When chaenomeles (quince) bears fruit and ripens in Our Country

Chaenomeles, also known as Japanese quince, is known to gardeners mainly as an ornamental flowering plant. However, its fruits are also edible, like those of ordinary culture. They are good for health, widely used in folk medicine. Therefore, it is not recommended to neglect “apples”. But you need to know when the fruit is ripe, how to harvest and why the tree does not bear fruit.

When the quince bears fruit

The quince crop is one of the last to ripen. Fruits are harvested in the second decade of October. And if the autumn is warm and dry, you can postpone it even until the beginning of November.

Chaenomeles is practically the last thing that the gardener collects before “preserving” the site for the winter.

When and for what year does quince begin to bear fruit after planting

Japanese quince is an early crop. The tree, subject to proper care and the right choice of location, bears fruit already for 3-4 seasons after planting the seedling in the ground. A crop of small (50-70 g), bright yellow “apples” is harvested from it.

When and in what month to collect the fruits of Japanese quince

It is not possible to specify a specific harvest time for Japanese quince. Each year, fruits are harvested, taking into account the varietal characteristics of the plant, the climatic conditions in a particular region, and the weather in spring and summer.

If the tree does not bear fruit for the first time, you can determine that it is time to pick the “apples”, focusing on their appearance:

• there was practically no “fleshy” plaque left on them (the ovaries are covered with it very densely, while the fruits ripen, it gradually thins);
• the skin has completely changed color to yellow (sometimes, even if the chaenomeles ripens, “dotted” green spots remain on it), the fruit spreads a light aroma;
• if you press on the fruit, the pulp is slightly fed under the fingers, the characteristic “woodiness” disappears.

When chaenomeles ripens, individual fruits fall to the ground: this is another sign that it’s time to harvest.

When quince ripens in Our Country

At home, most varieties of chaenomeles bear fruit at about the same time. But in Our Country, the harvest does not ripen at the same time. This is due to significant climatic differences in the regions:

1. In central Our Country, the approximate ripening period for Japanese quince fruits is the second half of September. If the end of summer and the beginning of autumn are warm enough – in the first decade of October.
2. In the southern regions, chaenomeles bears fruit later. Harvested in the last decade of October. You can drag this out until the end of the first decade of November. Even if the fruits on the Japanese quince ripen completely, most of them do not crumble, they are securely held on the branches.
3. In the Urals, in Siberia, in the Far East, exclusively cold-resistant varieties are cultivated. They bear fruit early, fruits are harvested already in the first half of September.

Japanese quince, which still needs to ripen, is very sour and knits in the mouth

How to collect and store fruits

With proper care, Japanese quince bears fruit regularly. Harvested, guided by several general rules:

1. No special technique is needed for this. When the chaenomeles ripens, the fruits are removed from the branches exclusively by hand, together with the stalk, and carefully placed in a bucket or other container. Shaking them off the tree, throwing them on the ground is a bad idea.
2. You can’t pick fruit if it’s raining. And you have to wait for the dew to dry.
3. In the process, the crop is sorted, rejecting specimens with mechanical damage, traces of disease, pests. You can immediately throw away small fruits – they are most often very sour, dryish (they do not ripen during storage, the taste does not get better).
4. If you are prone to allergies, it is recommended to use personal protective equipment for the eyes, mouth and nose, going to harvest. Even when the chaenomeles is fully ripe, a “lint” remains on the skin, which can irritate the mucous membrane.

The pulp of even ripened chaenomeles remains firm, but this does not mean that the fruit is not afraid of mechanical damage.

In fresh form, chaenomeles lies for a long time. The fruits ripen, keeping the density, even the hardness of the pulp. But you need to provide them with optimal or close to this conditions:

• temperature 6-10 ° C;
• air humidity 80-90%;
• lack of light;
• good ventilation in the room.

Under such conditions, especially if each fruit is wrapped in paper or “isolated” from each other in cardboard boxes, wooden boxes, sprinkled with sawdust, sand, wood shavings, scraps of newsprint, straw, Japanese quince will lie for 4-6 months. Chaenomeles is stored in the same way as apples and pears.

