People have been using the gifts of this tree for a long time – more than 4,000 years. Previously, it was believed that quince is a kind of apple. According to some historians, the fruit of the quince was the same apple with the inscription “beautiful”, which defeated Aphrodite in the dispute about beauty. Appreciate this tree for a reason: its fruits have a pleasant smell, they are used as a side dish to meat dishes, for making jelly and jam, cook all kinds of compotes. And the quince dessert is just fabulous!
Planting quince
Quince is a small tree that grows up to 3.5 m (3.8 yard) in height and lives on average up to 60 years. Usually blooms in May-June. He loves light and moisture, but at the same time perfectly tolerates droughts and floods. The roots of the plant in the ground are shallow, quince survives well on soils with shallow groundwater. Plant quince on a flat area or on gentle slopes. The best location will be the southern and open part of the suburban area. It should be noted that the tree is thermophilic, and most varieties will give a good harvest only in the south, where peaches and apricots are grown. You need to carefully choose the right varieties for your climate.
Quince grows in almost any soil, but its composition depends on the size of the plant and yield. For example, in light sandy loam areas, the trees will be less productive and short-lived, but before the fruit appears. On heavy, well-loosened and moist soils, the yield of quince is higher.
Quince is propagated in various ways: by seeds, wood cuttings, budding, layering, root suckers. Below we will tell you about the most effective and easy way to plant this plant.
Reproduction by lignified cuttings
Planting lignified quince cuttings is the easiest way to get planting material. To do this, we need to select the lower annual shoots from fruit-bearing and healthy trees. The lower cut is made next to the kidney, the upper-at a distance, so that the drying of the upper part of the cuttings does not affect the growing kidney. Plant the cuttings slightly obliquely or vertically.
Immediately after planting, the buds are hilled with a small layer of soil (1-2 cm/0.4-0.8 inches). Thanks to this, the first roots will appear in about 20 days. When they appear, level the soil around the seedling, pour it abundantly and sprinkle with sawdust and peat. It is best to take root with cuttings planted in greenhouses. If they are planted in the open ground, more than half of them will not germinate. Seedlings planted in this way begin to bear fruit within 3-4 years.
Caring for quince
Quince will grow under many adverse factors, it will withstand droughts and floods. But the worse the conditions for its growth,the poorer the crop will be. And the quality of the resulting fruit is not important: they will be more tart and tough. But with proper watering and timely feeding, the tree will generously reward you with a high yield. Proper tree pruning will also help.
Clipping
Proper pruning of quince is necessary in the first 5 years after planting the tree, when it is actively developing. The branches that we left as the main ones are shortened by about 1/3 of their length. It is not necessary to cut them more strongly – this can cause increased growth of shoots, the crown will be too thick, and the fruits will ripen later. Cutting the crown, remove the strongest and weakest branches, you also need to remove damaged and dry branches. If there are branches with dried ends, and we plan to leave them, they should be cut to healthy wood.
Do the main pruning in early spring. If the tree actively produces annual shoots throughout the spring and autumn period, they will need to be pinched in August. Without this, before the onset of frost, they will not have time to sleep and simply die.
Garter
The quince garter is needed in the first years, while the tree is actively developing. It grows unevenly, especially on slopes, so the tree needs support. When the seedling gets stronger and begins to bear fruit, the support can be removed.
Irrigation
Quince loves moisture. In spring and autumn, it is advisable to make at least six waterings. The first – in early spring, a few days before flowering, the second-when the tree blooms, the third-after the fall of the ovary, the fourth-at the time of growth of shoots, the fifth-about 20 days after the fourth watering, and the sixth-when the fruits are formed and grow. Frequent watering with insufficient water will be useless. When watering a tree, the main thing is that the soil covering the bulk of the plant’s roots (in young trees, the root system depth is 40-80 cm/1.3-2.6, in adults-up to 1 m/3.3 ft), is sufficiently moistened. The watering rate for young plants is 400 liters, for adult trees – from 450 to 800 liters per tree.
Additional fertilizing
Fertilizing quince with fertilizers is necessary during the entire growing season: from early spring to late autumn. In the early spring, we apply mineral and organic fertilizers, in the summer, the quince needs nitrogen and phosphorus-potassium nutrition, and in the fall, we make basic top dressing (also organic and mineral fertilizers) – we create a stock of necessary substances for the quince until spring. Proper feeding will increase the yield by almost a third, so do not neglect it.
Harvest
Quince fruits in autumn, from September to November. We advise you to leave the fruit on the tree as long as possible, so that they have time to acquire their characteristic taste. Some varieties of fruit must be ripe, then they can be used raw. To preserve the fruits until spring, they are sprinkled with flour and put in a box. You can also store the quince fruit in a cool room.
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