Help with new loquat tree

May just be temporary transplant shock being experienced by that one tree, but I’ll ask you this, does that area of the lawn hold/retain more water after a heavy rainfall or drain poorly? Could be the root system is suffering from excess water. Your 2 trees from the photos appear to planted at ground level (grade) - in poorly draining heavy clay soils it’s best best to elevate the root ball several inches + above grade.

Also look any physical damage to the bark on the main truck of the “sick” loquat.

Off hand, I’m not aware of any disease specific to loquat that would be causing the issue you are observing.

Sod Webworms - no insecticide you use on the lawn will be harmful to the trees. Bifenthrin (active ingredient) is good sod webworm control agent - comes in many brand names for lawns - Talstar, Hi Yield Bug Blaster, etc.

plants are genetic organisms just like everything else that is flora or fauna, sometimes you just get a bad one. i've got a massive loquat in my yard that that produces seedlings that will damn near grow on concrete

i'd leave it be and see if it recovers, you'll probably stress it further by digging it up. pull off those dying leaves, mulch the shite out of it, and let it try to bounce back

side note, if anyone wants as many free loquat seedlings that you want, let me know. i literally have hundreds

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Should I dig up the root ball and replant a few inches higher or leave it as is? When I planted, I dug to where the top of the root ball was level with the adjacent grade before filling in the rest of the hole.

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I would personally dig it up and raise the top of the root ball several inches above grade and make sure the hole is back filled filled with native mineral soil and not compost, but the portion of the rootball above ground can be covered/filled/sloped with composted organic matter if you want. The tree will settle down in depth an inch or 2 with time.

If by chance the loquat has root rot from excess water/lack of oxygen, plants rarely recover from root rot. So you’d better off replacing it with another $20 loquat tree. Your choice to see if you can save it, but if there is any good news, it’s better to lose a tree when young rather than have it struggle and lose it 2 or 3 years down the road.

It's very unlikely the roots have expanded from the original root ball. My advice is to dig it up (dig in a circle around it so as to not cut the roots) and give it a lift. It's very likely sitting in water assuming you have hard clay soil.

All I know is Sugarfields makes some nice loquat liquor.