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Loquat Care Guide
Loquat (Japanese Medlar; Japanese Plum)
Eriobotrya japonica
A slightly tender evergreen shrub or small tree, growing 10-25' tall
originally from central China. Loquat has been cultivated for its fruit
in China and Japan from antiquity. Now widely grown in sub-tropical
areas. The fruit is eaten fresh for dessert, used for jelly, jam and
preserves, and stewed for pies.
Loquat arrived in the Mediterranean area in the nineteenth century,
under the name of Japanese Medlar, and is now widely grown in that area.
It is evergreen, well-rounded, low-spreading tree and attains a height
of 10-25'. Its dark green leathery leaves, about 12" long and grown from
the succulent shoots, contrast strikingly with younger, gray-green, soft
and downy leaves.
Under ideal conditions a rainfall of 20-45" throughout the year suits
it. Abundant moisture without water logging is required. Although a good
summer is needed for it to flower in the open, the tree itself can
resist frost, and when well hardened by cool weather it may withstand a
temperature of 12*F (-11#C), although its young shoots are killed when
the temperature is a little below freezing.
The loquat prefers a well drained loam of good depth but will grow quite
well on a wide variety of soils - from light sandy loam to a heavy soil.
It will not do so well where there is a very marked gravelly sub-soil,
an impervious clay soil, or soil containing a very high percentage of
lime.
In its northern range a good place for it to be grown is against the
sunny back wall of a cold or slightly heated lean-to greenhouse. During
the winter it should be watered moderately and then freely from April
onwards. During hot weather a daily syringing is beneficial. It can also
be grown indoors as an ornamental pot plant but if left to itself it
will grow quite fast, as much as 2' in a year. Repotting should be
carried out each year and by judicious pruning of the tap root it can be
kept to a reasonable size.
The loquat is by nature a compact-growing tree and requires less pruning
than the deciduous fruit trees of the temperate zone. This, in fact, is
the case with most evergreen fruit trees. Even so, branches must be cut
back from time to time, preferably in April, so as to allow light into
the center of the tree. In older trees the dead and diseased branches
must be cut out.
Flowers are produced intermittently from autumn to spring and are more
profuse after a very hot summer. The flowers are yellowish white,
fragrant, about 1/2" broad, and they are borne in the terminal woolly
panicles which are 4-8" long. They appear on the current season's growth
and are borne in the apex of shoots 3-6 months old, after these have
ceased growth. The panicles usually contain 40-60 flowers but under
ideal conditions there may be at times, as many as 100. Not all the
flowers will set fruit, perhaps only 10 or 12 per panicle.
Thinning of fruit is practiced where fruit of a larger size is required.
The thinning may be of individual flowers, or whole flower panicles, or
of the fruit itself. Thinning is also practiced to lessen the tendency
of trees to produce a large crop of small fruit one year, followed by a
very small crop of large fruit the next year. The loquat is inclined to
overwork itself; this should be discouraged.
The fruit is borne in loose clusters. The surface of the fruit is
somewhat downy and the skin has about the same texture as the plum, with
a calyx somewhat like that of the pear. The flesh is a cream color and
juicy. The flavor is mild, sub acid and sweet, enriched by an apple like
ester. The number of seeds may vary from two to ten but is rarely more
than three or four. They are hard, brownish, shining and oblong, about
1/2 to 3/4" long. They separate easily from the fruit.
The fruit should be allowed to ripen on the tree to enable it to obtain
its full flavor, sweetness and other qualities. Where the temperature is
to high and there is insufficient water, as may happen in a warm
greenhouse, the fruit remains small and may not ripen properly. On the
other hand where the weather is cool and the days foggy or misty during
the ripening period the fruit lacks sweetness and flavor. If the fruit
is late in ripening a temperature falling to 25*F (-4*C) will kill the
seed and cause the fruit to fall.
At harvesting the fruit clusters should be cut or clipped. The fruit is
generally eaten fresh for desert and very refreshing it is. It may also
be used for making jelly, jam and preserves or stewed and served as a
sauce. Loquat pie made from loquats which have not fully ripened is said
to be similar to cherry pie. The seeds should, however, be removed
before cooking otherwise they impart a bitter flavor.
Apart from the climatic requirements for fruiting, the loquat is easily
cultivated and its sub-tropical appearance makes it a very pleasing
small tree to have about the place.
ref; Simmons, "Growing unusual fruit" publisher Walker & Co. 1972
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