You can also treat the fruits of quince with Japanese wax or lubricate with any vegetable oil before storing. But then before eating they will have to be washed very carefully.

In the refrigerator, if you put fruits in plastic bags or wrap them in cling film, they will lie half as long (2,5-3 months). At room temperature, Japanese quince is stored for a maximum of 2-3 days – if you leave the fruit indoors, the tree, one might say, bears fruit in vain.

The longest (about a year) Japanese quince is stored frozen. To do this, the fruits are thoroughly washed, peeled, seeds removed. The pulp is cut into slices or cubes, laid out in small portions in zip bags with sealed fasteners and put in the freezer.

Why Japanese quince does not bear fruit

Japanese quince may not bear fruit for various reasons. In most cases, the gardener himself is to blame for choosing the wrong place for planting or making gross mistakes when caring for the plant. Chaenomeles cannot be called a capricious culture, but even he has minimal “requirements”.

Sometimes Japanese quince does not bloom at all. It is logical that in this case it is not necessary to harvest in the fall. The most common reasons for this phenomenon:

1. Landing in a shaded area. If the Japanese quince does not have enough light, the tree grows and develops much more slowly than usual. The process of formation of flower buds is disrupted, gradually budding stops completely. For the first few seasons, it is still possible to harvest from chaenomeles, albeit meager, in the future it does not bear fruit at all.
2. Unsuitable soil. Japanese quince prefers nutritious, but water- and breathable soil. Otherwise, the roots of the plant suffer, which negatively affects the entire process of its development. The root system cannot provide the tree with nutrients in the right amount, so it does not bear fruit.
3. Too much watering. When waterlogged, the root system almost inevitably rots. The tree may even die, not to mention the ability to collect fruit from it.
4. Excess nitrogen-containing fertilizers. They stimulate Japanese quince to actively build up green mass. Such a tree will not bear fruit – it simply does not have enough nutrients to ensure that the crop ripens.

Japanese quince needs nitrogen in moderation and only at the beginning of the active growing season

The tree really does not like vegetation in the near-trunk circle. This can also provoke a lack of flowering and fruiting in Japanese quince. It needs to be regularly weeded, this is not a suitable place for planting lawn grass, ornamental ground cover plants.

Japanese quince begins to bear fruit a year or two later than to bloom. This is normal for a tree. However, if after this time the crop still does not ripen, the reasons may be as follows:

1. Lack of pollinators. Most cultivars of Japanese quince are self-fertile. In order to regularly pick fruit, you must first provide the tree with “neighbors” by planting another 2-3 specimens of chaenomeles nearby. Only in this case, after flowering, fruits will begin to be massively tied.
2. Freezing fruit ovaries. In regions with a climate that is not very suitable for gardening, chaenomeles can fall under return frosts after flowering. They destroy the ovaries, this season you can not wait for the Japanese quince to ripen.
3. Incorrect and / or untimely pruning. Most of the buds are concentrated on branches aged 3-4 years. Then you have to collect fruits from them. Also, Japanese quince ceases to bloom and bear fruit if sanitary pruning is neglected (unnecessary “ballast” takes too much strength from the tree). It is also strongly not recommended to get rid of healthy shoots during the summer, when the plant has already faded and forms fruit ovaries.
4. Pathogenic microflora. Quince Japanese has a fairly good immunity. However, if the gardener neglects the care of the chaenomeles, he may well get sick. Some fungi (for example, moniliosis) infect fruits – they rot, dry, fall off the tree before they have time to ripen.

Some varieties of chaenomeles are intended solely for decorating the site.

Conclusion

Japanese quince, which adorns the backyard in spring, bears fruit in autumn, providing the gardener with a crop of small “apples”. They ripen quite late, so you need to learn how to determine when it is time to harvest. There are also important nuances regarding how to remove the fruits and store them in the future, you also need to know about them in advance.