You should try to obtain some scion wood from this tree to graft, if indeed it is unusually large for loquats. I have seen crazy amount of loquats the last month due to the heavy rains and favorable weather.

This reminds me of the prickly pear that I have spotted off Artesia Blvd. in North Torrance on the way to the 91 east. It had a unusually huge yield of big fruits growing on it. I have to work on obtaining a cutting from the homeowner.

I've eaten the first couple Mc Beth off my tree already, so nice.

Simon, maybe it is big jim or a seedling of big jim?

Nullzero, have you tasted the tuna from the prickly pear yet, there can be some major differences between plants? There is an area I know of that has thick cacti growth that gets huge bright red tuna, unfortunately they are very bland and lack sweetness. I did recently pick up a cutting of Mexican sweet from a friend, the name sounds promising.

After growing so many difficult or borderline plants it is nice to have some sure things like loquats, stone fruits, figs around to keep me sane.

-Ethan

red_sea_me,

I have tasted wild ones which were quite tasty. Like a slightly sweet & sour berry taste.

I have heard that "Big Jim" loquats are really large. I am going to get one of those trees this summer. Could they be "Big jim" loquats that you are talking about?

all the loquats i have tasted here have been golf ball sized, or dare i say larger. i didnt know they were unusually large.

maybe because we get more rain here?

Up by me in central FL we have tons of seed grown ones growing everywhere. Most are the size of a quarter or smaller. The ones on my tree are about the biggest I have seen and the were slightly larger than a golf ball.

John:

What variety do you have of Loquat?

Harry

Harry, It's just a seedling my father in law gave me. To be honest, I probably would cut it down if it was not a gift. I like the fruit, but it is in a prime spot of my yard that could be used for other things. This is it's first year fruiting. The fruit is pretty good when fully ripe. The tree has two trunks so I am going to try to graft half of the tree over to something else. I have tried in the past with no luck but I am hoping for better results this time. The growth on loquats seemed tough for me because there were not any really clear buds to use.

Nullzero, I've had some wild ones too that were very good, some mulberry and watermelon flavors in there. I have a cylindropuntia (Arizona pencil cholla) that has excellent fruit but they are tiny and still have spines but you dont notice the seeds.

John, I've read when loquats are pushing to veneer graft the scion but dont cut the root stock, bend it down. Supposedly this will push the energy into the scion but if it doesn't take, you still have a branch to try again. Let me know when you get it figured out, I've a friend with an old Italian variety that sounds great.

-Ethan

Red,

I bought some seeds of Opuntia sp. Hoconoiste (I am hoping this turns out nicely). I also currently already have a prickly pear growing in a container with relatively few spines (seems like a Nopales variety). I am currently searching for good varieties of prickly pear geared toward fruit quality and production. I thought about collecting the other fruiting cactus, however the small fruit size and or poor fruit quality turn me off. I am contempt with dragon fruit and prickly pear however :), with occasional cactus apple.

I am really looking forward to expanding my fruit garden to producing tasty exotic tropical fruits to use in juice fusions. Prickly Pear, Passion Fruit, Dragon Fruit, etc. added into juice mixes sounds very tasty and appealing.

Don't get too excited if they are only golfball sized . Just go to Moffett Field in Mt. View , CA to see some 50-60 yr old trees putting out some 3" diameter fruit . THAT'S OVER 9" CIRCUMFERENCE . and it has very little to do with rain . All you have to do to get bigger fruit is graft and thin the fruit. I've seen BIG JIM fruit close to 3" in diameter . Just the seeds from the trees at Moffett Field are bigger than some whole loquats i've seen before . I like to use the GIANT seeds for seedlings . Or just graft onto cotoneaster for bigger fruit .

Phranque,
For some reason I doubt the accuracy of your post. Pics of giant loquats please.

murahilin, i have heard of Big Jim loquats being that large. I have seen some very large loquats on trees locally (same vicinity as phranque mentions - sunnyvale area), and when asked, was told that they were the "Big Jim" variety.

ashleysf, I don't doubt the possibility of a large loquat. 3" diameter is pretty hard to believe though on just someones word without pics. Saying something is a large loquat is much different than saying 3". 3" is giving a specific size that can be proven right or wrong.

I work The odd thing is I've rarely seen a loquat for sale in any of the nurseries here, I don't know where all of the trees came from.

Drove down the length of Moffit blvd. at lunch. Not a loquat to be seen, its likely he referred to it being on the base which I couldn't access. So no verification.

I have to say that here in San Antonio, TX we also have an abundance of Loquat trees. I have never seen anything in the local nurserys but loquats grown from seed. After much searching on line I eventually found a grafted Big Jim and a grafted Early Red which I planted last year. Hoping next spring will give me some fruit to see what I really purchased since you don't really know for sure. Anyone out there familiar with Early Red?