Tree · Rosaceae
Quince
Cydonia oblonga
Slow to grow and tart off the tree, the quince rewards patience with fragrant golden fruit that comes alive in the kitchen.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 5–8
10–15 ft · 3–4.6 m
Overview
Quince is an old-world fruit tree that people grew for centuries before apples and pears took over the orchard. It stays small, rarely topping 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 m), and in late spring it covers itself in pale pink blossoms. By fall it hangs heavy with fragrant golden pomes that perfume a whole room.
This is a tree for cooks rather than snackers. The raw fruit is hard and astringent, but cooking turns it sweet and a deep rose color, and its high pectin makes it the classic base for jelly and the Spanish paste called membrillo. The tree belongs to the rose family, Rosaceae, alongside apples, pears, and plums.
Growing quince asks for patience and a watchful eye. It takes its time, settling in slowly, and it carries one serious weakness: it is extremely prone to fire blight. Give it full sun, well-drained soil, and good airflow, prune it with care, and a single tree will keep a household in jelly for years.
Care
The short version: plant it in full sun and well-drained soil, water deeply while it establishes and as the fruit swells, prune in late winter for an open shape, and stay alert for fire blight from the first bloom onward.
Light
Quince fruits best in full sun, where a long day of light builds sweetness and ripens the crop. It will take some partial shade, but you'll trade away both fruit set and flavor for it.
Water
Water deeply while the tree is getting established and again as the fruit fills out, roughly every 7 to 14 days depending on the weather. Let the top half of the soil dry between drinks. A mature tree shrugs off short dry spells, but steady moisture gives you the best fruit.
Soil
Plant in fertile, well-drained loam on the slightly acidic side, around a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Quince is forgiving and will grow in a range of soils, though it never wants its roots sitting in water.
Temperature
This is a tough, cold-hardy tree that takes winters down to -20°F (-29°C) and summer heat up to 95°F (35°C). The chill of a temperate winter is part of what sets it up to bloom and fruit well.
Humidity
Average outdoor humidity, somewhere around 40% to 70%, suits it fine. What matters more is air moving through the canopy, since damp, still air is what invites the fungal diseases quince is prone to.
Feeding
A balanced fertilizer or a topping of compost in early spring is all it needs each year. Go light on the nitrogen, because a flush of soft new growth is exactly what fire blight feeds on.
Pruning
Prune in late winter while the tree is dormant, shaping it to an open-center, vase-like form that lets in light and air. Take out suckers, crossing branches, and dead wood, and cut any fire-blight damage well below the canker, wiping your tools clean between cuts.
Repotting
Quince is a tree for the open ground and rarely needs repotting. Plant it once in a permanent spot with room to spread, and it stays there.
Size & spacing
A mature quince reaches 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 m) tall and spreads 9 to 12 feet (2.7 to 3.7 m) wide. Give it that full footprint of open space so light and air reach every branch.
When to plant
Quince is a cold-hardy tree for zones 5 to 8 and goes in the ground while it's dormant. Set out bare-root or container trees in early spring, or in fall where winters stay mild. The flowers open in late spring, and the fruit ripens through fall, ready to pick around October before the first hard frost.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Plant bare-root or container trees in early spring while dormant, or in fall in mild-winter regions.
- Harvest: Blooms late spring (April to May); fragrant golden pome fruit ripens in fall (about October) and is harvested before the first hard frost.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 5–8
Temperature: down to -29°C
Troubleshooting
Nearly every quince problem is fungal or bacterial, and most can be headed off with airflow, sanitation, and timely pruning. Fire blight is the one that can kill a tree, so learn its signs first. Match what you see below, then act before it spreads.
Blossoms and shoot tips blacken and curl into a hook
Quince is one of the most fire blight-prone trees you can plant, and this bacterial disease rides into open flowers and tender new shoots during warm, wet spring weather. Watch for blackened shoots that bend over into a shepherd's crook. Cut well below the damage, 20 to 30 cm under any visible canker, sterilize your tools between cuts, and hold back on nitrogen so the tree isn't pushing soft growth the bacteria love.
Fix:
- Prune out blackened, shepherd's-crook shoots 20 to 30 cm below visible cankers, disinfect tools, avoid excess nitrogen, and consider bloom-time bactericide sprays.
Distorted, crusty patches on the developing fruit
Quince rust is a fungus that needs two hosts to complete its life cycle, bouncing between quince and nearby junipers or cedars. The spores blow in during bloom and disfigure the fruit. Pull out alternate juniper hosts within range where you can, and protect the tree with fungicide while it flowers.
