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Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15985

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 16 7:55 am Post subject: Quince
We have a quince tree, very well established that gives a very good crop alternate years and reasonable crop the other alternate year. We have found some small quince plants underneath it. Does anyone know whether these are likely to be suckers, or new plants from fruits we have missed please.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 16 8:58 am Post subject:
Most likely suckers, your quince would have been grafted onto one of the same quince rootstocks that most pears are

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 16 10:16 am Post subject:
yep but that does give opportunity to separate them from the original and use them as rootstock to accept grafted bits of the cropping tree in the early spring. iirc quince graft fairly well .

Woo

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 787
Location: Mayenne, Pays de Loire

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 16 3:28 pm Post subject:
we found what I believe is a quince tree in the hedgerow. half way down our garden. the fruit look like small apples with a puckered up end? if so when should I send a small child up the ladder to collect them?? and what does one do with them?

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 16 4:52 pm Post subject:
jelly and jam are traditional,they will ferment into a horrible wine,sauces are possible. it is a good idea to pop a teaspoonful of bicarb into a pan of jam or jelly to drop the acidity a bit.

Woo

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 787
Location: Mayenne, Pays de Loire

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 16 5:18 pm Post subject:
thank you Dpack

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15985

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 16 7:10 am Post subject:

I make jelly, wine and brandy with quince. The jelly is lovely and you get a lot for quite a moderate amount of fruit. I can post the recipe if you need it. I don't find any need for bicarb at all. You can also poach them, in water, syrup or wine. I find that water is quite sufficient for adults, although children may prefer syrup. The wine can be amazing, and if the brandy works out, and isn't too rough itself, it can be really good too.

Thanks for the advice. If they are suckers, we might remove them as we don't really want another one, and it looks quite healthy at the moment.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 16 8:04 pm Post subject:

im wondering if they come in different types (like many other fruit) the one my mum and dad had in the garden was very tart hence the bicarb tip,the wine i made ,once,seemed to have a very odd taste a bit like peardrops and a bit like acetone with more than a hint of cheap perfume and no i didnt let it oxidise and other batches using the same yeast but using different fruits were fine.

having tried quite a few things with that one jelly and jam were the best options

yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 16 10:04 pm Post subject:

Woo wrote:

we found what I believe is a quince tree in the hedgerow. half way down our garden. the fruit look like small apples with a puckered up end?
if so when should I send a small child up the ladder to collect them??
and what does one do with them?

That sounds more like the fruit of the ornamental quince, japonica or Chaenomeles, rather than the quince that's normally used for making jellies and membrillo, Cydonia Oblonga. They sometimes are apple shaped but far more often are pear shaped and can be as large as a papaya. Apparently you can cook with japonica fruits (though I've never tried) but the recipe books are usually referring to the other.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 16 10:14 pm Post subject:
Yep japonica cooks like normal quince, fiddly though because they're hard and small

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 16 11:13 pm Post subject:

the ones i am familiar with were small and fiddly and imho a good reason to grow pears or apples or triffids

perhaps the less "ornamental" varieties are worth exploring

i was wondering why my experiences of them seemed very different from those of folk who seem to like them.

that said even if one has ornamental ones it is possible to make a jelly or jam that, if not delightful, is at least edible

remembering back the things did have very pretty flowers

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15985

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 16 7:17 am Post subject:
The quince I am talking about is Cydonia oblonga which is pear shaped. I have used the japanese quince for jelly, and it was quite good as I remember, but never used it for anything else. C. oblonga has flowers rather like a wild rose, then large yellow pear shaped fruits which are usually described as 'aromatic'.

yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 16 10:04 am Post subject:

I have/had a variety called "Pineapple'' planted six years ago which had very large, melon or papaya sized fruits with an amazing perfume and made excellent jelly. So large that last year the entire tree collapsed under the weight of the crop and split in every direction. I've cut it down to half a metre and planted a lot of cuttings in a spare corner. The original tree stump is sprouting madly so may revive.

Meanwhile I've bought and planted Aromatnaya from Reads as an insurance as it'll be identical or very close. Its the rootstock for other varieties and the sales pitch is that the fruits are edible uncooked.

Last edited by yummersetter on Mon Aug 08, 16 10:07 am; edited 1 time in total

yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 16 10:06 am Post subject:
And to go back to the original query, lots of suckers round my trees but they don't look robust enough to be worth propagating, and may be an inferior rootstock. I just cut them off as far down as I can. They seem to root pretty well from cuttings, which would be the preferred variety.

Jam Lady

Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2571
Location: New Jersey, USA

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 16 6:10 pm Post subject:
I used to sort of forage for Pseudocydonia chinensis, Chinese quince, at a semi-local arboretum. Beautiful small tree with large fruit. Then suddenly the director told me no, they were going to hold classes on cooking with quince. Didn't even ask me to teach it. The nerve of her!

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