And I've always followed the 1/3 rule. With this tree I rubbed off the new leaves that kept sprouting at the top trying to keep it at 6 feet. As you know pinching or rubbing them off makes the plant sprout several new ones where the single one was removed. That's how I ended up with it being top heavy after I quit pinching it.

Loquats are usually tough as nails, but I would probably just lop back the leaning branches right now. Any new growth it puts out now is in danger of freezing this winter. We have a gorgeous loquat tree here that is half dead now, probably because of the RoundUp spraying maniacs. I have a baby one growing in my courtyard and several more babies I picked up from under the big ones here.

I'd definitely take out the smallest branches that emerged from the trunk. They won't amount to anything and they just use up some of the trees energy. They cross other branches too. But topping it will just make it grow more dense. Trees with open canopies are less likely to be toppled over by strong winds than trees with super dense canopies.

Do you eat the loquat fruit fresh? I live in NEFlorida zone 9b and am looking for fruit to grow. Thanks!

I personally think they're delicious fresh but only once they become a very deep color. It probably depends on the variety grown too as well as the growing conditions. I have to fight off the crows for them when they start to ripen. My tree is blooming right now. The flowers are incredibly fragrant at night.

We're in SE Florida, and our Loquat tree is being chewed up by white flies. We don't like to use pesticides. I hope that the tree makes it. We've been throwing grapefruit peels under it, and it is helping. I haven't seen as many white flies.

Sadly, our large 20 foot tall loquat here on the property was killed by the yard crew spraying around it with Roundup. I didn't know they were so sensitive, but you can see where they sprayed and it's slowly dying, so can't figure out what else it could be, unless they dumped the leftover roundup there. It was so gorgeous, and I got so much fruit from it every year. That is the only loquat on the property, I think. I have babies growing, but it will be years before they have any fruit at all. I'm brokenhearted.

Round up would not hurt the tree unless they sprayed it on the leaves. Something else is killing your tree.

Jane

God only knows what they did to it, but there is only one spot where the grass is brown under it, like they dumped the sprayer out there, and that side of the tree is what died first. I saw them out with the roundup again today.

I am so excited!!! Not this loquat above but my younger one that planted last spring is full of buds! Yeayyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!

Roundup can definitely harm trees. My neighbor, unknown to me, decided

to spray Roundup along my road and between mature pine trees. He's a neat freak. Anyway several of the huge pine trees were sickly looking for several

years afterward and one was blown over in a storm. So it was sickly inside also.