Fix:
- Remove nearby alternate juniper hosts where practical and apply protective fungicides during bloom.
Dark spots on the leaves followed by early leaf drop
Leaf blight is a fungal disease that flares up in wet weather, peppering the foliage with dark spots and pushing leaves off the tree before fall. Rake up and destroy fallen leaves so spores don't overwinter at the base, open the canopy for better air movement, and reach for a fungicide only if the tree is shedding leaves badly.
Fix:
- Rake and destroy fallen leaves, improve air circulation, and apply fungicides if defoliation is severe.
A white dusty film coating the leaves
Powdery mildew shows up as a white, dusty coating when the air is humid and barely moving. It rarely does lasting harm. Prune to let air flow through the canopy, and treat with a fungicide only if it spreads across much of the tree.
Fix:
- Prune for airflow and treat with fungicide if widespread.
Toxicity
The cooked flesh of quince is safe and delicious, and that's the part that ends up in jelly and membrillo. The catch is in the seeds, which hold cyanogenic compounds like the pips of apples, cherries, and other rose-family fruit. Whole seeds usually pass through harmlessly, but chewed seeds in quantity can release cyanide, so keep cores away from pets and grazing animals and don't eat the pips.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Mild
The flesh poses no real threat, and a cat that nibbles a windfall is fine. The danger sits in the seeds, where chewed pips can release cyanide and bring on drooling, brick-red gums, and labored breathing if a cat swallows a good number.
Dogs Mild
A dog would have to crunch through a lot of seeds to get into trouble, since intact pips usually pass through unharmed. Watch for drooling, dilated pupils, or breathing that turns heavy after a dog chews into the cores, and keep fallen fruit picked up.
Horses Mild
Windfall quince left in a pasture is the worry here, because horses can bolt whole fruit and grind the seeds as they chew. Large amounts of crushed seed may cause weakness, rapid breathing, and red gums, so clear dropped fruit from grazing areas.
Rabbits Mild
Keep cores and seeds out of reach, as the cyanogenic pips don't belong in a rabbit's diet. A small taste of the cooked or raw flesh won't hurt, but the seeds carry the risk.
Livestock Mild
Goats, sheep, and cattle can chew through fallen fruit and the seeds inside, which is where the cyanide hides. Pick up windfalls near where animals graze so they don't gorge on quantities of seed.
Birds Mild
Backyard hens and other birds can peck the soft flesh without harm. The seeds are the part to keep away, so don't toss cores or split fruit into the run.
People Cooked fruit safe
Cooked quince is a kitchen favorite, turning sweet and pink in jelly and membrillo with no concern at all. Just don't eat the seeds, and teach children to spit out the hard pips rather than chew them.
Keep seeds and cores away from pets and children; the hard astringent flesh is eaten cooked, and jelly or membrillo made from the flesh is safe.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Only a handful of quince varieties show up in home orchards, and most are grown for how well they cook rather than fresh eating. These are the names worth knowing.
Pineapple
A popular California pick with tender flesh and a hint of pineapple in its flavor, which makes it a favorite for cooking.
Smyrna
Carries large, powerfully fragrant fruit that cooks down beautifully.
Orange
Sometimes sold as Apple quince, this old standby bears round orange-yellow fruit that gardeners have long turned into jelly.
Champion
Ripens late with large, pear-shaped fruit and a more delicate flavor than most.
How to propagate
Quince is multiplied by vegetative methods rather than seed, since seedlings won't come true to the parent. Each method below copies a chosen tree exactly.
GraftingModerate
Named varieties are budded or grafted onto rootstock rather than grown true from seed. Quince itself works the other way around too, serving as a popular dwarfing rootstock for pears.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Take hardwood cuttings from the dormant tree in winter, which root with moderate effort and grow into copies of the parent.
LayeringModerate
Pin a low stem down to root while it stays attached to the tree, or stool the plant to raise several shoots at once. This is the traditional way nurseries have long bulked up quince rootstock.
Myths
Quince and flowering quince are the same plant.
They share a name but not much else. True quince is the small Cydonia oblonga tree grown for its large, fragrant golden fruit, while flowering quince is a separate ornamental shrub, Chaenomeles, planted for its showy spring blooms and small hard fruit. One is for the kitchen, the other for the border.
Quince can be eaten raw straight off the tree like an apple.
Bite into most quince raw and you'll find it hard, sour, and mouth-puckeringly astringent. Cooking is what transforms it, sweetening the flesh and turning it a deep pink, and its high pectin is exactly why it sets jelly and membrillo so well.