died because we didn't water them enough in a pot. We are purchasing one from a nursery for our yard, and hoping to have better luck with an irrigation system. I've heard they do well in Arizona...we hope so!

We have this plant here, specially in colder places, although I know 2 or 3 plants here in Rio de Janeiro, including mine... I wasn´t ex...Read Morepecting it to grow, I just threw a seed from a fruit I had just eaten there, and after a few months it was born.

I like the fruits, but they are hardly used commercially, so I have to be lucky and find a tree bearing fruits to have some to eat... or waiting for my little buddy to grow

I live in the South East of England (United Kingdom). I have 2 of these trees in my south facing garden. They are now approximately 15 fe...Read Moreet tall. We grew them from small plants which were brought back to Engalnd from Greece by a friend.

The trees are beautiful. but have only once had flowers and fruit. I would appreciate any suggestions as to how to encourage them to flower.

My wife, who is Turkish, says these are her favorite sub-tropical fruits. A neighbor made a delicious cobbler, subsituting loquats for ap...Read Morericots. And a final note, I was going to add a picture of the fruit, but it's hard to improve on those already posted.

I have a very young loquat. It is presently about 4 1/2 feet tall. A friend gave it to me, telling me that when full grown it has a lovel...Read Morey habit. I planted it around October, 2001 when it was about 1.5 feet tall.

My tree is in full sun and is watered regularly, has good drainage. Occasionally, however, some of the lower leaves get brown and fall off. It has not bloomed as yet, nor tried to bear fruit. The new leaves are always healthy. They are fuzzy and a very light green to goldish hue. The older leaves are a medium green and fuzzy on top.

We were fortunate enough to have a full, mature tree on our lot when we moved here, and this spring was a delight with all the fruit it b...Read Moreore. I'd never eaten this fruit till now, and I'm anxiously awaiting for the next harvest.

The tree itself is a beauty! It shows off its dark green leaves, and when in bloom, it is definitely a specimen.
Being a Northerner, I didn't know what the blooms were, so I kept waiting for a flower to appear. Thanks to a neighbor, I started harvesting right away.

We are horse lovers in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. Horses love the fruit but they spit out the seeds, (not quite round but ent...Read Moreirely whole.)

My father-in-law was Yugoslavian and made beautiful wine and brandy from this fruit. He grew all of his trees from seed because he could grow more trees, more quickly, that way than through vegetative propogation or by grafting them onto quince stock, there being plenty of land in Australia but he having a shortfall of time on his hands. Then he'd simply thin out the poor bearers and any that he didn't like the taste of the fruit.

We got a huge bag of these from a friend yesterday, but we grew up eating them as children, and they grow all over this town. Not all loc...Read Moreal fruit-bearing loquats are grafted stock; some come up from seeds that are just dropped by birds or children. I have seen them used as tall hedges, also. They can get very large.

We are interested in propagating these, and I talked to someone who has several; we're going to try them from seeds.

One factsheet says this:

"Loquat trees are easy to grow from seed. Seedling trees are satisfactory for ornamental use, but may bear inferior fruit. Superior varieties do not become true from seed, so it is necessary to plant vegetatively propagated trees. Successful methods of propagation in Florida include shield budding and side veneer grafting. Loquat seedlings are used as rootstocks. Grafted trees will bear fruit in 2 - 3 years, while a seedling tree will take 5 - 6 years."

(From the University of Florida edis website)

Loquats are small tender trees (to 25 feet) with symmetrical and compact crown. They have many admirable qualities including smooth everg...Read Morereen foliage, fragrant flowers, and delicious fruit. They're very easy to grow from seed, and bloom from October to February in Florida (U.S.), some years they may rebloom in late summer.

The large leaves are about 10" long and are a deeply textured dark green on top while the bottom surface is light green and slightly fuzzy. As with other Photinias, new foliage on some species is an attractive rusty red.

The scented, fuzzy white flowers grow in terminal clusters, and are followed by small, edible yellow fruits. Provide plenty of water and good drainage when young. However, once established, this tree is drought resistant. Full sun, adequate water and mulch will keep the Loquat tree exhibiting its best form and fruit. It can also be successfully grown in shady areas but flowering will be reduced.

Loquat fruit can be enjoyed fresh, dried or in jams and preserves. Ripe fruit will also attract many kinds of birds while the fragrant flowers never fail to attract bees.