Sunday, May 31, 2020

Loquat tasting on May 30, 2020

Describing here fruits of eight cultivars from three different locations. Argelino, Kando and Strawberry fruits are from my tree in Davis, CA. Fletcher White, Ed's Delight and Brandenton from a tree in Vacaville, and Haseeb and Frana came from a friend in Sacramento.

Frana, Ed's Delight, and Fletcher White are white loquats.  The other five fruits are orange.



Haseeb - Large fruits, soft, very juicy, sweet, no acidity, the flavor reminds the sweet soft summer apple with strawberry notes

Kando (Kanro) - Large fruits, firm, but still juicy, very sweet with low acidity, baked apple flavored

Bradenton - Normally larger fruits than the one in the picture, but all large fruits were too firm to pick.  The picked fruit is still not ripe, has some acidity, the flavor includes sweet under-ripe cherry

Frana - Medium size fruits, mildly sweet with no acidity, the flavor is mild and unusual, as it includes the distinct sugar pea and mild pear notes

Ed's Delight - Medium to large fruits, firm, sweet with little acidity, pear flavored

Fletcher White - Small fruits in large clusters, very juicy, very sweet with little acidity, bright pear-strawberry flavored. Below is a cluster of Fletcher White fruits. This year many fruits contained more than one seed.

Argelino (Angelino)- Large fruits, very juicy, a flavor bomb, as it contains high sugar and relatively high acidity, apricot-grape flavored

Strawberry - Medium size fruits, soft and juicy, sweet with little acidity, pear-strawberry flavored

My picks from this tasting are Argelino and Fletcher White


Plant material availability

None of these loquats are widely distributed. Argelino, Kando, Bradenton, and Ed's Delight trees are occasionally available from a few hobbyists, check the gardening forums and Facebook groups when looking for them. The scions are occasionally available at the CRFG exchanges. Currently, we are shipping the scions of Kando, Argelino, and Fletcher White, and we might have the trees later. Please check Really Good Plants for availability.



12 comments:

  1. Do you know if Loquat fruit can be purchased locally from any store in Dallas area

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  2. I don’t know, as I live in California. More likely, you’ll find them at the farmers markets.

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  3. Really enjoying your blog, especially the fiejoa and loquat comparisons. I live in some 9a, Atascadero and see a lot of loquats around but inconsistent fruiting due to frequent freezes. Do you know of varieties that bloom later winter that might avoid the December and January freezes?

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    1. Thank you, Owen! Let me check my pictures of the flowers on the loquat trees.

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    2. My pictures show that the trees I have bloom around Christmas - New Year

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    3. Thanks so much for checking!

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  4. Argelino "a flavor bomb." That's what convinced me to buy cuttings from you a few years ago. Will you be selling loquat cuttings again this spring?

    Btw, I love your blog. It's a wealth of knowledge for someone like me trying to decide which trees and varieties I should add to my collection next. Thank you!

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    1. Thank you, Tyler. Maybe in a couple of months I will make them available again

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  5. Is Kando the same as Kanko variety?

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  6. Just harvest my loquats and I still don't know which cultivar they are because they look like all of them. Some are shaped like this one or like that one and the white and orange looks the same in the picture

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  7. Hi Marta, Received Angelino scions and had them grafted by a professional because I didn’t want to take any chances. He said that the scions were a little dry but grafted them anyways. Keeping my 🤞

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    1. Hi Runip, I ship the day after I cut. So it’s strange that he said so. Have you kept them in the fridge with a moist paper towel like I described in one of the recent posts?

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