March 11, 2017
Fruit from Loquat trees (Eriobotrya japonica) are starting to change color from green to yellow and orange now indicating the immediate ripening of the fruit.. I picked a few that look ripe (based deep orange color). Most are still acidic and not sweet yet. I guess I am too anxious and should wait a few more days. But loquat is one of my favorite fruit and it is hard to wait for the chance to savor the delicious flavor. Every year, I anxiously wait for the loquat season and gorge on the precious fruit.
Loquats are evergreen tree that generally flower in December here in San Diego and the fruit ripens in March/April. They are quite productive with hundreds fruit in clusters of 4-20 fruit. The fruit is very sweet when ripe with a little bit acidic taste and a distinctive loquat flavor. I usually cut the fruit in 2 halves, peel the skin off, get rid of the large hard seeds (1 to 3 in the center) and enjoy the sweet and succulent flesh. The fruit ripen gradually and even fruit in the same cluster ripens at different days. You have to inspect each cluster and pick the ripe fruit individually. That's probably why it is not commercially available in the US: too much work. But, that results in a long harvest season lasting 4-5 weeks which is works very well for personal orchard.
Loquat trees are easy to grow. It is drought resistant and have no pests or disease in San Diego. They grow vigorously and should be trimmed every year to keep the size small. The leaves are big and shiny green and the trees are quite ornamental. I bought 3 grafted trees, a Big-Jim, a Champagne and an unknown variety with really big fruit. The Big-Jim has pretty big fruit and the fruit is really sweet and delicious, but has onlt moderate loquat flavor. The champagne has more flavor and not overwhelmingly sweet, but the fruit is small with big seeds and very thin flesh. The unknown big-fruit variety has the biggest fruit (as big as small chicken eggs), but the fruit is not as flavorful as the other 2 varieties and you have really to wait until the fruit turn a deep orange before harvesting, otherwise the fruit will be quite sour. I also planted a few loquat trees from seeds. They generally yield fruit in the 3rd or 4th years. Probably less than half of them have the size and flavor to keep. This is not too bad for seed-grown trees.
Fruit from Loquat trees (Eriobotrya japonica) are starting to change color from green to yellow and orange now indicating the immediate ripening of the fruit.. I picked a few that look ripe (based deep orange color). Most are still acidic and not sweet yet. I guess I am too anxious and should wait a few more days. But loquat is one of my favorite fruit and it is hard to wait for the chance to savor the delicious flavor. Every year, I anxiously wait for the loquat season and gorge on the precious fruit.
Loquats are evergreen tree that generally flower in December here in San Diego and the fruit ripens in March/April. They are quite productive with hundreds fruit in clusters of 4-20 fruit. The fruit is very sweet when ripe with a little bit acidic taste and a distinctive loquat flavor. I usually cut the fruit in 2 halves, peel the skin off, get rid of the large hard seeds (1 to 3 in the center) and enjoy the sweet and succulent flesh. The fruit ripen gradually and even fruit in the same cluster ripens at different days. You have to inspect each cluster and pick the ripe fruit individually. That's probably why it is not commercially available in the US: too much work. But, that results in a long harvest season lasting 4-5 weeks which is works very well for personal orchard.
Loquat trees are easy to grow. It is drought resistant and have no pests or disease in San Diego. They grow vigorously and should be trimmed every year to keep the size small. The leaves are big and shiny green and the trees are quite ornamental. I bought 3 grafted trees, a Big-Jim, a Champagne and an unknown variety with really big fruit. The Big-Jim has pretty big fruit and the fruit is really sweet and delicious, but has onlt moderate loquat flavor. The champagne has more flavor and not overwhelmingly sweet, but the fruit is small with big seeds and very thin flesh. The unknown big-fruit variety has the biggest fruit (as big as small chicken eggs), but the fruit is not as flavorful as the other 2 varieties and you have really to wait until the fruit turn a deep orange before harvesting, otherwise the fruit will be quite sour. I also planted a few loquat trees from seeds. They generally yield fruit in the 3rd or 4th years. Probably less than half of them have the size and flavor to keep. This is not too bad for seed-grown trees.
Comments