Loquat - Eriobotrya japonica

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by pmurphy, May 16, 2013.

  1. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I am looking for loquat, anyone know where I can get one in the Vancouver/lower mainland area?
    Thanks!
     
  2. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Look for the fruit in Chinese food stores. The seeds are very easy to grow.
     
  3. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I was hoping to get one a little larger but if not I will give it a try.
    Thanks!
     
  4. Cearbhaill

    Cearbhaill Member

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    Watch out if you have pets.
    Many years ago I bought a mature tree for my yard in South Florida- it was beautiful and the flowers very fragrant. As the fruits matured and fell it began to be a real problem keeping my dogs from eating them- they did not want to do anything else. I started looking into it and discovered that prior to Disney World's Animal Kingdom opening they experienced a rash of otter deaths which they could not figure out. It turned out to be their eating loquat fruits which contain cyanide.

    As my dogs were giant breed with enormous body mass the numbers of fruits they were able to eat did not harm them- it was mainly a bother to get them to focus on other activities.
    But I did have to have the tree removed just to be on the safe side.

    Lovely tree, though.
     
  5. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    Thanks, I will keep that in mind!
     
  6. Barbara Lloyd

    Barbara Lloyd Well-Known Member

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    Loquat in the PNW? Indoors or out? Would love to grow one but figured Fresno. CA or maybe the East Bay area was about as far north as I could go. I love to grow plants that no one else is growing. ;))
     
  7. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Hardy outdoors, though don't expect it to produce any fruit in the PNW except after abnormally hot summers. But very attractive as a foliage plant.
     
  8. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    Washington state plant hardiness zones range from 6 to 9. According to the USDA, the plant hardiness index for Everett, WA is:7b-8b

    A good portion of Vancouver, BC is in a micro-climate and so I enjoy zone 8. And because of this I grow kiwi, passion vine, pineapple guava, medlar (the common medlar mespilus germanica), pomegranate and assorted palms and bananas. I may or may not get fruit from any of these plants but that does not stop me from enjoying them.
    It also does not stop me from growing really exotic plants that spend the summer on the patio or deck and then over-winter in the house; which includes pineapple (it was really tasty), mangos, papaya, sapodilla and cashew.


    If you are looking for something different and unusual, why not try the pawpaw - aka the poor man's banana - which is native to eastern North America. Plant hardiness zone is 5 and I'm sure no one else will be growing it in your area.
    FYI, for fruit you should get 2 different cultivators (you guessed, I have these too).

    It never hurts to try :)
     
  9. Barbara Lloyd

    Barbara Lloyd Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the info pmurphy. I'm afraid my gardening days are pretty well over. Getting the house ready to sell and move into an apt. where I can yell at the landlord if anything goes wrong. ;-((
     
  10. Bambooboy

    Bambooboy Member

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    Hey pmurphy.
    I saw several last week at a nursery in Aldergrove. They were 7-8 ft with 2" cal.
    Really beautiful and some trial. An instant subtropical focal tree. I'm still dreaming about one but hesitant about their hardiness.
    I'll send details if you're still interested.
     
  11. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    Thanks Bambooboy,
    I actually ordered one through a plant broker last spring and put it in a large pot in the backyard. Even with that nasty, cold winter we had it pulled made it through and is healthy and growing - had a lot of black leaves at the beginning of spring but those are all gone now. Depending upon your hardiness zone and where you place it, one might do okay for you too.
    Curious, what nursery did you see them at? (I know I looked last year and sent email requests all over the lower mainland without luck.....which is why I ordered one out of Montreal)
     
  12. Bambooboy

    Bambooboy Member

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    They were at Dinesen Nursery.
    They're a wholesaler so they don't advertise and you might not have considered them.
    I might try one yet. It would have to make it in the ground through winter in Ocean Park.
    I hope yours keeps thriving.
     
  13. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    The 1990 winter really hammered the local loquat trees but many of them eventually came back. I have seen fruits covering the pavement below some in a Seattle site but as suggested this should not be expected to be an annual occurrence in this region - it appears the main issue may perhaps be cold damage to the flowers, with fruiting occurring after those seasons when the flowers are not spoiled by cold.

    Locations of some more important Seattle examples can be found listed by Arthur Lee Jacobson in his 2006 book Trees of Seattle - Second Edition.
     
  14. pinenut

    pinenut Active Member 10 Years

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    A woman I worked for was walking through the showroom chewing something and holding a seed in her hand:
    Says I: "Whassat?"
    Says she, spitting another seed out: "Loquat."
    "Gimme", says I.
    (Spit) "Here" she says.
    Seems they sprouted in no time at all. Don't remember what I did to germinate them. This was, after all, about 8 years ago. Anyway, one for her and two for me.
    Haven't seen hers. I don't work there anymore. But mine are doing as well as can be expected considering that my wife thinks they're ugly and I have to keep them in the north window of my office.
    Sigh.
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2014
  15. o 2 joy

    o 2 joy New Member

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    I'm delighted to see that there's been some success growing loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) in the PacNW. I'm in the Bellevue suburb in Seattle. Now, I have to find a plant. I started by calling Molbaks in Woodinville, no luck. Then called Raintree Nursery, no luck either. They carried them in 2011 but it was not a big seller so they don't any more. I guess I'll have to buy it online. Any suggestions?
     
  16. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    If you don't mind the drive, check out Cistus Nursery in Portland, OR. They do have them on their retail list, and they also do mail order.
    I have dealt with them in the past and have always been happy with their stock.

    Location: 22711 NW Gillihan Road, Portland, OR 97231
    Hours: every day 10am to 5pm (Winter hours 10am to 4:30pm)
    503-621-2233

    http://www.cistus.com/retail/retail_plants/retail_new.html
     
  17. o 2 joy

    o 2 joy New Member

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    pmurphy, Cistus Nursery in Portland is a great suggestion. That way I know the plant has been grown in an area similar to mine and not in some Californian area. Thanks so very much!! Wish me luck.
    Joy
     
  18. pinenut

    pinenut Active Member 10 Years

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    If I can germinate them, anyone can. Why not go to a produce store and pick up the actual fruit? My guess would be an Asian foods stockist. Enjoy the fresh fruit; plant the seeds. I don't recall doing anything special to them.
     
  19. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I did get some to germinate back in 2006 when I brought the seeds back from Florida - didn't even know what they were at the time. Even had the seedlings growing outside but they grew very slowly, would have been years before they were mature enough to do anything. My current tree actually flowered this past winter and it is still holding some of the old blossoms....does that mean I will get fruit?

    As a side note, 2 of the seedlings I germinated survived their first winter outside and even demolation and rebuild of the garage they were near - had them barricaded and protected from workers. Less then a week after the work was complete (and the barricades came down) my husband and I were moving some lumber and the unthinkable happened.....we dropped it. Saddly the seedlings did not survive :(
     
  20. Bambooboy

    Bambooboy Member

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    With some suggestions from Bob Duncan on Van. Island I was able to save a few blossoms over the winter. Almost all were killed by the frost but 4 little fruit are coming along right now. It's so tricky to see the tender flowers, which pop out in Nov., through the worst of winter. The leaves showed almost no damage at all.
     
  21. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Genetics determine where a plant is hardy, not where the nursery that grew it is located. (Except when that nursery has undertaken a selection program aimed at developing enhanced local suitability). This is why it doesn't matter that most roses sold throughout the US originate with growers in the southern states, and so on.
     

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