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Pseudocydonia sinensis
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Pseudocydonia sinensis
soo-doh-sigh-DOH-nee-uh
sy-NEN-sis
False Quince
Karin
Pseudocydonia
Native to China
cold hardy to zone 5
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Fall color
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A deciduous tree with beautiful exfoliating bark. The old bark peels off in patches similar to a Crepe Myrtle, revealing shades of gray, green, orange or yellow.
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Fruit ripens in mid to late autumn |
One can grow a Chinese Quince bonsai from seed. This takes time, but growing 'misho' bonsai is economical and rewarding. Now is the time to collect the Karin seed. The fruit should be overripe before harvesting.
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A row of seed in a halved Chinese Quince fruit
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Sow Chinese Quince seed outdoors in the Fall and let Mother Nature take care of the stratification. Protect them from rodents (squirrels and mice) and label that “empty pot of soil”.
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The fruit emits a sweet aroma
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Stored
seed requires 3 months cold stratification. Remove fleshy coating on seeds before storing. Stratification is a period of artificial winter that trees that are not tropical need to set off the internal clock that spring triggers and makes seed sprout as temperatures rise. Chinese Quince seed will need 90 days of cold storage to begin to sprout. This can be done in the home refrigerator. Use zip-lock sandwich bags with damp peat moss. A fungicide can be used in the media to keep soil borne diseases from killing the seedlings. If any of the seed germinate in the refrigerator, plant them.
When the artificial winter is over, the seeds are ready to be planted. It is suggested that they be soaked overnight in room temperature water to improve germination percentages. Seeds that float after soaking won't germinate so toss them out.
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Seed in fruit
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The edible fruit makes delicious jam and jelly. Chinese Quince cooked with apples is delightful. The yellow medium-size fruit is hard and is suitable for pickling and can be made into a tea. It ripens in mid to late autumn The fruits emit a sweet aroma and are placed in a bowl to impart a delightful spicy scent to a room.
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Flowers from April to May
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5 light pink petals 1 to 2 inches across
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Chinese Quince flowers from April to May with 5 light pink petals 1 to 2 inches across, appearing in spring on last years growth, so heavy pruning is best avoided.
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Pseudocydonia sinensis Bonsai
US National Arboretum |
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Pseudocydonia sinensis
Bonsai
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![BONSAI Today 1 [ May-June 1989 ] Cover features Quince Pseudocydonia Sinensis (satsuki azalea, masahiko kimura styles a yew, winter jasmine, outstanding american bonsai, itoo motohisa styles a white pine, the technique of wiring, gallery of bonsai masterpieces)](http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B002MNO6R6&tag=bonsabegin-20)
those fruits look great
ReplyDeleteIn addition... the fruits emit a sweet aroma and are placed in a bowl to impart a delightful spicy scent to a room.That was great!
ReplyDeleteI stratified seeds of Pseudocydonia sin. in the fridge on Oct. 20. Checked on the container on 28 of Dec. - astonishing! Nearly all of them (145) germinated already! Terrifying! Now have to keep them alive in nearly sunlightless condition starting even before the middle of winter. I'm in 5a-6b.
ReplyDeletebased on the size of the sprouts, they must have germinated about a week before. So, 90-day stratification is way too much, provided, of course, the seed is fresh.
The same experience I had just a year ago with freshly collected Cedrus libani seeds. Not even two months passed upon stratification - they were germinating all at once.