Medlar: description, care and reproduction at home

HomeAll flowers that start with MMedlar: description, care and reproduction at home

The medlar plant or eriobothria is one of the earliest fruit-bearing trees with small yellowish fruits of the original taste. In warm seasons, medlar fruits, reminiscent of a combination of pears and cherries, ripen by the end of spring. True, this is possible only in subtropical regions. In the middle lane, the cultivation of medlar is practiced at home.

Loquat (Eriobotrya) belongs to the Rosaceae family. Homeland – Southeast Asia, China.

She is quite close, a relative of the apple tree (a tree from the apple subfamily). The inhabitants of temperate latitudes treat the Rosaceae family with special respect, because this is the main supplier of fruits and berries in our gardens. This family includes apple, pear, cherry, plum, raspberry, strawberry.

As a fruit plant, medlar has been cultivated since ancient times in China, Japan, and India. In Japan alone, more than 10 thousand tons of fruits are produced per year. Loquat flowers are very fragrant and are used in perfumery.

In industrial plantations, medlar is cultivated in Japan, China, India, Turkey, Australia, the USA and many other countries. In the subtropical regions of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, in Azerbaijan and the Crimea, it grows well and regularly bears fruit. In these areas there are trees aged 80–100 years.

In our subtropics, trees reach 5–7 m in height, there are also taller ones (10–12 m).

In Batumi, medlar is the earliest fruit. Its fruits ripen really very early – already in May (for a resident of the middle lane, this is surprising: after all, our earliest fruits ripen much later).

There is a case when, after an unusually warm winter of 1954-1955. the first fruits of medlar appeared on the Batumi market even in early April.

Description of medlar and photo of its fruits

Medlar is a tall ornamental evergreen subtropical fruit plant. In rooms, it grows up to 1.5-2 m, therefore, even in adulthood, it is suitable for cultivation in winter gardens, offices, public places, where it grows well and regularly bears fruit. The crown of the medlar is thick, compact and beautiful.

The leaves of the medlar are leathery, large, up to 25-30 cm, pubescent below, bright green in color. The flowers are large, bisexual, white or cream, collected in the apical inflorescence-panicle, it has an average of about 70-80 very fragrant white flowers with a pleasant delicate aroma.

As you can see in the photo, the fruits of the medlar are small, spherical, the size of a five-kopeck coin, yellow:

According to the description, the fruits of the medlar resemble small apples, but their internal structure is somewhat different. A significant part of the fruit is 1-3 very large rounded seeds. The rest is edible juicy pulp, which has a very pleasant sweet and sour taste. The fruits of the medlar are soft, tender. They absolutely do not tolerate transportation.

Medlar flowers in autumn and early winter (late November – December), fruits develop during winter and ripen in spring (late April – May), and indoors in June. The fruits of the medlar in the apartment can hang on the plant for almost a month. Enters fruiting relatively early – in the 3-5th year after planting in a pot.

Of great interest are the features of the development of medlar. In this respect, it differs sharply from all other fruit trees.

It blooms in autumn (November-December), and bears fruit in spring (May). A real colchicum tree! In winter, in January, sometimes you can still see the last flowers. They look a bit like cherry blossoms. At the same time, overgrown green ovaries are already noticeable – they are larger than a pea. The fruits ripen during the winter months, and therefore the harvest is determined by the nature of the winter of each year. If the winter is warm, the harvest is good, if it is cold, it is bad, or there are no fruits at all.

The fruits of the medlar become edible after the pulp takes on a pasty consistency as a result of enzymatic processes (enzyme activity).

In fresh fruits, the total sugar content is more than 10%. From organic acids – more than 1% malic. In addition to the fruits of wild-growing medlar, which are harvested and used in large quantities, the fruits of cultivars are also used, which differ from the fruits of wild-growing medlar, primarily in size – in the “Large-fruited” variety, for example, they are up to 5 cm in diameter.

Loquat fruits can be used fresh, they are also widely used in the confectionery industry. In countries where the culture is of industrial importance, they make excellent compotes, glazed fruits, jams, as well as a very pleasant, refreshing drink that tastes like apple cider.

Medlar German and Japanese: photo and description

The German medlar, or common (Mespilus germanica), is a species of deciduous trees or shrubs of the Rosaceae family, the natural distribution area is the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Iran, the Caucasus, Crimea, Turkmenistan. As a horticultural crop, this variety of medlar is also widespread outside its natural range.

