Biwa (Loquat)

Biwa (Loquat) start budding in late October or early November and flower in early December.  

The fruit grows during the months of December and January and ready to pick on early February.

The birds love Biwa, so once the fruit start to appear I cover them with a paper bag.

Biwa have several large seeds and there is not a lot to eat, so you need a lot to really do anything with, but they are tasty. 

This tree is roughly four years old (seeds planted in the summer of 2020) and the second year it produced fruit. I only got a few the first year and a little more this year. I suspect it will continue to produce more and more as it matures. It is in a pot but seems to thrive. I have a tree in the back of the house planted in the ground, and though it is 3 meters tall with a thick trunk, it has yet to produce fruit.  

Biwa (Loquat)

The Biwa (Loquat) fruit finally ripened, so I picked and ate them immediately. I should have taken a picture to show what they look like inside, but I was so excited to try them. The skin was really easy to peal; however, the seeds are quite large, so not a lot to eat. The were were very good and sort of taste like an apricot. These fruit come from a tree in a pot. I have a much large tree in the back growing in the ground, so I anticipate many fruit next year. I am looking forward to getting many fruit and making jam. I will also give some to my neighbors and co-workers, which I generally do with the fruit I grow.

Biwa (Loquat)

The Biwa (Loquat) fruit are starting to mature and pulling the branches down. The birds have already gotten a few of the fruit, so I will wrap them soon.

Biwa (Loquat)

The Biwa (Loquat) fruit are starting to get larger and starting to turn green. When they were small they were brown. I thought the brown color was a shell from the flower, but I now realize it is a fuzz. Now that the fruit are getting larger I can see the space between the fuzz spreading out and less apparent. As the fruit matures they will start to turn yellow.

Biwa (Loquat)

The Biwa fruit is really starting to grow now. Biwa are Orange, so I suspect they will start to loose the brown outer shell, but this is the first year I've gotten fruit so much to learn. 

Biwa (Loquat)

This Biwa tree flowered about a month ago and it seems like some fruit are starting to develop. 

This is the first year I got Biwa blossoms, so not sure what the fruit looks like when it grows; however, some of the buds are starting to get larger, so I believe these will develop into fruit. 

Biwa (Loquat) Tree

Recently I found flower buds on my Biwa (Loquat) tree. I planted these seeds in the summer of 2020, so surprised to see them flowering. I planted another sapling in the back of the house and it is huge, but no buds. I'm surprised to see this tree fruiting so soon.

If you like apricots, plums or peaches, you will enjoy loquats. They taste like a plum, apricot and cherry with a floral aroma.

Corner Garden

The plants in this corner garden need to be trimmed. They are starting to cover one another and there is too much red.

This corner garden is just messy. I need to work on it soon.

This Biwa (Loquat) tree is doing so well considering the size of the pot. Biwa are now producing fruit, but this tree is still young and hope I get fruit next year or the year after. I have a few trees spotted around my property.

I threw Nasturtium seeds in this planter last year, because it was difficult to attract pollinators to this Avocado tree when it was flowering. I've since trimmed the tree, but it is re-growing and hope I will have better luck next year.

Loquat (Biwa)

(7/30) Both Loquat (Biwa) trees are doing well. The tree on the right was growing faster than the tree of the left, but got attached by pests, but has rebounded. Now both trees are around the same size. I grew these trees from seed, so I may have to wait 8-9 more years to see fruit. 

Biwa (Loquat) Tree

(6/1) Biwa (Loquat) trees. I planted these seeds a few months ago and they finally sprouted. Like Canistel seeds, Loquat seeds should be planted soon and not permitted to dry out. 

My research found that the fruit of Loquat grown from seed is not good to eat, but I went to a farmer's market last weekend where local farmers were selling trees, flowers and other items. I spoke with one farmer that was selling Loquat saplings grown from seed and he said they were fine to eat, but just takes longer to fruit (6-8 years) and may not grow true to the mother plant; however, I'm not worried about cross pollination, so suspect my fruit will be fine.

Loquat, or Biwa in Japanese, is some times called the Japanese plum. It is 1-2 inches (3-5 cm) long and plump orange when ripe. The flowers have a sweet aroma and can be smelled for quite a distance. The flavor is said to be a mixture of peach, citrus and mild mango.