Fruit - Why Not Loquats

Introduction 

The Loquat is a good tree that has a lot to offer with a few shortcomings that probably contributed to it vanishing from backyards around Australia. When I discovered a Loquat laden with fruit in my garden, I decided to do some research on the tree and its bounty and try a few recipes to see how I can best use it. This post is the result of those investigations. 

Tasty Loquat

Below I’ll list some of the pros and cons of bringing a Loquat into your garden and then offer a bit more information on how to grow it and enjoy its produce if you decide to take the plunge. 

First, the positives 

• The fruit is sweet and tasty and can be used in just about any way stone fruit can.
• The fruit ripens early in spring when not much else is available. For me it slots in between my sweet cherries and my peaches.
• You won’t find Loquats in the regular fruit section of your grocery store – a few commercial issues (yield, storage and such) mean that they just don’t get that kind of attention. Though not a problem for home growers, it has kept it off the radar of most food gardeners and therefore out of our backyards. If you want a supply of this unique fruit, you’ll probably have to grow your own.
• The tree is easy to grow. It is drought and frost tolerant and will survive in almost any soil type.
• The tree itself is lovely. It is covered year-round in large, dark green leaves with attractive pale undersides. From an ornamental standpoint alone, this tree would be a nice addition to many gardens

Now, the possible weaknesses

• The flavour of the fruit is quite tasty but many prefer the traditional stone fruits. Of course, if you’ve already got a variety of those in your garden, a Loquat makes in interesting addition.
• If left unchecked, the tree can grow quite large. The section on pruning explains how the size of a Loquat tree can be kept in check.
• The pips are poisonous so beware your pets don’t eat too many of them while foraging in your garden.

If you’ve read this far and think the Loquat might be for you, read on to learn more about how to introduce and care for a Loquat tree. 

Large Loquat Tree in Garden

Loquat Bio 

If you want to talk about a Loquat, you need to be able to say it – Loquat rhymes with cumquat. They aren’t botanically related but share the same old Chinese root word. Loquats (Eriobotrya japonica) hail from south east China and, like so many other food plants (apple, pear, stone fruit, almond, quince, strawberry, medlar, raspberry and blackberry) are in the Rosaceae family. They are sometimes referred to as Japanese plum, Chinese plum or Japanese medlar. 

Description

The Loquat is an evergreen tree. It can grow up to 10 m tall but more often is 4-5m high and a similar width when fully grown. If size matters, pruning (see section below) can be used to control its size – keeping a tree to 2 metres is possible. Its leaves are 10-25cm long and 6-8cm wide. They’re dark, glossy green above with a paler, slightly downy underside. The branches form a loose umbrella shape making the tree quite ornamental.

Loquat Leaves Top and Bottom

The tree produces small, fragrant, white flowers grouped in panicles or clusters in autumn. The flowers are pollinated (it is self-fertile) mainly by bees and the resulting fruit ripens from early spring to early summer. The fruit is slightly furry, 4 cm in diameter and will be yellow or orange when ripe. The taste is sweet with a slight tang to it. There are various descriptions of the flavour but it’s somewhere between a plum and mango with floral overtones. Each fruit contains 1-4 large seeds which are easy to remove but there isn’t a lot of flesh surrounding the pips. 

Propagation 

Loquat trees are easy to propagate from seed. As soon as the pip is removed from the fruit it should go straight into some potting soil. Keep the soil moist until the seed germinates. When the plant is about 15 cm high it’s ready to be planted out. Trees propagated in this manner will start bearing in about 8-10 years. 

Cuttings generally aren’t a successful method of propagating Loquats. Air layering is a possibility but if you want fruit more quickly, it’s best to obtain a grafted, mature plant. A grafted tree should bear fruit in 2-4 years. 

Planting 

Rumour has it that Loquats don’t grow well in Hobart but there are a lot of trees around the area that belie that warning. They thrive in a Mediterranean-like climate and are frost hardy but don’t like a heavy freeze which probably rules them out at higher altitudes. 

Plant your Loquat in full sun or dappled shade in a spot sheltered from the wind. Though wind won’t kill your tree, it can cause abrasions on the fruit. A Loquat tree can handle a wide range of soil from sandy to dense clay but prefers well drained soil rich with organic matter. A slightly acidic soil with a pH of 6 is ideal but the tree will survive with a pH anywhere between 5-8. 

There are some really good tips for how to plant a fruit tree in this post about peaches and nectarines (your Loquat will come in a pot, not bare rooted). Though that post is specifically for peaches and nectarines, if you follow its guidelines, your Loquat will have the best start possible. 

