Quince (or Cydonia) is a deciduous or artisanal tree from the Rose family, bears fruit, and is also considered to be from an ornamental culture. Some say that this tree originated in the Caucasus. But there is an opinion that the homeland of quince is Northern Iran or Asia Minor.
This tree loves light. Therefore, the more the plant is blinded by the sun's rays, the more fruit it will bear. Sufficiently resistant to drought, and also resistant to abundant prolonged moisture. It grows on both clay and sandy soil. The maximum height for quince is considered to be 7 meters. Such a tree lives from 30 to 50 years. There are several options for planting such a tree: cuttings, seeds, grafting, and root shoots.
General description of the quince tree
Quince is a short tree, or you can say a shrub. Usually the height is between 1.5 and 4 meters. Quince, which has reached 7 meters in height, is rarely found. The diameter of the trunk is approximately 50 cm. The branches of the shrub are covered with bark, which constantly exfoliates. Branches that are younger are brownish-gray in color.
Since the trunk usually grows at an angle, it is necessary to tie up the shrubbery so that it does not fall to the ground. The difference between quince and other trees is in the rather dense, dark gray edge of the trunk and shoots.
Quince has a very interesting leaf shape - oval or ovoid, the tops of the leaves can be either pointed or obtuse, usually up to 12 cm in length, up to 7.5 cm in width. The color of the leaves is green, slightly grayish below.
How quince blooms and smells
Quince blooms from May to June. Flowering usually lasts about three weeks. The flowers are large enough, a little less than 6 cm in diameter. The flowers are white, or bright pink, in the middle there are yellow stamens, their pedicels are lowered down. Flowers bloom after the leaves appear. Thanks to the late flowering, the quince is not afraid of frost, and bears fruit every year. In any garden, quince would be a wonderful decoration, because the flowers cover the tree completely, almost stick to it. Thanks to this, the tree can be called decorative.
Quince bears fruit from September to October. The fruit is round in shape, similar to a pear, or an apple. In the beginning, when the fruit is not yet fully ripe, it is slightly pubescent, and the ripe fruit is absolutely smooth.
The color of the fruit is yellow, closer to lemon, some varieties have a slight blush. Quince pulp is quite tough, not juicy at all, tart with a sweet aftertaste. The weight of one fruit can be from 100 to 400 grams; from one hectare of cultivated varieties, up to 50 tons of harvest can be harvested. If the quince is wild, then its fruits are small, weighing up to 100 grams. A maximum of 10 fruits per tree.
Quince has an original aroma - a feature of which is the presence of enant and pelargonium-ethyl esters. The aroma of ripe quince is similar to a sour apple; the smell of flowers and spices will also flash.
About quince seeds
In the middle of the fruit itself there are so-called "pockets", there are only five of them. Their layer is parchment, inside are brown bones. On top of the quince seeds there is a peel with a white matte film, which is 20% well-swollen mucus. In the future, this mucus can be used in textiles and medicine.Thanks to the glycoside of amygdalin, the bones of the quince slightly smell of bitter almonds.
Quince has a fairly wide root system. Vertical roots go no more than 1 m deep into the soil. There are also roots that grow horizontally. Most of the roots are close enough to the soil surface, so the tree can be replanted without fear of damaging it. But at the same time, you need to very carefully cultivate the soil.
Quince begins to bear fruit at about 3-5 years of age, and in the next 20 years it also bears fruit quite actively. In general, the tree lives up to 50 years.
The history of the appearance of the fruit
Quince is a fairly ancient tree, mankind has known about it for about 4000 years. The tree comes from the Caucasus. Later, the quince became known in Asia Minor, Rome and Ancient Greece. A little later, the quince also appeared on the island of Crete, where, according to historians, the tree got its name. According to the legend of the ancient Greeks, the quince was mistaken for a golden apple, which Paris presented to the goddess Aphrodite. Fruit with a tart and sweet flavor was considered a symbol of love, marriage and marriage.
Melon Kudaion - this is how the ancient Greeks called the quince. After Greece, they learned about quince in Italy. The famous writer Pliny describes 6 varieties of this tree. From his descriptions it became known that the fruit is used not only as food for people, but also has medicinal properties. The well-known Apicius in his book on cooking describes a recipe for a dessert in which quince is present.
In the East, quince is considered to be a symbol of health and purity. And Avicenna wrote in his works that the plant has a beneficial effect on the heart, as well as on digestion. Already in the XIV century, quince began to appear in Europe, after which this fruit became famous in other countries. Wild shrubs can be found more often in the Caucasus, as well as in Asia Minor and Iran. The plant grows near water bodies, or at the foot of the mountains. The more prolific quince in Russia is the Caucasus, as well as the Krasnodar Territory. In Europe, quince is considered an ornamental plant.
How quince grows and gets sick
It is very good to plant a pear on a quince. In the future, such seedlings are quite resistant to droughts. Quince is quite unpretentious. It can stay without watering for a long time, and is also resistant to excess moisture. In the near future, it is planned to create a hybrid of apple and quince, thanks to which the new culture will become more resistant to frost and diseases.
Rot is considered the most dangerous disease for quince. To avoid this disease, they usually resort to pruning and burning branches. In order to prevent culture, most often they use the method of spraying the trunk and foliage with fundozol, and also use dipterex. Another way to prevent tree diseases is to disinfect wounds, for which a solution of mercury chloride is used. Dangerous pests are considered to be a pseudo-bark beetle and a codling moth, a leaf-mining moth.
