Home » Plants & Animals » Vegetable Gardening » Quince - Page 2

Quince - Page 2

© Marie Iannotti

conditions.  They bear on new wood, so prune yearly to encourage new growth.   Diseases to look out for are fire blight, rust, codling moth and apple maggots.   Don't let this scare you away.  The trees are actually very hardy (USDA zones 5-9) and mine have set fruit reliably every year.   They are particularly popular in  Mexico and Latin America, because deciduous tree fruits like apples don't do well there.  You can expect to have your tree for a good 50 years.

Some of the most popular varieties include:

Champion:  A very early fruit bearer, in fact it's considered to bear best when young.  The fruit is large, pear shaped and flavorful.

Pineapple:   Most popular with commercial growers.  The fruit is medium size and makes good jelly. Grows vigorously, flowers mid-season and  harvest mid-late season.

Portugal:  Very large, pear-shaped fruits that unfortunately sometimes look better than they taste.  The tree is not as hardy as some other varieties.  Flowers early and  harvest early-mid season.  It's also a good keeper.  This is thought to be the quince featured in old engravings from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Smyrna:  A strong tree with a rapid growth habit.  It's a heavy yielder and the fruit is good for cooking.

Van Dieman or Van Deman:  Another early bearer with a large harvest.  Flowers early but harvests late.

The quince you find in your grocery store is probably a Pineapple Quince.  This is the variety most grown commercially in  California and shipped throughout North America.  A fresh, ripe Pineapple Quince will taste and smell similar to a pineapple, but I will make no promises that the ones you find in your grocery store will be either fresh or ripe.

Some online sources for quince stock are:  Edible Landscaping, Heritage Fruits and Raintree Nursery.

When harvesting it's best to cut the fruit off the tree, if possible.  The stem does not have what they call a well defined abscission layer, meaning it won't snap when pulled.  If you find yourself blessed with an abundant harvest of quince and jelly making is not your calling, you can use the fruits in any recipe calling for apples.  They hold their texture when baked, make a great Persian Quince Stew, add a crisp tartness to cider and even lend themselves to making a tasty Quince Wine.  To sample more recipe ideas try My Quince Jelly Page.

For further reading online try:

The Aromatic Quince  From "Better Homes and Gardens"
Pears and Quinces  Delaware Cooperative Extension System
The Quinces   By Lester Davis for No. American Fruit Explorers
Quince  MN Public Radio's Farmstand fruit expert, David Karp
Quince  From Botanical.com - A Modern Herbal, by Mrs. M. Grieve

The copyright of the article Quince - Page 2 in Vegetable Gardening is owned by . Permission to republish Quince - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.