Loquat
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So, I am in my new house in Ballarat (zoom in!), a reasonable sized city of 88,000ish people an hour or so west of Melbourne. The move was gruelling, not least because of the garden, but it's all done now and the keys to the ol…
Last edited on November 29, 2025. View history
Loquat
Eriobotrya japonica
Also known as
Japanese medlar (EN)
Japanese plum (EN)
Chinese plum (EN)
How to sow loquat: Transplant young grafted sapling
Sun requirement for loquat: Plant in Full Sun
The Loquat is a flowering evergreen shrub or tree in the Rosaceae family (which also includes apples in a separate genus). It is native to the cooler regions of China. Loquats are grown for their yellow fruit, also known as Loquats, and as ornamentals because of the rich fragrance of their flowers. The trees have a short trunk and a rounded crown of long, dark green, leathery leaves. White flowers appear in the autumn or early winter and have a sweet scent. Fruit grows in clusters and ripens by early spring or summer. Fruit have smooth or downy, yellow or orange skin, and are oval, round, or pear-shaped. Depending on the cultivar, the flesh is white, yellow, or orange, and sweet to acidic in taste. Fruit has thin skin and brown seeds. Loquats are sweetest when soft and taste like a mix of peach, citrus, and mango. Some varieties are self-pollinating, but most require another loquat tree nearby. Loquats can tolerate temperatures as low as -12°C, but flowers and fruit will die at -3°C.
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Loquat facts
Lifespan
Perennial
living more than two years
Height × spread
400cm × 400cmRow Spacing
750cm
Optimal temperature
21–27 °C
Absolute temperature
9–36 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
600–1600 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
400–4000 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
5.5–6.5
Absolute soil pH
4.5–8
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
150–210 days
FAO EcoCrop
Max altitude
2400 m
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
clear skies to cloudy skies
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For loquat, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 9°C and a shortest growing cycle of 150 days at its best temperature, about 2250 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your loquat will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
How members grow loquats
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Photos
Loquat crops
Video
Where loquats grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about loquats
apples
Who's planted loquats
- johnmc Front Garden · Cranbourne North, Vic
- corvi Lower Stone Hill Plot · salt spring island
- Theomuur Garden · 1342 Durian Court...
- Mordae Food Forest attempt · Paeroa, New Zealand
Loquat harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your loquat harvests.Find loquat seeds
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 150 to 210 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Rosales Rosaceae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -1 °C, rest: -10 °C |
| Life form | shrub, tree |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | deep (>>150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, light |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about loquats
Resources outside Growstuff.