Water and Fertiliser 

Loquat trees are very easy to grow. They are drought tolerant but will perform better with some water, especially during hot spells and in when the fruit is setting. The situation is similar with fertiliser, they don’t need a lot but a nitrogen-based fertiliser applied 3 times per year (spring, summer and autumn – chicken manure is good) will be appreciated by your tree as will a complete fertiliser at the peak of the growing season. The extra care helps produce sweeter fruit and lusher foliage, but the tree will survive and bear fruit even if neglected except in the harshest conditions. If mulch is applied, make sure it doesn’t touch the bark where fungi growth can cause problems. 

Pruning 

As for everything with this gardener-friendly tree, pruning isn’t critical. If left alone the tree should grow well and remain healthy. But it is possible to prune Loquats depending on the outcome you want. If the aim is to stimulate the production of new branches, cut just above a node. To remove an entire branch, cut close to its base. To limit growth, remove shoots at branch tips. Loquats can take heavy pruning to control their size, create a hedge or even be espaliered if space is an issue. 

Pruning a young tree in the first 2 to 3 years is done to create the shape and control the size of the tree. Creating a scaffold of three to four main branches to form a vase gives a good framework and allows light and air to penetrate the tree. Once the tree begins fruiting you can prune up to 1/3 of the tree to keep it compact and increase vigour. 

Regardless of whether you’re happy with a large or small tree, it is a good idea to do some pruning to keep the tree healthy. Remove dead branches and those that cross near another branch. Crossing branches can rub against each other causing damage which becomes an access point to disease and will weaken the overall plant. 

Pruning is best done right after harvest but can be done through to late summer before the autumn growth flush. Loquats form flowers on the tips of new growth branches that are younger than 6 months old so it is the growth after fruiting that will produce next year’s fruit. 

You can also thin the fruit down to 4-10 fruits per terminal. This will yield larger individual fruits. 

Pests and Problems 

Pests in Tasmania aren’t a big problem for Loquats. The tree might be visited by aphids or caterpillars but those are fairly easily controllable by normal means. Birds don’t seem to be very interested in the fruit but possums absolutely love Loquats and will break the fragile branches while eating. Net the tree or share your fruit – hopefully there will be plenty for everyone. 

Branches are Easily Broken by Possums

In Queensland and NSW Loquats are listed as an environmental weed. They can be a host for fruit fly at a time of year where the flies might not otherwise be active. In Tasmania they aren’t listed as a weed and, touch wood, we don’t have the fruit fly issue to contend with.

Harvest 

The majority of fruit on a Loquat tree will ripen at about the same time. They are ripe when there is no green left at the base of the stem when they should come off the tree easily. The fruit will not ripen after it’s picked, so pick it when it’s at the stage you prefer (earlier is firmer and more tart, later softer and sweeter). Loquats will keep for 1 week at room temp and 1 month in the fridge. They bruise easily and a mark made at harvest will quickly turn brown so don’t handle them too harshly as you harvest. 

Uses 

Loquats can be eaten raw, straight from the tree or cut up into a fruit salad. They can be preserved as jam, paste (similar to quince paste), chutney, frozen or bottled in syrup. They also make great additions to cakes and pies. There’s virtually nothing you’d do with stone fruit that you can’t do with Loquats with only slight modifications to your recipes.

Frozen Loquats

You can leave the skin on the fruit but it’s slightly tougher than the skin of fruits like nectarines or apricots (half-way to the texture of apple skin), so you can peel it if you prefer. The pips, however, need to be removed. They are slightly poisonous as they contain a component which releases cyanide when digested, so de-stone your fruit before processing. Luckily Loquats are very freestone and the pips pop out with little coaxing. 

In my limited experience, I found Loquats to be dryer and firmer than fruit like plums, nectarines or apricots yet still easy to process. The differences I noted were: it takes more cooking time to soften their skin; their flesh contains less juice so processing requires a bit more water than your current stone fruit recipes; they are very high in pectin so you won’t need to add any agent to help set jams or paste. These attributes worked well for the fruit I bottled in sugar syrup – they maintained their shape and had a very nice texture and good taste. The jam was a bit thick and the crumble a tad dry. Overall, I was pleased with the outcomes so I’m sure preserving this fruit will become a regular activity on my December calendar. 

Preserved Loquats

From a nutritional point of view, the Loquat is low in saturated fat and sodium, and is high in vitamin A, Vitamin B6, dietary fibre, potassium, and manganese. 

Purchasing 

Greenhill Nursery stocks 3 varieties of Loquats for $70 per 25 cm pot. I’m sure most local nurseries have them, or can get them for you. The newer varieties are sweeter with softer flesh and have smaller seeds so, not only will purchasing a Loquat get you fruit more quickly than propagating, you might end up with a better tasting result. 

The Bottom Line 

I didn’t plant my Loquat but now that I’ve become more familiar with it, I am glad the original owners of this property did. For me it wouldn’t be the first fruit tree I’d plant, but since I have space, it’s one I’m happy to have. An attractive evergreen that’s easy to grow and produces tasty fruit which is simple to process – the question isn’t, why plant a Loquat, it’s why not Loquats? 

Laden Loquat Tree