Loquat
Eriobotrya japonica
Flowers as the cold is closing in, which is the trouble — the blossom, not the tree, is what frost takes.
Spacing & sowing
- Plant spacing
- 16 ft 5 in
- In-row spacing
- 16 ft 5 in
- Between rows
- 16 ft 5 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
Growing
- Type
- Fruit · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Feeding
- All-purpose balanced
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- October
Through the year
- Mar–May Bud Break
- May–Jun Harvest
- Jun–Nov Growing
- Nov–Nov Flowering
- Nov–Dec Fruit Set
- Dec–Dec Leaf Fall
- Jan–Mar Leaf Fall
Companions
Comfrey, Lavender, Rosemary
Pests & problems
- Codling moth Its caterpillars tunnel to the core of apples and pears, leaving frass-filled exit holes. Hang pheromone traps from late spring and pick up windfalls promptly.
- Fire blight A bacterial disease of the apple-pear family: blossoms and shoots look scorched black and hang on. Prune 30 cm below visible damage, sterilizing tools between cuts.
- Scab Pear scab
- Frost damage Frost damage to the flowers
Garden allies
Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. companion plant
- Bats ChiropteraHunts Codling moth
A single bat takes hundreds of moths and mosquitoes in a night, and the moths are the parents of your cutworms, corn earworms and hornworms. Put up a bat box on a warm south wall, leave a night-scented corner unlit, and never spray after dark.
- Parasitic wasps Braconidae & TrichogrammaHunts Codling moth
Tiny, stingless wasps that lay eggs in or on caterpillars, aphids, and moth eggs — the white cocoons riding a hornworm are their calling card, so leave that caterpillar be. Umbel flowers with shallow nectar keep the adults fuelled.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com