Quince trees are becoming increasingly popular in our gardens. If you would like to plant and care for a quince tree, then we have the most important information here.
The yellow-green fruit that grows on the quince tree is somewhere between an apple and a pear and can be processed into jelly, mush, juice or in a wide variety of baked goods (e.g. fruit bread).
Due to the tart, sour taste of the quince, it is usually only eaten cooked. The quince is even said to have healing powers for diarrhea and fever.
Quince trees are very popular again
For a long time, the quince was unfortunately no longer appreciated by gardeners and therefore increasingly disappeared from the gardens. But in the meantime people have remembered this traditional tree and more and more often you come across a quince tree in rural areas - also in open spaces.
Cultivated forms:
Quince cultivated forms are now being offered more and more frequently in specialist shops, for example as apple-quince or pear-quince mixed fruit. These mixed fruits are highly recommended, because you can even eat them raw because they taste much sweeter.
If you want to plant a quince tree and then harvest plenty of fruit, then you should follow the tips below.
Plant quince tree
You can always plant the hardy quince trees, which grow up to 8 meters tall, in spring on almost any nutrient-rich, but not calcareous soil that does not form waterlogging (good soil permeability). When choosing a location, you should also pay attention to a place in full sun.
» Tip:
Protect young quince trees in the first few years against severe frost with a garden fleece.
You should know, however, that quince trees, which belong to the rose family, bear their vitamin C-rich fruits for the first time after four years at the earliest. In addition, every year from May to early June there is a beautiful flowering phase with white-pink flowers.
Care for the quince tree
» Pruning and fertilizing:
In principlethe quince is one of the low-maintenance shrubs that are content with a single application of fertilizer in the form of compost around the tree trunk. And they are only cut back when necessary (trimming out the crown of the tree), whereby shortening young shoots always promotes denser branching.
» casting:
Quince trees don't need to be watered often. Always heap the tree trunk thickly with bark mulch all around. This stores enough moisture for the quince trees, which means that additional watering is only necessary during long periods of drought.
» Pest infestation:
Quinces are rarely attacked by pests (e.g. lice, fungal diseases, etc.). And if so, you can usually fight these pests with biological measures (as with apple trees and pear trees).
Only fire blight (a very rare but contagious infectious disease) requires the quince tree to be disposed of immediately with household waste. Important: this pest infestation is even notifiable!
Harvest Quinces
The harvest time for quinces - including the cultivated forms - is usually between the end of September and the end of October, depending on the weather you can even harvest fruit until November. The ripeness of the fruit can be recognized very well by the color change from green to yellow.
You can store fruit that is not processed immediately in a cool room for about 8 weeks. But be careful: you should never store quinces together with apples and pears. And during the post-ripening process, you must also expect a strong odor, which is by no means unpleasant.