Have you found that these damage temps
remain the same if the freeze goes on for a long time? For instance, my Chilean guava was supposedly hardy to 10 F, but 2 days below freezing, but never below 18, killed it to the ground. I was wondering if a similar phenomenon could kill loquat blooms/fruit if the temp stayed below freezing for several days.
Yes, there is a strong time and temperature effect.
Short bounces to 25-26F are nothing if they go back to 50F during the day. But multi day sub 28-30 can kill many plants. I lost several Feijoa last winter. We may have hit 16F once but it was below freezing for nearly a week.
I gave up on Chilean guavas entirely after last year. For 2 reasons. They are extremely attractive to rabbits who will destroy them to the ground in one night!
And then they got killed to the roots by the cold winter. I never bothered replacing them.
I sure hope my loquat bloom and fruit makes it on that Healdsburg seedling. Itās not freezing now because of rain and slurry/snow, but things have been cold.
Yeah, I think the reports of Chilean guava hardiness are lies.
Here is a brief post deep freeze report.
Lowest temps were around 21F here. On these nights temp came back rapidly into 50s and 60s during the day.
I have complete logs if anyone is interested.
It seems unlikely we will get deep freezes again this season.
Fruits look good. These are Tori and Shambala respectively. I have about 2+
dozen other varieties and all look good.
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Hi there.
Iām rather new with Loquat, I have a couple of small trees. I think I recall reading that Loquat can be grafted to Quince. I have some small quince trees and limited Loquat scion wood. Is it possible to use chip budding to see if I can graft Loquat to quince? The reason Iām considering chip budding is the Loquat scion wood will be scarce and also a fair bit bigger caliper than my small quince trees. I figure I might be able to match chip buds better than other grafting methods.
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Yes, you can graft loquat to quince and they will be dwarfed. But should grow well.
Chip budding has worked well for me. In fact my oldest loquat trees are chip budded. At that time, I was advised to chip bud exclusively. Since then, Iāve been doing other grafts. Loquats might be one of the easiest species to graft.
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I read that both, fruiting and flowering quince work, but as ramv said, it will be dwarfed.
@Jc1331 also grafted loquat on photinia, hopefully heāll chime in. Crazy grafts
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Awesome news guys, thank you both for your quick informative replies.
Iām definitely looking for dwarfed Loquat anyways, so that should work out perfect.
I didnāt know that, and I have a flowering Quince that Iād be real happy to convert into a Loquat tree.
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I personally havenāt tried grafting it on flowering quince yet, but after reading of this possibility, Iāve been planning to try it myself. First, Iāve been trying to learn how to graft before I make an attempt.
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In general when Iāve looked into studies testing various species graft compatibility with Chaenomeles sp. (commonly called flowering quince), many of the studies used Chaenomeles sinensis (now known as Pseudocydonia sinensis). Trials for graft compatibility with true Chaenomeles are greatly lacking. This is probably due to how heavily suckering Chaenomeles are, making them un-suitable for commercial use, and therefore not worth putting research money into (even if such grafts might be of interest to back-yard gardeners).
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Iām curious if growing loquat on quince or flowering quince limits fruit production as those are naturally deciduous trees/shrubs. I get a lot of loquat growth all winter, and Iād imagine the plant being basically inactive would cause fruit to not ripen properly. So while itās compatible, Iām guessing it may not be worth doing outside of appearance (loquat is beautiful). Maybe someone who has done this for x years could chime in and correct me, but thatās just my instinct.
Personally I havenāt seen any difference. I have quince rooted loquats that are 7 years old. They produce fine. And flower and grow through winter as regular loquats do.
My friend Bob Duncan in BC has much older trees on quince rootstock.
Iāve heard that they are not as long lived but we might be talking 30 years vs 100s of years.
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I have loquat on quince. At present I keep it in my unheated greenhouse. Despite being on quince, the loquat still flowered over winter. In fact, a shoot of quince that I let grow on the trunk held its leaves all winter, so I think quince isnāt strictly 100% dormant in winter if itās warm enough.
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Iāll post some pictures of a loquat on aromatnaya quince later. It looks strange but works!
Iām more talking about flowering quince as it doesnāt thicken up at the trunk quite that much. Iād imagine the graft union could be a weak point after a few years, but itās all speculation. My parents have a flowering quince that was from my grandmothers plant so maybe I can try a graft onto theirs to see how it goes. Although she would never want to rid herself of the quince as she sees it as a sentimental thing
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If the grafts actually succeed, I would think grafting the loquats as side branches on flowering quince rather than as a leader would help prevent them from thickening up too fast and outgrowing the rootstockā¦ It would look really odd though.
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I think flowering quince is unlikely to succeed long term - the graft might take but fail a year or two later. But only one way to find out!
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I am considering trying loquats as where I grew up they were everywhere! Iām down near Eugene, Oregon. Would growing them in a greenhouse work better for successful fruit you think? I so miss loquats!
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I would grow them in ground outdoors.
You can protect from freezes with horticultural fleece. That will save atleast 50% of the crop most years.