Eriobotrya japonica 'Champagne'
fruitChampagne is a favorite home loquat, grown for its yellow-skinned, white-fleshed fruit with a sweet-tart, juicy flavor often compared to a blend of peach, apricot, and citrus. Loquat has an unusual rhythm that makes it valuable: it flowers in fall and early winter and ripens its fruit in late winter to spring, filling a season when little else is in season. The tree is a bold, handsome evergreen with large, deeply veined, tropical-looking leaves and fragrant flowers, hardy enough for warm-temperate gardens well beyond the true tropics, and equally at home as an ornamental shade tree or an edible-landscape centerpiece.
Sun
full sun
Water
Every 5 days
Harvest
~24 months
to first harvest
Difficulty
easy
Lifecycle
perennial
Comes back every year
Spacing
25-30 ft apart
Planting Depth
Top of the root ball level with or slightly above the soil
Soil pH
6.0-7.5
Soil Type
Loamy, well-draining
Hardiness Zones
Zones 8 – 11
When to Fertilize
Every 8 weeks when young; 2-3 times a year when mature
Fertilizer
Balanced fertilizer such as 6-6-6
Loquat is the most cold-hardy fruit in this group: the tree tolerates 8 to 10F, though its fall flowers and young fruit are killed below about 27F, so it fruits most reliably in zones 8 to 10. Plant in full sun in well-drained soil - it grows in loam, clay, or limestone ground but will not tolerate flooding. Space unpruned trees 25 to 30 ft from structures and other trees. Water new trees every other day the first week, then weekly during dry spells for the first few years; mature trees need water mainly while fruit is developing. Feed young trees a 6-6-6 fertilizer every eight weeks; feed mature trees two or three times a year - at or just before bloom, in late fall, and again in spring. Thinning fruit clusters yields larger, sweeter loquats, and bagging clusters protects them from flies and birds.
Direct sow
Apr 15
Projected first harvest
Aug 13 · Year 3
Year 1
Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests
Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide
The main loquat disease, a bacterial infection that blackens shoots - prune out strikes well below the damage with sterilized tools, avoid heavy nitrogen, and choose less-susceptible types
Bag whole fruit panicles and harvest promptly to keep maggots out of ripening fruit
Treat stems and leaves with horticultural oil and prune out encrusted wood
A fungus that spots leaves and fruit in wet weather - prune for airflow and remove fallen debris
Grafted loquats bear in just 1 to 2 years (seedlings take 6 to 8 and may not come true). Fruit ripens in late winter and spring, roughly February through May. Pick loquats only when fully colored and slightly soft, because they do not ripen further off the tree; clip whole clusters, then snip individual fruit. Handle gently - the skin bruises easily. Ripe fruit keeps for a couple of weeks bagged in the refrigerator and is excellent fresh, in jam, or poached.
About 47 calories per 100 g with 1.7 g fiber, a very high 1,528 IU vitamin A (from carotenoids), 266 mg potassium, and some vitamin C. Loquats are low in calories and refreshing, eaten fresh or made into jam, jelly, and poached desserts.
For educational and informational purposes only — HomeSown is not medical, health, or other professional advice. Always positively identify any plant before handling or eating it; some plants, and some parts of otherwise-edible plants, are toxic. Consult a qualified professional before consuming or otherwise using any plant, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a health condition.
Year 2
Year 3