Tree · Rosaceae
Loquat
Eriobotrya japonica
With full sun and a frost-free spot, the loquat sets clusters of small, sweet fruit while other trees stand bare.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 8–11
15–30 ft · 4.6–9.1 m
Overview
Up close the loquat reads as sturdy and green in every season, an evergreen fruit tree in the rose family, native to China and long grown in Japan and the warm parts of the world. Its broad, leathery leaves hold the eye, thick and firm to the touch, and among them ride clusters of small, sweet fruit that color up in late winter and spring. Almost no other tree carries ripe fruit that early in the year.
The tree fruits on an off-season rhythm you can watch unfold. Its flowers open in fall and early winter, and the small fruit clings on through the cold months to ripen while most orchards stand bare-branched. That same schedule is its tender point, since a hard freeze can blacken a whole season of bloom while the woody frame of the tree comes through the cold untouched.
The plant itself is undemanding once it takes hold. Give it full sun, well-drained soil, and shelter from late frost, and the leathery canopy fills out on its own, taking drought and even poor, high-pH ground in stride. The two things to watch are cold on the early flowers and the blackened, scorched look of fire blight on the shoots.
Care
The short version: full sun and well-drained soil, with steady water while the tree is young and through flowering and fruiting. Older trees shrug off drought, so the real work is sheltering the small early blooms from frost.
Light
The tree fruits best in full sun, which builds the sugars in the fruit and packs the canopy of leathery leaves tight and green. It will take partial shade, but a shaded tree throws its energy into leaf and sets a lighter crop.
Water
Young trees need regular water and stay moist right through flowering and fruiting, when the small fruit is swelling. Once established the tree turns drought tolerant and gets by on far less. Let the top half of the soil dry between waterings, and never let the roots sit waterlogged.
Soil
Beneath that leathery canopy sits a root system with few demands. Well-drained loam suits the tree best, though sand and heavy clay both work, and it handles a broad pH of 6.0 to 8.0, thriving even on chalky alkaline ground that defeats touchier fruit trees. The single thing the roots refuse is standing water, so drainage is not optional.
Temperature
The woody frame is hardy from about 10°F to 95°F (-12°C to 35°C), far tougher than the tender fruit. A freeze below roughly 28°F (-2°C) blackens open blooms and young fruit, which is why a warm, sheltered site matters in cooler zones.
Humidity
Loquats are comfortable across a broad 40% to 70% humidity range and rarely fuss over it outdoors. Air moving freely through the thick canopy does more good than any target number, since it helps keep fire blight at bay.
Feeding
A balanced complete fertilizer, applied from spring into summer while new shoots are stretching, keeps the growth steady and green. Heavy nitrogen works against the tree here, because the lush, tender flush it pushes out is just the sort of soft tissue that fire blight settles into first.
Pruning
The loquat holds a tidy natural form, so the pruning saw stays mostly idle. Once the harvest is off the tree, out come dead limbs, crossing branches, and any wood blackened by fire blight, each cut placed well beneath the damaged tissue and the blades wiped clean between cuts, with only a light shaping after that.
Repotting
A tree of this scale belongs in open ground, not in a container, so the question of repotting rarely arises. The loquat is planted once, in one permanent spot, and its roots stay put from then on.
Size & spacing
A loquat grows into a substantial, wide-crowned tree, reaching 15 to 30 feet (4.5 to 9 m) tall with a spread of 15 to 25 feet (4.5 to 7.5 m). Give it plenty of open room so the broad canopy has space and air can move through it.
When to plant
The loquat keeps its own visible rhythm. Young trees go in during spring, pale flowers open in fall and early winter, and the small fruit colors up from late winter into spring. The tree is hardy across zones 8 to 11, but a freeze below about 28°F (-2°C) blackens the blooms, so a sheltered spot keeps the crop safe.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: spring
- Harvest: Blooms fall to early winter and ripens fruit late winter to spring; late freezes below about 28°F kill blooms and young fruit, limiting fruiting in colder zones even though the tree survives to about 10°F.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 8–11
Temperature: down to -12°C
Troubleshooting
Loquats are tough, thick-leaved trees, and most of their trouble shows up in two visible forms: the blackened, scorched shoots of a bacterial disease, and blooms lost to a badly timed frost. Learn the look of each and you can step in before either costs you the crop.
