This quince graft has been doing great until now. It’s in promix. It’s in a spot that doesn’t get as much sun as the rest of my containers, and I got a little overzealous with water since we’ve been having scorching heat with no rain for awhile now. I noticed drooping a couple days ago and when I picked it up realized the soil was pretty heavy and there was a spot of water on the mulch under it. Thus, I’m pretty sure it’s overwatered. I really want to rescue this one.
I moved it onto a dry spot, but I’m not sure if there’s anything else I can do to salvage it. If I had used the mix I typically use…it’s nearly impossible to overwater…so I have zero experience in saving a plant from this situation. This is probably why I thoughtlessly doused it: habit. Move it into the sun, less sun, wick the pot somehow (it’s still pretty moist)? Any advice is appreciated.
I’m very much a novice to grafting. This one is on Provence BA29C. It was all I had at the time, and only two rootstocks. I really hope it pulls through as the other graft I did didn’t take.
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QUINCE PROVINCE BA 29C ROOTSTOCK should be perfect for fruiting quince trees.
" Cydonia oblonga
Makes a 10-15’ semi-dwarf tree. Compatible with Cydonia quince scions and most European pears, except for Bartlett/Williams. It is tolerant of wet soils, precocious, high yielding and resistant to crown gall, pear decline and nematodes."
@scottfsmith has bulgarian quince and may know something i do not from my limited experience. They are subject to certain wilts eg. Fusariam. Normally when a plant responds to heat alone, it wilts in the day and then perks back up at night.
How long ago was the quince moved? Could it be transplant shock? If you put it in the sun it will dry out and it needs to but some leaves may become sunburned.
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Without knowing all the details I do notice this graft used a very long scion. My first thought would be that with the graft union only partially healed at this point it may be struggling to pass enough water through the union to support the long scion even though the soil is well watered.
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I only moved it about fifteen feet into slightly more light yesterday. Otherwise it has been in the same spot since it was grafted. It has not perked up at all, but it has not worsened, yet. Thank you.
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It was a long one, yes. This is my first graft. I was not confident at all and since I only had two rootstocks just used most of the whole stick. In the future I will not do this regularly, especially since I did some more reading right after that and grafted a bunch of apples with just a couple of buds and good success. I grafted this one at the beginning of April and the scion started to bud out at the beginning of May. Perhaps the intense heat has stressed it as you say. The weather is improving now, thankfully. I could cut it down, or wait a couple days to see if it improves at all. Thank you, the stress was not something I had considered.
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At this point I wouldn’t cut it back, but I might pinch a couple leaves to reduce moisture loss via transpiration.
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Since it’s a different fruit than my first grafting attempts this spring I can’t tell…but I had many of my grafts grow out 6, 12, 18 inches - even 2 feet then droopy leaves and the graft eventually dies.
Certainly not an over watering issue with mine. I just assume perhaps the wind broke the scar tissue and it simply died.
Having read some of the responses here and elsewhere, next time I see this I will cut the leaves as suggested to more minimize the water demand.
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