Posted: Sat May 14, 16 5:12 am Post subject: Quince tree advice needed please!
I have a quince tree that is about five or six years old.
Every Spring it has bright green leaves, lots of blossom and generally looks in the peak of health. Yet invariably as the season goes on it takes on a more sickly appearance and I have never had fruit from it.
Any ideas of what I can do this year?
It is on fertile ground, the site of an old compost heap and it does get rather surrounded by nettles at the base if I am busy elsewhere for a bit. Could this be the problem? It is the pear shaped variety. I have another which is the apple shaped one and that produces in abundance whatever it is subjected to.
My quinces always go manky, a combination of mildew and blight. One day we'll get round to spraying with seaweed or suchlike to see if that makes any difference. A few years ago Tiptree jams grubbed up all theirs for the same reason, theirs were all Vranja. I have 3 or 4 different varieties.
The leaves on mine go rather horrid towards the autumn, and it does need plenty of air round it to stop that. I do get quinces, usually a good crop alternate years though. The flowers are out now and as it has been warm enough for insects to pollinate them, I live in hopes of a reasonable crop this year as well as last. Sorry, can't remember what variety it is.
Tavascarow
Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 8407 Location: South Cornwall
Posted: Sat May 14, 16 10:04 am Post subject:
Quince wilt?
If so good air flow by pruning to an open shape & keeping other surrounding planting sparse.
It does have a fairly open shape but could be opened up a bit more. I suppose I will have to wait until winter to prune it. Drat! I was hoping for fruit this year.😐
sean Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 42219 Location: North Devon
Posted: Sat May 14, 16 12:15 pm Post subject:
From my recollection of pruning my mum's quince tree (under her instructions) very open is what you're aiming for, not just fairly.
IIRC you're in North Devon too, so you need to bear in mind that you're living inside a cloud for a large part of the year.
Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 34535 Location: Hereford
Posted: Sat May 14, 16 1:48 pm Post subject:
I'm afraid I have a fifteen year old quince tree that I've never pruned and it crops heavily every year. Hair pear variety. All I can say is it's close enough to a line of trees to be a bit protected and sheltered and our ground is damp so it never gets dry.
No idea if that helps at all. Happy to send cuttings or seeds if you want tho.
I think quince leaf blight is what we get sometimes, but usually fairly late in the season, so the quinces aren't affected too badly. It is definitely improved by cutting everything around the tree.
BahamaMama
Joined: 21 Sep 2006 Posts: 2315 Location: Away with the fairies
Posted: Tue May 17, 16 2:22 pm Post subject:
So how would you prune a quince. I have one apple shaped one that produces loads of blossom and fruits well, but is a totally wacky shape with long, thin, whippy branches.
View Latest Posts