Loquat, Gold Nugget

GOLD NUGGET LOQUAT - Vigorous and upright evergreen, this tree can reach a large size. Its luscious round fruit features a deep orange skin, with a yellow-orange, sweet-tart flesh. 

Proudly grown in Louisiana.

CONTAINER SIZE - 3 gallon 

SPACE REQUIREMENT - 10-30 feet tall

YEARS TO BEARING FRUIT - Three

HARVEST - Ripens 90 days after full flower opening.

PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS -

• Choose a location with the highest elevation possible that will provide your tree with good surface and internal drainage, and provide the most available sunlight. The ideal location will also be away from buildings and structures. 

• Prepare a hole twice the width and the same depth of the container your tree arrives in. Do not dig your hole too deep as this may cause your newly planted tree to settle deeper in the soil and die. Fill the hole with water and allow all water to be fully absorbed into the earth before transplanting. If it takes 48 hours or more for the water to be fully absorbed into the earth, consider an alternative location, creating a raised bed or container planting. 

• Remove your tree from the container. If a tap root has developed and is growing in a circle, cut the root at the point that it begins to coil. It will grow a new tap root. Separate and trim root-bound roots. Place the tree in the hole at the same depth that it was planted, making sure the top of the root ball is even with the ground level. Backfill the hole with soil to the ground level and lightly tamp soil around the tree.
   
• Using excess soil, create a water levee around the perimeter of the hole. Doing so will ensure better irrigation to your newly planted tree. 
   
•  Water weekly until established or in periods of extended drought. Trees planted in containers may require more frequent watering.  Do not overwater.

FERTILIZATION -  Light, regular fertilization. Apply two small applications of complete fertilizer throughout the growing season. Do not apply nitrogen-containing fertilizer after August.

PRUNING AND TRAINING - First summer: Establish main branches if not already done so from the nursery and remove branches growing below the basic framework of the main branches.  Shape the tree so that scaffold branches will be well distributed. After selecting and establishing scaffold branches, pruning is selective and done to thin thick growth from fruit-bearing trees. Fruit-bearing trees should be pruned in January and February. 

COLD PROTECTION - Cold tolerant and my withstand temperatures to 12 degrees F. Temperatures above 95 F may affect growth and fruit production. Killing temperature for flower buds is 19 degrees F and mature flowers 26 degrees,