I ordered some scionwood of quince varieties I don’t have…I only got my hands on two quince rootstocks so I’m thinking of seeing if the excess scionwood will root since folks here have mentioned it’s possible. I’ve rooted things like hardy kiwi and figs, but those are not complicated. I usually cut at a slant and pop things in my homemade container mix, maybe scrape the bark a little. I usually do not do things like wrap the exposed portions or fuss very much. I want to maximize chance of success, so if I need to baby the cuttings indoors with controlled humidity instead of just sticking them into the ground, I will do that. Our lows are still below/around freezing for now. Any suggestions on protocol are appreciated.
I’ve had good luck sticking hardwood cuttings of quince. I’ve used ~3/8” diameter water sprouts cut about 12-18” long. You can do em in the ground or in containers. I don’t use rooting hormone, but stick the cuttings up to near the top bud. No need for humidity, etc. as when doing softwood stuff. Just keep them somewhere that they can get some partial or dappled sunlight and keep them moist- not wet or dry. They struck pretty reliably IME
If it were something I didn’t want to gamble with, I’d just graft on a piece of root, no need for a crown. It’s nice having quince on its own roots though, because then it’ll always regrow true to type and the suckers can be freely dug to propagate.
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Thank you!
Hey @hobilus , i have a quince cutting that looks like it is rooting now and was curious since you said you were successful rooting quince… so since rooted quince will not be on the usual quince rootstock, will it send up more root suckers than usual? is it about the same vigor (as quince usually is 12-15ft people say but not sure if thats because of the rootstock influence). I have seen one very large quince tree at my moms friend’s house that is about 20-40ft tall at least (will have to more accurately measure it next time). Not sure what variety or if it was un-grafted.
Hey @armyofda12mnkeys -
usually growing something from cuttings tends to make it grow smaller and more bushy. The tall quince you mentioned is probably seed grown. That tends to produce a full vigorous root system and the tree also has a long juvenile period it which it grows vegetatively only. Cuttings tend to make smaller more fibrous root systems and the plant is already sexually mature, epigenetically speaking, so it will fruit much sooner and without a juvenile period. You’re apt to have suckers either way, but with the rooted cutting, suckers will be the desired variety. For those reasons, I think Quince is one of those plants that makes most sense on its own roots.
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