There's a loquat tree near my workplace that produces huge fruits. I have two trees that produce regular sized fruits. So I thought of taking cuttings and grafting onto seedlings. Anyone have success with grafting loquats? Same techniques as with figs?

there is a video of Ken Love talking about figs and loquats. I never tasted this fruit.

That's a big one!  I grew up in Central Florida where Loquats are common, I have never seen one that size.  I brought a Loquot with me when I moved here, it has never bloomed.  There are Loquits around here but I have never seen any of the produce.

Loquats are wonderful, The Trees are actually quite hardy thinking about 15 F. but in blooming fall/winter the fruit often gets hit by the cold, but even here north of Atlanta sometimes they manage fruit. That is a very nice sized fruit. I have several young seedlings I could graft to, if you want to send me 3 or 4 cuttings I  could try and graft them and send 1 or 2 back if successful

Really nice color and size. i grew a loquat from seed started over 10 years ago. They are so easy to grow and grow fast. Finally after all these years, I have tons of fruit. Why not try grafting. I think all the nursery sold loquats are grafted so it should work. Let us know how it tastes.

Bass is your Man
missed eating this fruit in the states
mark

That's a big one. Mine are about half that size if I don't thin them. They make a great jam. This far north they don't keep their fruit all winter every year but this looks like a good year.

Hi Frank,

I grafted a loquat last year using a cleft graft with Yehuda which is a commercial variety. I just this week received some Christmas loquat graftwood which I will be grafting probably using a "tongue and groove" graft.

Frank I'd be very interested in getting some graftwood from that tree. I have five trees about five foot tall that I want to graft on. Loquat is one of the few fruit trees that will fruit in shady areas.

I'd like some graft wood as well. I have a couple of seedlings that need to be worked over. Let me know if you have any to share!

Man, whenever *I* think about grafting, I'm mostly thinking about adding another variety for better pollination.  My tree is obviously a Champagne or a seedling of it, and it gives fruit that pleases me.  Of course, that's probably because I'm easy to please?

This pdf from crfg is obviously useful for those people thinking about loquat varieties.  Don't take it too much as gospel, since it's NorCal specific and maybe touting some varieties.  The part about which varieties bear well was interesting.  Loquats are fairly narrow in how good they can be and how different they can be from one another.  Also, keep in mind that one may strongly prefer *seedling* loquats as compared to commercial varieties because they typically have less thick skin than what commercial breeders have been seeking.  Same game as Blemheim apricots.  Seedlings of white loquats are more likely to be sweet.  Orange loquats are more likely to be a bit more robust.  Anyways, much like with feijoa or pawpaw varieties, people tend to tout varieties that just don't made much of a difference from norms.  However, I think, like figs and unlike feijoas or pawpaws, loquats have been bred for so long that the best has been gotten out of its germnoplasm by now, mostly. 

http://www.crfg.org/chapters/santa_clara/FruitLeaf/SepOct09.pdf

Frank, I would like to stand in line also if cuttings are available. Since they start readily from seeds, but it's a crap shoot as to what you will get, I wonder since it's ripening season that seeds might be available. I have just done my first graft on a mulberry tree that took and would love to try a loquat. It's the fruit du jour right now. I'll gladly cover postage plus.
"gene"

Thanks for all the interest in loquats, especially the large fruited type.  I was hoping Bass would comment  too.
The tree is on private property, so I am not sure how many cuttings the owner is willing to part with, if any. My ninja outfit is at the cleaners so I may need to improvise other strategies.

.



BTW, http://www.crfg.org/chapters/santa_clara/FruitLeaf/SepOct09.pdf is not functional.

Frank,
I presume the taste must be as good as the other smaller loquats. Is it? Last season, the loquats around town were quite tasty.

Jimmie,
It has indeed been a banner year for loquats in Tallahassee. Every afternoon when I drive home from work, I stop my car near the mailbox, plant myself under the loquat tree and gorge. My wife has made a couple of loquat pies! They were really tasty. I like the mixture of tartness and sweetness  that comes from the different stages of the fruit's maturity. 

Yes the giant loquat was quite tasty, although I will need to do further testing for a more definitive verdict.

BTW, the tree is located at Single Day Surgery next door to the Greek Orthodox Church and VA Clinic  on Phillips . I am sure you know the area. Perhaps you could be my wingman as we perform a tactical surgical extraction of fruit and cuttings once my suit comes back from the cleaners. :))

those loquats are nice if eaten before the birds do......
anyhow i heard they can grow big if we leave only two loquats on each stalk....
there a youtube movie about loquat fruit pruning.....

I will see how tasty my loquats are for the first time this year. It was grown in a shady area and is gigantic now. If it tastes good I will be happy to offer plenty if scion and seeds. Loquats are plentiful around So Cal. You can just pick the fruit off of some that are grown along streets.

Frank,

Sign me up. My suit is in an extra large ziploc in the trunk of my Jeep. I had better make sure it still fits.

Meanwhile, in the proverbial grow-an-understory-fruit-tree-here-because-nothing-else-will-grow-in-this-much-shade-area of my lawn, I have two Paw paws that are growing slowly but still faster than CDDB. I am thinking about planting a loquat in the area but they are so readily available it would have to be a REALLY good one. Maybe this extra large and hopefully really good strain will make me say yes.

Here's a link to where the relevant part was copied into an email...

tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/txrarefruitgrowers/message/3432

That is nothing like my loquat, I got my loquat from Lebanon, much larger.

Aeilee,

Please, show us your Loquats. I'd like to see how they grow in Nova Scotia?

I love the loquat fruit.
While growing up in the Med Sea area, it was one of the earliest fruit to ripen.

I tried growing it here; but gave up b/c the tree is tender evergreen,
hard to prune(?) and tend to grow big. Maybe when I have a large GH...

The Advance variety is a natural dwarf.  Note that there is an Advance-Not that is definitely not dwarf.  You probably will need to graft something else on for pollination.

Loquat fruit dies somewheres in the low 20 degees F.  So one needs to be 7b or higher for incidental warm winters for occasional bearing years.  The trees are very tough, and well established ones are definitely hardy down to zone 7 somewheres.

Loquat can be grafted onto quince to dwarf them.

Turns out, the place is abandoned. I have enough cuttings for grafting and/or seeds for those who made requests. IM me your address and paypal me a few bucks to cover the operation if interested. fmen at yahoo.com.