I grew a tree - 8 ft now, from seed of fuit I picked in FL in 06. Eyecker sent me a stick of Big Jim to graft in about march of 09. It is about 1 ft long now & here's a pic of the blossoms on it... A LOT.

Can't wait to taste them. How long for ripe fruits?
Thanks again Gaylord

Fruit should ripen in April or May. I just bought a grafted Big Jim Loquat and will plant it soon.

Thanks TRI. 5-6 months sounds like a long time LOL. How tall is your tree, & may I ask how much it was? I had 3-4 growing but threw the others out cause of no room.

My tree cost $101 and about 3 to 4 feet tall. If you have a grafted tree, you can use it for bud wood and propagation. Most seedlings bear small fruit that are usually tart flavor. If you can find a grafted cultivar like Big Jim, it is worth the higher price for the plant IMHO.

Loquat is a very good quality fruit and in April or May you are going to enjoy your harvest!

Nice work Patty! I very happy the scion I sent is doing so well because of your care and grafting skills. I've got the McBeth too that you could try again next spring if you want.

My Genoa Italian (aka Panzarella) loquat is loaded with blooms currently. It produces a large loquat with an awesome tasting fruit that rivals Big Jim. I had been growing it in a pot until this past spring when I finally planted it out. Hopefully we get a mild enough winter that will allow some fruit to hold.

Wow! I didn't realize that Loquats had varieties. I knew I wanted to grow one but I was mainly interested in its tropical looks. I only recently foud out that they produce an edible fruit. There was a Loquat tree where I lived in 1977 that was about fiftten foot tall and wide that fruited every year. I was told that they were not edible so I never tasted one. I am tied up right now with citrus research but hopefully after Spring I will be able to look in to the Loquat varieties. I'm glad to see that there is a knowledge base here on the forum.

Patty
That looks like a very happy loquat. Can you smell the fragrance from the blossoms? Some folks say that they cannot smell the fragrance but I can and I think that it is awesome.
I got 3 big Jims and one Mcbeth from David Bowman but they are too young to produce. Two of my seedlings loquat are producing very good fruit but I look forward to tasting the Big Jim and Mcbeth when they start producing.
Karl

Eyecker, I'd love to try McBeth again . I'll trade you a Osborne Prolific small rooted fig cutting & whatever else I can find. BTW, those guava seedlings are getting huge.
Karl, those blossoms are perfuming the entire sunroom! Very fragrant but not a good as citrus blossoms.

Patty,

If you ever have scions of Big Jim available please let me know. I have a couple loquat seedlings that could use to be worked over.

Thanks,
Little John