Any experience of growing them outdoors? Gotta nice south facing wall where it might be worth a try.

Rod

In article ,
Rod wrote:
Any experience of growing them outdoors? Gotta nice south facing
wall where it might be worth a try.

They scarcely need that in the warmer parts, though it would doubtless
help them to fruit. All they really need is protection from the worst
of the freezing winds, even in Cambridge. This is why you will see a
lot that have grown upright to wall height and been cut back at that
level - they then reshoot from lower down.

That is second hand information, but based on a fair amount of
observation. I grew a couple from seed, and kept one as a pot plant
for some years, but gave it away as it got too big. I don't have a
suitably protected place in my garden.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Wed, 16 Apr 2003 19:27:15 +0100, "Rod"
wrote:

Any experience of growing them outdoors? Gotta nice south facing wall where it might be worth a try.


We've got one in one of our gardens, though it's only been there for a
few years so I can't say anything about it's long term survival. We're
obviously quite a bit warmer and drier than you, but ours hasn't
suffered at all from frost damage or wind burn and it fruits every
year as well, though the birds tend to get the fruit before we do.
There are quite a lot of them in gardens and basements round here and
the only thing they really seem to object to is being driven into by
the dustcart, 2 have been quite badly damaged by that recently.
I'd give it a go, they look interesting and if you can keep the birds
off they fruit well too.

--
Pete The Gardener
A room without books is like a body without a soul.

"Pete The Gardener" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 16 Apr 2003 19:27:15 +0100, "Rod"
wrote:

Any experience of growing them outdoors? Gotta nice south facing wall
where it might be worth a try.


We've got one in one of our gardens, though it's only been there for a
few years so I can't say anything about it's long term survival. We're
obviously quite a bit warmer and drier than you, but ours hasn't
suffered at all from frost damage or wind burn and it fruits every
year as well, though the birds tend to get the fruit before we do.
There are quite a lot of them in gardens and basements round here and
the only thing they really seem to object to is being driven into by
the dustcart, 2 have been quite badly damaged by that recently.
I'd give it a go, they look interesting and if you can keep the birds
off they fruit well too.

Thanks Pete and Nick,

Saw some nice plants in a local wholesalers this morning so I might give it
a go.

Rod

"Rod" wrote in message
...
Any experience of growing them outdoors? Gotta nice south facing wall
where it
might be worth a try.

Hi Rod,

I live in Japan so this post may be off-topic, but there's a quite big
loquat tree next to my house, in a relatively cold spot near an east-facing
wall, and it survives the winters here (the minimum temperature in my part
of eastern Japan is about -4 C) very nicely. In winter the loquat tree gets
covered with snow for days at a time but this doesn't seem to damage the
leaves at all. Other people I know have loquat trees in more sheltered spots
than I do, and the tree seems to bear fruit a few weeks earlier for them
than me.

(About my climate, I should say that where I live it's possible to grow
tangerine trees outside in sheltered spots.)

The tree itself is very attractive, and the fruit is a beautiful colour. The
fruit is self-thinning and the tree is very robust against disease and does
not need pruning, so it's a very low maintenance tree. The fruit of the
loquat tree is very tasty. Peeling the fruit is a nuisance, however. You end
up with sore fingernails, because the thin yellow rind gets right under
them. My family are actually too lazy to peel the fruit so I usually end up
peeling and eating most of it. Also, the birds like it and the tree gets
attacked a lot. They usually get the top half of the fruit which I'm a bit
lazy about picking. Last year there was a big crop and a lot of seeds
dropped from the tree where the fruit had been attacked by birds, and there
are now dozens of baby trees growing around the parent.

In Japan the leaves of the loquat tree are also used to make tea. I haven't
tried making it myself but it's supposed to be healthy or something. Another
piece of loquat trivia which I've heard is that there is a Japanese
superstition that if you plant a loquat tree it brings you some kind of bad
luck.

They are called Nispereros in Spain, I think the Latin name is Eriobotria
Japonica, they should survive to minus 5 c, I have grown a few in pots and
brought them in for the English winter, I cannot get them to survive out
doors in the north of England, however there is one growing on the Hoe at
Plymouth and I have two in my garden in Spain.