I see the number 27° F thrown around frequently for when loquat flowers may start to die off. Does anyone have any solid evidence of this being true, lower temperature tolerance, overall tree bushiness protecting more internal flowers? I have one in ground and one potted, and they’re handsome bushes that seem to handle transplanting and cold well. See them all over the place in South Carolina and Georgia but I’m just trying to learn more regarding how sensitive the flowers actually are. All the loquat fruit I’ve had were grown near the coast.
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This year I have found that to be very untrue for me, it depends on a few things. Like how long does the cold last, like are the flower buds open or closed. If they are totally closed still they can handle down to at least 13 degrees here if the 13 degrees does not stay too long. So far the coldest our loquat trees have seen is about 13 degrees. One tree, the one with the open buds, the flowers turned black at a much warmer temperature than 13 degrees, although I did not check what low temperature it hit that night, so I am not sure the temperature. The other loquat tree, with the totally closed buds, 13 degrees, and no damage to the flowers or their buds what so ever, although keep in mind it did not stay 13 degrees long. Clearly varieties that take longer for the buds to open are less likely to have damaged flowers at the same temperature.
Also one variety of loquat verses another might have more sensitive buds and flowers than others, even when they are totally closed. My two loquat trees were both grown from seeds, and out of 6 seedlings only two could survive our cold, and the cold has not even made those two trees loose their leaves yet.
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Appreciate the insight. I’m not sure what to expect with timing of when loquat flowers open and the time frame from that happening until fruit maturity, but I’ll do some research on the side. I have a small Meiwa kumquat outside that I have right beside my house - I have it wrapped in Christmas lights and put a frost cloth or two around it when it drops to around 20 or so. I’m thinking if I plant a loquat in a smart location and give it similar treatment I could absolutely expect some fruit.
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Loquats pretty much only fruit on the tips, although if you kept some branches shorter you might be able to get more protected flowers on a large tree. Unsure about cold tolerence of flowers, but they tend to flower from November to January, with pontential second flushes as late as Febuary. There are murmurs that if you trim the winter flowers, some varieties flower again in spring. And there are supposedly some spring flowering loquats, but I have only seen them available in China (and people who have gotten them from there).
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All you can really do is experiment, my original plans was to grow root stock from seeds using loquat seedlings as root stock, choosing only the most cold hardy root stock. I was then planning to graft on varieties that have later than normal budding.
Our seedlings very unexpectedly flowered this year, interrupting my plans to graft on to them this autumn, and too see that one of our seedlings is actually unusually late at opening it’s buds is a great surprise, I may not graft to that one tree at all. I will have to wait and see what happens with that tree.
We will see how it does with these arctic blasts we have been getting, they are predicting down to 9 degrees, which here sometimes could mean 1 degree. Which would mean the coldest temperature we have had here the entire 16 years that I have lived here, 3 degrees is the coldest that I have seen here. This is a nearly perfect test year for these loquats
What I will probably do is create loqaut trees that will not be protected, and that will fruit most years, If I could manage that, then you should have no problem doing that since you are in a warmer climate.
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I think they are really sensitive below freezing. I would say anything below 30F and they will likely die.
OTOH, fully formed fruit are definitely hardy to 25-26F atleast. Yes, this contradicts what I’ve heard too. So super early varieties where the fruits get pretty large by November/December AND super late varieties that dont open buds until late Feb/March are the most desirable in my zone 9A climate
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I am waiting to see a follow up from @VirginiaFruitGrower
A blizzard hit our loquats unprotected at 4 degrees Fahrenheit, then for a day or two weighed down by ice and snow, the loquat tree with closed buds, it’s buds are still closed and undamaged, photos taken today, about 2 weeks after the cold spell left. here are the photos, one photo of which is the trunk, is this anything to worry about? I am guessing that this trunk will heal @ramv
Wow. I’ve never seen anything like that tree trunk. May be borer or woodpecker damage?
All I know is that I did not notice it until today, I am not sure if I missed it and it was there before the storm. I highly doubt that there are any birds or borers this time of the year. Regardless of whatever it is, the tree still seems healthy. And I read that Loquats heal very well, so maybe it would heal. A part of me wonders if it’s some sort of cold damage. It’s a poorly developed tree for being exposed to all that cold.
I could not find any proof of a borer that damages loquat this time of year
Here is what damage from a loquat beetle borer looks like Tough Times for Loquats? | Topics in Subtropics it looks different to me. and there are other borers that could attack loquat that would leave a saw dust trail, and the holes would be smaller, and this time of the year is not the right time of year for those either
Woodpeacker damage of a loquat Signs of an industrious woodpecker
here as well https://www.facebook.com/groups/whatsthisbird/posts/9313945391987437/
And here Death by Woodpecker
Woodpecker damage on loquat looks very different to me, than what happened to our tree
Definitely looks like woodpecker damage to me, but I would say woodpeckers don’t do this to trees without a bug infection of sorts. Woodpecker damage is typically a secondary symptom.
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No this is a sapsucker, which is a different type of woodpecker. They do that for the sap. There isn’t a bug infection. They do eat the bugs that get attracted to the sap though
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I just checked, Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers are common in North Carolina, and the holes do look the same
https://backbonevalleynursery.com/sapsucker-damage-to-trees/sapsucker-damage-to-loquat/
I just checked, our other loquat tree, it has the same holes in the trunk, just not as serious looking on the other tree, less of an area with the holes. They are not bleeding as far as I can tell though, on either of the trees.
Hmm, they should be here now, and loquats probably has sap this time of year unlike a lot of the other trees. making them a very convenient target, especially since our loquat trees are not well developed yet “Yellow-bellied sapsuckers are primarily winter residents in North Carolina, typically present from late September to late April.”
Hey LordKiwi! My tree seems to be doing fine although on one of the coldest, most windy nights the darn tarp got blown off lol. Otherwise pretty much all the fruit were set and developing so they are hardy to around the mid teens at that point. I think I’ll still get decent fruit development. Hope all is well on your end!
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I have to get a loquat now. Im waiting for an ‘Advance’ to become available. I want a natural dwarf.
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