When to harvest the fruits of Japanese quince?

The fruit of Japanese quince is a fruit with high palatability, which is a natural medicine. Their competent collection guarantees the preservation of aroma and taste for the entire period of long-term storage. The timing of ripening and harvesting depends on the location of the growing region. The appropriate climate and variety of shrubs are the main factors affecting the ripening and harvesting of fruits.

Culture features

Quince is a shrub quite popular among gardeners and summer residents. They plant it both for the purpose of decorating the garden and for harvesting. Japanese quince has its own specific characteristics. These include:

1. Appearance, namely - oval and thick crown. Its height is about two meters, and the width varies in the range of about three meters.
2. The culture is durable, with proper care it grows, blooms and bears fruit for 70 years.
3. The leaves are inherent in an emerald shade, changing in autumn to orange.
4. The shape of the flowers is rounded, flat, diameter reaches six cm.

Landing and care

The varietal row of the plant is diverse, among it there are frost-resistant species. Therefore, quince can be grown not only in the southern regions of Russia, but also on its European part. For planting a shrub, it is advisable to choose a sunny place, since in shaded areas the crop is the least abundant.

Note! Regular watering can harm Japanese quince, it requires moderate humidity. The exception is young shoots, water helps them build green mass and grow actively. In order to increase frost resistance, after the end of autumn leaf fall, the last quince is irrigated.

Annual and biennial seedlings are placed in open ground, mainly in the spring. Autumn planting often ends poorly, young shrubs do not have enough time to take root before the onset of frost, they simply die. Planting a plant is not recommended, the process of transplanting to another place can negatively affect it.

Immediately before planting, nutrient components are laid in the pit, therefore, over a long period, the shrub does not need additional feeding. After two years, the area around the trunk is sprinkled with substances of organic and mineral origin. If you count on top dressing on a single plant, then you need compost weighing 5 kg, 100 grams of potassium salt and 250 grams of superphosphate. This fertilizer is used in early spring. During the summer, quinces are additionally fed with liquid consistency substances, for example, ammonium nitrate solution.

Crown Trimming Procedure

With the onset of winter cold, the plant is exposed to strong winds and frosts. Therefore, in early spring, the Japanese henomeles needs additional care - pruning dry, frozen and broken branches. It is necessary to carry out the procedure before the onset of swelling of vegetative buds. The crown of some species of this culture is very dense and shoots begin to grow with the wrong slope. It is also desirable to trim such branches to form a beautiful decorative crown. In addition, pruning helps increase fruit yield.

Approximately 7 years after planting a seedling, growth is significantly slowed in shrubs. Long and weak branches are cut out from such specimens, while only about ten strong shoots remain.

Fruit ripening

You can determine the ripeness of quince by appearance.Fruits are ready to be harvested if they have an even bright yellow color and no green spots.

If the fruits are intended for long winter storage, then they should not have any dents, cracks or black spots. For storage in winter, even, firm, smooth, roughness-free fruits are well suited.

There are many culinary recipes for preparing quince dishes and desserts. Softer fruits are used for them. Harvesting is carried out before the onset of the first cold weather, but it must be borne in mind that the longer the fruits are not harvested, the better. Their taste will be excellent and will please even the gourmet.

Suitable dates for collection

Full ripening of the fruits of Japanese culture occurs in late August and early September. But the time of harvest depends on the variety species and climate in the region of growth. Therefore, the harvesting time ranges from September until the first ten days of November.

In the European part of our country, an early ripe species is grown. Harvest here begins in September. In the southern regions, in the Rostov region and the Krasnodar Territory, almost all varietal types and hybrids are used. Depending on the variety, early or late ripening, the fruits begin to pick in September, and end in November.

In Siberia and the Urals, gardeners are engaged in the cultivation of varieties of early and frost-resistant types, they begin to harvest at the very beginning of the first autumn month.

Storage conditions

Long-term preservation of the fruits of a Japanese plant is achieved by observing certain rules and conditions.

1. It is desirable to contain quince in the same container with apples. Joint storage with pears is excluded, they give acceleration to ripening.
2. The room temperature should be around zero degrees.
3. In order to improve palatability, the fruits are individually wrapped in paper and laid out in layers in a container of paper or cardboard.
4. Fruits wrapped in paper can also be placed on the lower shelf of the refrigerator. The shelf life in this case will be about three months.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that it is not difficult to grow Japanese quince in our climatic conditions. The main thing in this process is the observance of all the rules of landing and care, taking into account all the features of the geographical location.

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