Loquat Fruits - 2021 Season of Ripening Now ??

[sc4001992]

Hi, just wondering if you can post when your loquat fruits are starting ti ripen/turn color. Seems like just reading the spec sheets on each variety doesn't always match the reality of when different varieties ripen here in the states.

Please list the variety name (if you know it), and maybe a photo of the fruits so we can document when loquats ripen in the USA locations. So provide the following three information:
1) Variety
2) Your location
3) Photo of fruit, if you can take one picture and post here.

I will start off with one today.

1. Big Jim, fruit has some cluster of fruits which have started to turn yellow/orange and ripe (Feb 28)
2. My location, Fullerton CA
3. Photo to be added later tonight.

Please start listing in this post and I will collect this data and put it in a table of loquat "season of ripeness".
It would be nice if we can get everyone to input for the entire year.

Thanks, Kaz
 

[sc4001992]

Some fruits on my Big Jim on two trees, BJ#1 & BJ#2 are ripe. Taste was good but not as sweet as the next fruiting (major) on these trees in a few months (end of April, start of May). These fruits still needs to get riper, another 1-2wks.

The fruits in April-May is larger (size of egg) and majority of the fruit clusters finishes ripening and have excellent sweet tastes.

Special note:
My BJ#1 tree is my multi-grafted tree (54 variety so far) so it might not have as much fruit as last year. It has over 100 grafts. This is my supergrowth tree so those who purchased some scions last year will have this super healthy strain. Last year I had 75 lbs of fruit from this tree.

The BJ#2 tree has three fruiting cycles; Feb-March, April, November. First and Third ripe fruits have smaller clusters and not as sweet as April fruits.

BJ#1, Tasted 2-28-21



BJ#2, Tasted 2-23-21

[spaugh]

mine are still green.  Mid to late April is the season here.

[mbmango]

Have a couple starting to yellow, but I'm not expecting to get to that stage for a while.

[sc4001992]

Yes, most of my loquat fruits ripen from April - May here.
The photos of the ripe Big Jim fruits are on some branches that seems to get early fruits. Rest of the tree still has green fruits now.

[mbmango]

Champagne


Sampled a wind-damaged fruit yesterday and it was good, especially if you prefer more of the champagney taste.  Going to see how far these earlier fruit can go without getting too bland, since the netting seems to be working against any critters.

[brian]

My "christmas" loquat is fruiting for the first time.  The fruits are around marble sized now and still very green.  I'm growing in a greenhouse so my schedule is probably off from normal

[850FL]

Florida zone 8b/9a. Variety- Ed’s delight. Green fruit, also marble size, about halfway there. Most landscape loquats have actually already produced.

[mbmango]

Got a bunch of marbles also.  There were still open flowers up to about 3 weeks ago. Only been fruiting for 3 years, and this year started the earliest so far.  Wonder if it's just a maturity thing, or this winter just started earlier than previous?

[sc4001992]

So far only Big Jim has ripen on my trees and the rest of the loquats have green fruits so maybe another month before they are ripe. I do have 2 more new seedling trees with fruits for the first time so hope they taste as good as KT1 & KT4. I have a total of 15 seedlings that fruits and 5 have very good taste with good size fruits.

Just got 6 more large seedling trees so maybe these will give good fruits in a few years

[Future]

These grow wild in Bermuda and roadside trees can be seen all over the place, loaded with fruit more so than usual.  Separately, Surinam cherry, also wild, has mature fruit and new flowers simultaneously.

[sc4001992]

More fruits on my Big Jim ripening. Taste is getting sweeter, fruits getting larger, still another week or so before they all ripen on the tree.
The fruits in April-May is larger (size of egg) and majority of the fruit clusters finishes ripening and have excellent sweet tastes.

None of my other loquat varieties are yellow/ripe yet.

[ScottR]

Wow Kaz, your fruit ripens much earlier they we do up here months away still only green fruit.

[spaugh]

I see just a hint of yellow now Kaz, maybe 3 or 4 weeks and it will all be ripe.

[sc4001992]

Brad, interesting that my Big Jim is so much earlier than your loquats, what variety do you have ?
Robert, most of my fruiting loquats still have green fruits as well, only the Big Jim seems to be a month earlier this year. I wonder if its because I heavily cut most of the branches to graft over 60 varieties (100+ grafts) mostly done last year.