Shoots that blacken and hook over as if burned
When soft new shoots darken to black and bend into a hooked crook that looks singed, that scorched appearance is fire blight, a bacterial infection at work. It moves fastest through warm, wet spring weather and eats into the tender new growth. Cut well below the dead, blackened wood into clean tissue, wipe your blades with disinfectant between cuts so it doesn't ride along the branch, and ease off the nitrogen, since the soft flush it drives is the tissue the bacteria feed on.
Fix:
- Prune out blackened, dead shoots and branches well below symptoms, disinfect tools between cuts, and avoid excessive nitrogen.
Blooms and small fruit turned black after a cold snap
The pale flowers open in fall and early winter and the small green fruit hangs on into spring, which sets the crop right in the path of a late freeze. Once the air drops below about 28°F (-2°C) those open blooms and developing fruit blacken and die, even as the tree's own wood shrugs off cold down to roughly 10°F (-12°C). Give it a sheltered spot or a warm pocket of the yard, and in colder zones let the broad evergreen leaves carry the show and treat any fruit as a bonus.
Fix:
- Plant in a protected site or warmer microclimate; in colder zones grow primarily as an ornamental and expect little to no fruit.
Toxicity
The soft ripe flesh is a sweet treat and safe for people to eat, but the large seeds and leathery leaves hold cyanogenic glycosides that turn into cyanide when chewed. That makes the tree a real caution around cats, dogs, horses, and grazing animals. Keep fallen seeds, prunings, and wilted leaves where pets and livestock can't reach them.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Mild
A cat that gnaws a leathery leaf or a smooth, dark seed may drool, vomit, and breathe hard. The soft, ripe flesh is harmless, so the leaves and seeds are the parts to watch.
Dogs Mild
A dog that mouths a fallen seed or chews a leaf can drool and turn queasy from the cyanogenic compounds inside. Heavy or labored breathing is the sign that more cyanide has been let loose.
Horses Moderate
Horses feel the cyanide in chewed seeds and wilted, drooping leaves more sharply, showing weakness, gasping breaths, even collapse. Keep every pruning and clipping well clear of the paddock.
Rabbits Moderate
A rabbit nibbling the tough foliage takes in the same cyanogenic compounds, so the leaves stay off the menu. Only a small taste of the ripe flesh is safe, if any at all.
Livestock Toxic
In cattle, goats, and sheep the cyanide gathers in wilted leaves and cut prunings and can drop an animal fast. Fence the tree off and keep trimmings out of any pasture.
Birds Caution
Birds can take the soft, ripe flesh, but the seeds and leaves carry the same toxin and stay out of reach. Treat everything but the pulp as off limits.
People Fruit flesh safe
The ripe flesh is a sweet, well loved fruit and safe for people to eat. The large, smooth seeds are not swallowed and the leaves are not chewed, since both hold cyanogenic glycosides.
Keep fallen seeds, prunings, and wilted leaves away from pets and grazing animals.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Loquat cultivars are many, bred for size, color, and flavor. These few, told apart by their fruit and flesh, turn up most often in home gardens.
Gold Nugget
A late-season type bearing large, round, orange fruit that ripens sweet.
Champagne
A cultivar with juicy yellow flesh carrying a sweet-tart bite.
Big Jim
A vigorous, heavy-bearing tree with large, rounded fruit of good flavor.
Mrs. Cooke
A dependable cultivar with yellow flesh, grown in home gardens for its steady crops.
How to propagate
You can grow a loquat from one of its large, smooth seeds pulled straight from the fruit, but a seedling won't match its parent. To copy a known cultivar, growers turn to grafting or air-layering instead.
SeedEasy
The large, smooth seeds sprout readily when a fresh loquat pip goes straight from the fruit into soil. Seedlings grow up variable and rarely match the parent, so they suit rootstock or a fun experiment more than a known fruit.
GraftingModerate
To keep a named cultivar true to type, growers graft or bud it onto a seedling rootstock. It takes a steadier hand than sowing seed, but it is the only reliable way to copy a tree's exact fruit.
Air layeringModerate
Air-layering clones a tree you already like by rooting a branch while it stays attached to the parent. It asks for some patience, and it skips the guesswork of seed.
Myths
The whole loquat plant is poisonous.
The soft ripe flesh is edible and eaten across the world with no trouble. Only the seeds and leaves hold cyanogenic glycosides, and those are a hazard mainly when chewed in quantity, so the large seeds get spat out and the rest is fine.
You need two loquat trees before you will ever get fruit.
A lone loquat usually does the job, since most trees carry fruit with no partner at all. A second cultivar planted close by can swell the crop through cross-pollination, but one tree by itself still sets a harvest.