What Causes a Drooping Loquat Tree?

Fire Blight Disease

• The loquat tree (Eriobotria) is among the species of trees susceptible to fire blight, a disease produced by the bacteria Erwinia amylovora. Fire blight affects all parts of the loquat, causing leaves and flowers to wilt, droop and die. The first sign of the disease is the development of cankers -- sunken areas of dying tissue on twigs, branches and trunks -- that emit a watery, tan, bacterial ooze. After drooping, the dead and blackened loquat fruit and leaves remain on the tree throughout the remainder of the growing season, giving the disease its name: fire blight.

Fire Blight Management

• Fire blight bacteria spend the winter in diseased tissue of the tree and spring to life with the renewal of the growing season. The disease thrives when temperatures range between 75 and 85 degrees F, accompanied by windy, rainy conditions. To control fire blight, avoid irrigating the loquat during its blooming period and promptly prune or cut away all diseased tissue and destroy it. Blossom sprays help to manage the disease on foliage and fruit but will not kill the infection that lingers within the wood.

Root Rot

• Phytophthora root and crown rots cause drooping foliage in a wide variety of trees, including the loquat. The result of several species of fungal pathogens that live in the soil, these root and crown rots attack the root system of the loquat, damaging them to the extent that the roots are unable to uptake water and nutrition for distribution to the rest of the tree. Denied their sustenance, the fruit and leaves of the loquat tree begin to wilt and droop, then prematurely fall to the ground.

Environment

• Environmental and cultural problems reduce the vigor of the loquat tree and can cause its leaves and fruit to droop abnormally. While it appreciates sub-tropical and mild climates, the loquat does not tolerate heavy doses of summer heat, and hot, dry winds produce a scorching and drying effect on its leaves, causing them to brown and droop. The loquat tree demands well-irrigated soil. As a wide variety of loquat cultivars exist, the environmental requirements of each tree may differ.