Temperate Fruit & Orchards > Temperate Fruit Buy, Sell, & Trade

Wanted: Temperate Eriobotrya species - East Asia

<< < (2/14) > >>

Patanax:
Well, I made the list using the two sites below, one being a book with some Eriobotrya species and their distribution in China (not neighboring countries) and the other being a USDA zone map of China. I couldn't find any ready-to-use zone information for most species (other than japonica and deflexa), probably because those species aren't being cultivated outside their native range.

If you look at the uppermost left spot for E. fragrans in the book and compare it to the zone map, that area is supposedly zone 5. The rest of its native distribution area is zone 8+ though, so I didn't write the zones inbetween.

Established E. japonica trees are hardy to about 12°F (-11°C), so zone 8a. According to the paper from my first post, E. fragrans is hardier than japonica. Probably not zone 5 though.

Regarding fruit in colder climates, at least E. japonica, the regular loquat, has an unusual flowering habit in that they flower in fall and bear fruit in spring. So in any area that has temperatures below about 27°F (-3°C) in winter, fruit is unlikely. But you can still grow the plants themselves, e.g. as evergreen ornamental. In the best case, there would be a hardier relative of japonica that flowers in spring and bears edible fruits in fall. But I would be happy with anything that is a bit hardier than japonica, so that I could attempt growing it in zone 7 with protection.

The paper mentions quince rootstock on page 11, stating that is is mostly used for its dwarfing effects in commercial fruit production but that it isn't compatible with all varieties and leads to zinc deficiency in the plant. Do you think it would make the trees hardier? Aren't they more resistant to the cold on their own roots?

Also, thanks for the suggestions, I'll have to look up E. hookeriana and E. petiolata :D

Mangifera08:
Some information about Eriobotrya elliptica and hookeriana in (Nepal):
http://www.floraofnepal.org/onlineflora?wildcard=10149
http://www.floraofnepal.org/onlineflora?wildcard=12672

And in comparison the hardiness zones of Nepal. https://davisla.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/india-pakistan-bangladesh-nepal-plant-hardiness-zone-map.jpg
Both of them can also be found in the north of the country, where the hardiness zone is 6.
So Eriobotrya elliptica, fragrans and hookeriana should be a good choice. But I have no idea when they flower and fruit.
The other problem is, where do we get those species? The area where E.fragrans occurs in zone 5 (China) is not that populated.
For the species of nepal, I wrote to a nursery in Patlekhet, Nepal, but until now they have not responded.

Mangifera08:
I have overlooked the flowering and fruiting time, sorry.
E.hookeriana flowers october-november and fruits march-june. Whereas E.elliptica flowers in april and fruits in june.
So E.elliptica would be the better option. Or is hookeriana better? I think it depends on how frost hardy the flowers are and if the frost risk in your area is higher from october to november or in april.
With regard to E.fragrans, I don`t know anything about flowering or fruiting time.

mikkel:
 I found a few japonica plants over the last years around here in northern Germany. Cold hardiness seems to be fair enough. Just some weeks ago I found a small tree in a village nearby. The owner told me it is around 8 years old.
In the yard of the town house here in Luneburg there were real trees up to 3-4 m high until 2 years ago when they were cut down.
We are in USDA zone 7.
What is missing is a variety which flowers in late spring. E. elliptica sounds interesting.
I was thinking about an hybrid variety called "coppertone". Might be different? Any experience?

mikkel:
A paper about crossbreeding Eriobotrya

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page