A tree or shrub 2–6 m high (up to 15–20 cm in diameter), with prickly branches, simple (solid) elliptical or lanceolate leaves 4–12 cm long, entire or finely serrated along the edge. Single flowers (3-5 cm in diameter) with white petals and red stamens open in late spring, bloom throughout May.

Look at the photo – the fruits of the German medlar are brownish, 15-25 mm in diameter (with 4-5 seeds) have a flattened-spherical shape:

The pulp of the fruit, like quince and pear, contains stony cells.

Japanese medlar is an evergreen tree or shrub up to 6 m tall, with almost horizontal, gray-brown (due to the color of the bark) branches, forming a real tent from the crown. Leaves and inflorescences (arranged in the form of a panicle pyramid at the top of the shoot) with dense red, later acquiring a reddish-gray color, pubescence. The lanceolate leaves are larger than those of the previous species and reach 25 cm in length, 7–8 cm in width.

Pay attention to the photo – in the Japanese medlar, the inflorescences are located at the top of the shoot in the form of a pyramidal panicle:

In fragrant flowers with white or cream petals, 20 stamens and a pistil of five carpels and the same number of columns. On the Black Sea coast, Japanese medlar blooms in November – December.

Yellow-orange, with a thin skin, the fruits do not ripen in autumn, as in the vast majority of higher plants, but in spring, in April – May, or early June.

Relatively large fruits – in cultivated plants up to 10 cm in diameter, with a diameter of 3 cm in wild ones – contain several (two or three) large seeds.

For indoor gardening, the following varieties are most interesting:

‘Tanaka’ (Tapas).

‘Prime’ (‘Premier’).

‘Champagne’ (‘Champagne).

‘Victor’ (‘Victor).

‘Orange’ (‘Orange).

‘Advance’ (Advance).

Now check out how to grow medlar at home and how to propagate the plant.

How to grow a medlar and how to care for a plant in an apartment

Medlar trees are very decorative. They bloom for a long time – from October to December, and in warm weather and in January. The inflorescence, as well as the ovaries of the medlar at low temperatures, are damaged by frost, crumble and die. It is for this reason that it has not received proper industrial development in our subtropics.

Medlar begins to bear fruit relatively early – in the 3-5th year after planting in a permanent place. In room conditions, homemade medlar blooms mainly in winter, and the fruits ripen in May – June. Therefore, care for plants during this period is needed especially careful. Indoors, medlar grows well and is a decoration of apartments.

Medlar is a light and heat-loving plant and should be kept in rooms with a temperature not lower than 18 °C.

In the spring, after positive temperatures are established, it is better to take the medlar out into the open air – into the garden, into the yard, onto an open balcony or veranda. In winter, the plant is kept in bright rooms at a temperature of 5-10 ° C.

The substrate for growing medlar at home should be prepared from humus, soddy soil, peat and sand (2: 1: 1: 0.5).

When cared for at home, medlar needs frequent spraying with water at room temperature, they must be kept clean, and the soil watered as needed with water and mineral mixtures. Regular watering in summer. In winter, water rarely, making sure that the substrate does not dry out in a pot.

From April to September, twice a month, they are fed with complex mineral fertilizers. It is best to purchase ready-made fertilizers – “Lemon”, “Rose”.

In order to properly care for the medlar, as experienced growers advise, the first few years the tree needs to be replanted annually, older bushes – after 2-3 years. It is useful every year to renew a little the topsoil with a nutrient mixture of equal parts of humus with soddy soil. With the onset of cold autumn days, the medlar is transferred to the room.

Transplanted annually, from 7-10 years of age – replace the topsoil.

Reproduction is possible both seed and vegetative. Cuttings are taken from semi-lignified shoots. At a temperature of 20ᵒС, they take root in the substrate within a month. During seed propagation, the characteristics of the variety are not preserved.

For propagation of medlar, planting material is obtained only from seeds. They quickly lose their freshness, therefore, immediately after harvesting the fruits, they are washed from the pulp and sown in a greenhouse or in any container in light sandy soil to a depth of 3–5 cm. 20-30 cm tall, they are ready to plant in a permanent place.

If it is possible to obtain cuttings for budding, you can grow medlar on the stock of quince, hawthorn or medlar itself. The medlar grafted on quince takes on a bushy low-growing form and enters the fruiting season early. Eyes for budding are taken not from the shoots of the current year, but from the mature part of the shoot of the previous year with a long shield – at least 2.5 cm.

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