I have these 2 solid Loquat trees which I have started from a pit for 3 to 4 years now. They have not produced flowers yet, just wild bunches of very dark green leaves! Since I am in Zone 6 I believe I have to continue keeping them in their containers and bring them in for the Winters. Is this absolutely the case, or can I in anyway plant them around the house (there is a lot of space)? I would be most grateful for advice on the best way to deal with them regarding pruning, adequate pot size, fertilizer, or any other info relevant to their health and possible fruit productivity (!) in this situation. Also, they have repeatedly shown signs of disease like the leaf color pictured in the img - how can I avoid this for them? Thank you! Image link:

see the answer at the other site.

eoren, My hubby says he got it at Mahoney's in Winchester. Jane, There's a funny story to that tree. There's an old wives tail that my grandmother reminded me of before she died. We had been trying to have a second baby and getting no where and my grandmother reminded me of this tale. "When having trouble getting pregnant, plant both a dogwood and a kwanzon japanese cherry tree, You will be pregnant within 3 months. You will know the sex of the baby before it's born the following spring. Which ever tree survives will tell you the sex. Dogwood is boy. Cherry is girl." Well hubby got both trees and we planted them in Mid May. Sure enough I was pregnant by the beginning of August, due the end of May. Come the spring the baby was due and well, the dogwood tree was dying and the cherry tree was fine. By the time my baby was born, the dogwood tree was deader than a doornail and I had my daughter in my arms. 2 years later the cherry tree was just barely blooming, but was blooming and kind of looking a bit sad in my opinion. My mother was here for 4th of July that there and was looking at the tree and said "well the rest of the story on the cherry tree goes like this. "it will bloom poorly till it is attacked by a bad insect infestation. Kill off the infestation and you will have a huge blooming tree from the next year on." then she said "looks like you will plenty of blooms next year, you have termites in one part of the tree." We turned green and hubby ran for a saw to cut off the part that was infested with termites, cut it off, bagged in is several layers of plastic bags and brought it to the local county extension service for proper disposal. We sealed the cut section of the tree, as the main trunk had split into 2 sections and we had one side left. We saw no further termite problem and, YES, the following year on it has bloomed and bloomed profusely. Now, my neighbor across the street was with my husband when he bought the trees and she got the same ones I did. She wasn't trying to have a baby, far to old for that and just wanted the trees. Her dogwood, a white Kousa, has bloomed beautifully for years and years, but her cherry tree was always a pathetic little thing. Then about 5 years or so ago, the tree was attacked by little green worms and badly defoliated. She nursed it all summer with extra water and some fertilizer, and the following year on, it's bloomed it heart out an looks more like mine now. Are the old wives tales true? I don't know, I can only tell what happened with mine and my neighbors home and see what we have. Fran

I live in Atlanta, GA and have a loquat tree. It came with the house and is probably 10 or 15 years old, 20 feet tall, fully mature. It is an evergreen and should have a tree full of leaves. It started having problems last Spring and the number of leaves and live branches started being reduced. I believe it was the victim of a yellow-bellied sap sucker as I saw it pecking on it last winter and sap was really coming out of it. This winter I covered the trunk with tarp and no further damage was done. However, the tree has continued to lose leaves and now only has maybe 2% of the leaves it should have and these may dry up in a few weeks. When I scrape some of the bark back I do see some green in the inner bark. It appears this tree is dead or dieing. I see no new leaves beginning to pop up and no sign of life other than the green in the inner bark. Is there any chance that this tree snaps out of it and produces new leaves and is able to survive? What are your thoughts? I purchased a new tree and I would like to put it in the ground asap. If the loquat is going to die, I want the new tree to go in its spot. Otherwise, it would go elsewhere (i.e., I don't want to wait forever to see if the Loquat bounces back). Please advise.