Here's a status of my varieties with fruit on them now:

[spaugh]

i have a mcbeth tree that has a bunch of big jim grafts.  neither are close yet.  its probably just more mild winters where you are.  my place is exposed and at 1150ft elevation.

i see other trees in town that are at lower elevation that have begun flowering or breaking dormancy earlier than my trees of the same type.

[sc4001992]

Any Florida members and others have loquats that are ripening ?

If you do, please indicate what variety and if you can take a photo of the fruits that would be nice. I was hoping to start a table of loquat variety, location, and month of ripening if we get enough people to participate. If its only me then I don't need to make a table to help everyone else who may like to know when these loquats ripen.

[mbmango]

Sampled our first Big Jim last week.  Champagne to the right.


The fam definitely prefers the Big Jim, but we'll only have like 6 fruits from the new grafts.  More of the rest for me!  My daughter & I prefer the Champagne a little tart, so trying to figure out when to pick them, as the transition from very tart to none seems pretty quick.

[sc4001992]

Wow, that is nice that you could taste the Big Jim already.

My Big Jim fruits are almost done, just a handful of branches with fruits. The last fruits or any that is on the tree until fully ripe is super sweet with no tartness at all. But when I compared it to some of my new seedling fruits, I found that one of my orange flesh seedling fruit (KT8-Sheri_Lynn2) is even sweeter. I may have found my best tasting orange flesh loquat. I thought my Big Jim was #1 but not any more, it moved down to #2 (orange flesh).

[sc4001992]

Here's some of my ripe Big Jim fruits as of 4-17-21, very sweet.
Also have ripe Mogi fruit now (only a few on new grafts), and ripe McBeth (only 3 on new graft).
Also starting to see the jumbo Peluche fruits starting to ripen.

[K-Rimes]

My favorite local tree is ready for consumption.  It is extremely unique in that the fruit is basically spherical and deep orange. It is a stand out for size, fruit quality, and production. I have surveyed the trunk all over and cannot find a graft. It also has a sucker that produces identical fruit so I strongly believe it is a seedling tree. I’m going to send some scions to Kaz to confirm.

I would like to call it San Marcos if it is indeed a seedling.

[sc4001992]

Kevin, those fruits look good tasting. Your fruit looks similar in size to my KT8-Sheri_Lynn2.
I noticed that my Big Jim fruits that are dark orange color on the outside of the fruits are much sweeter than some that are bigger fruits but is lighter skinned (yellow/orange).

Alright sounds like a good name, I would says "San Marcos (KR)"
Of my 17 seedling trees that have fruits, I found 10 that have good to excellent tasting fruits. Also some of the fruits are medium to large size which gives more to eat.

[mbmango]

Excited to hear your report on the Mogi.  Just grafted a few of those, based on the possibility of the flavor.

[sc4001992]

mbmango, remember my  Mogi grafts are only 6-9 months old and I have 2 fruits to taste. I let one fruit turn yellow and then waited another week, it wasn't excellent, only average tasting. But I'm waiting as long as I can to eat the second fruit so it is fully ripe. I will let you know how the second Mogi taste (from Viking Guy). I find that on these grafted loquats, the first year fruits are not that good, only ok, but then the second year fruits are more representative of the real flavor/taste. I did eat one early Peluche fruit (socal10b->FFF) that was yellow for 1 week, and it was ok, not as good as my other fruits, but now I will let the remaining 10 Peluche fruits get fully ripe before I make any comments on the taste. Just because the fruits are giants, it was enough for me to make additional grafts on my seedling plants (3-6 ft plants) and next year I should have plenty of Peluche scion wood to share.

My mailman was picking some of my ripe loquat fruits so I was getting worried he might eat some of my new varieties before I do. I had to ask him not to pick any fruits, and ask me so I can pick some for him. It looked like he picked one of my three McBeth fruits from recent graft. I guess this is a good reason for grafting high on the tree so its not so easy for people to walk by and pick the rare fruits. I only have six new varieties that are fruiting on my tree now.

[Tlaloc]

I've been picking BigJim since mid-February, and there are quite a few on the tree still ripening that will take me into May. It's has been very productive for me this year.