Fruiting Quince, Cydonia oblonga

[Jan]

Away to collect a Fruiting Quince, Cydonia oblonga, sucker from the old grove planted in the mid 1800’s (1840-50?). I checked the available suckers and settled on one upright plant, with a shari on one side, and some dead wood in a wide base. The plant had some rotten material in the base; this was all dug out leaving an interesting hollow (shallow in height) in the base. There were good roots on three sides of the base (not the hollow side), these were shortened up to encourage the growth of a more compact root ball. The plant was cut fresh on the base in the process of removing the rotten material and hormone jell was painted onto the exposed cambium and onto the cut roots.

2010-07-31_10.18.10_Quince.JPG

The plant has some interesting textured bark in the classic Quince style in addition to the shari and the exposed dead wood (saw cut) that will lend itself to future carving. The top was cut off at approx 30 cm high and will be recut/carved in future.

[kvan64]

hi Jan, i love quinces. Fruiting or flowering they are all beautiful. i have a couple to work on too. love to see the progress of this one.
Cheers
DK

[Jan]

hi Jan, i love quinces. Fruiting or flowering they are all beautiful. i have a couple to work on too. love to see the progress of this one.
Cheers
DK

Couldn’t put up with the tall, straight trunk so I shortened it by a couple of inches to a 45 degree cut (low point towards the existing shari – I’ll try to carve it and blend it into this shari at a later date) just above the blue/green lichen on the trunk. That looks much better to my eye – now I’ll just have to behave myself and let it get on with the business of growing roots and making shoots.

D.K. Any tips on dealing with fruiting quince as bonsai would be appreciated! Tips on the flowering quince would also be appreciated; I’m aiming to be more ruthlessly objective this re-potting season and my small, straight, white flowering quince is earmarked to go into the ground to build trunk size and vigour. If I can speed up the learning experience by listening to the advice of those who have already taken this journey all the better.

Thanks, in anticipation,

Jan