How to Grow Quinces UK

Regional Planting Calendar

Quick Facts

Factor	Value
Soil texture	Tolerates a range; light, medium or heavy (PFAF)
Drainage	Moisture-retentive but well-drained (RHS); PFAF says it dislikes both very dry and waterlogged soil
Lifecycle	Deciduous tree; RHS says self-fertile and cropping from 5-6 years old, while PFAF states it is NOT self-fertile and needs cross-pollination, and gives a longer 4-6 years to first fruit -- a genuine disagreement between the two sources, presented here rather than silently resolved.
Edible parts	fruit, flowers

At a Glance

Soil & Growing Conditions

Water: Water regularly during dry spells for the first couple of years; established ground trees in moisture-retentive soil usually need no extra watering except during prolonged dry spells, especially as fruit swells (RHS)

Growth Stages

Stage	BBCH	Notes
Planting and establishment	0	Plant November to March while dormant; soak bare-root trees in water for half an hour first, or water container trees thoroughly. Stake newly planted trees securely (RHS). PFAF notes it takes 4-6 years to first fruit and reaches 12-15ft within 3-5 years at a medium growth rate.
Vegetative growth	3	Prune newly planted trees to an open-centred goblet shape, apple-style; once established, only light winter pruning is needed, removing dead, damaged or diseased wood and thinning congested stems (RHS). Remove any suckers that sprout around the base of grafted trees.
Flowering	6	Solitary, pale pink to white flowers in late spring (RHS); PFAF adds these are themselves edible. Protect blossom from frost with biodegradable fleece or hessian overnight, removed by day for pollinator access.
Fruiting and harvest	8	Quince is a tip-bearer -- fruit forms on the tips of the previous year's shoots, so pruning must preserve these tips rather than cut them back (RHS). Fruit ripens October-November, turning from light yellow to gold; harvest before the first frost.

Harvest & Storage

When to pick: Fruit turns from light yellow to a golden colour; harvest October-November, before the first frost (RHS).

Storage

Store in a cool, dark place in slatted wooden or cardboard trays without the fruits touching; leave for six to eight weeks before use to let the aroma and flavour develop, and use within two to three months total (RHS).

Diseases

Fire blight

low

Erwinia amylovora

Named directly on RHS's own growing-guide page (no severity grading given).

Brown rot (apple)

low

Monilinia fructigena

Named directly on RHS's own growing-guide page as "brown rot" (no severity grading given); recorded against the existing pome-fruit brown rot entity since quince, like apple, is a pome fruit.

Powdery mildew

low

Named directly on RHS's own growing-guide page as "powdery mildews" (no severity grading given).

Quince leaf blight

moderate

Diplocarpon mespili

RHS names this as a real, wet-season fungal problem serious enough to influence variety choice in damper UK regions, and states it "affects fruiting" -- the most significant disease risk RHS names for this otherwise…

Pests

Aphids

low

Aphididae (various spp.)

Named directly on RHS's own growing-guide page (no severity grading given).

Codling moth

low

Cydia pomonella

Named directly on RHS's own growing-guide page (no severity grading given).

Quince Photo Gallery

Tree laden with fruit

A quince tree laden with golden-yellow fruit.

Tree in blossom

A quince tree in full white blossom.

Flower detail

Close-up of a white quince flower on the branch.

Fruit cluster

A cluster of quince fruit among felty green leaves.

Young shoot

A young quince shoot with new leaves.

Harvest time

Harvested quince fruit on the tree and fallen on the ground.

Orchard row

A row of quince trees in an orchard.

Botanical identification

A quince tree with a botanical identification label confirming the species.

Heavy with fruit

A quince tree heavy with ripening fruit.

What the research guides add

Quince is hardier than most people expect and more dependent on summer warmth than on winter cold.

• A deciduous, multi-stemmed small tree or large shrub that flowers best in full sun and adapts to a wide range of soils but prefers well-drained loams; established plants tolerate some dry soil. (Missouri Botanical Garden)
• Penn State says quince has good cold tolerance for a fruit tree, hardy to between −15 and −25°C (5 and −13°F), and is more tolerant of wet soils and drought than apple. Missouri Botanical Garden says that where winter temperatures fall below 5°F, quince can be fan-trained against a wall. (Penn State, Missouri Botanical Garden)
• It is the summer that decides the fruit: the best fruit is produced in areas with long, hot summers, and in climates with warm winters quinces will fully ripen on the tree. Pick the fruit before the first autumn frost. (Missouri Botanical Garden)
• It suckers when young and must be trained as a tree, or it will spread to form a thicket. (Missouri Botanical Garden)
• Some varieties are not self-compatible and need another variety for pollination and fruit. (Penn State)
• Quince is susceptible to fire blight, and Penn State advises against heavy nitrogen fertiliser because it promotes the soft vegetative growth that makes trees more susceptible to the bacterium. (Penn State)

Sources for this section

• Missouri Botanical Garden: Cydonia oblonga (Plant Finder)
• Penn State University (PlantVillage): Quince

Section researched and checked on 24 October 2026 by the SoilCommander Editorial Team. How we check facts: editorial policy.

References

1. Plants For A Future (PFAF) - Cydonia oblonga (quince)

   USDA zones 5-9, UK zone 4, hardy to about -15°C. Medium growth rate, reaches 12-15ft in 3-5yrs; 4-6yrs to first fruit. Mature size 7.5m x 7m unpruned. Single non-suckering trunk, shallow flat root system. Soil: light/medium/heavy, mildly acid to mildly alkaline, prefers moist, dislikes very dry or waterlogged. Light: full shade to full sun, best fruiting in sun, often won't fruit in deep shade. Propagation: seed (18wk cold stratification), hardwood cuttings November, layering (1yr), suckers. Native to Caucasus/north Iran/Mediterranean Europe. Edible: fruit (raw in warm climates or cooked, jellies/jams/pies, rich in pectin), edible pale pink flowers, seeds make aromatic drink dried/crushed. NOT self-fertile, requires cross-pollination. Used as dwarfing rootstock for pears. Good companion/pollinator plant.

2. Royal Horticultural Society - How to grow quinces

   Self-fertile, crops from 5-6yrs old. Site: warm sunny sheltered spot, south/south-west facing. Soil: deep, fertile, moisture-retentive, tolerates a range. Rootstocks: Quince A (semi-dwarf), Quince C/Eline (dwarf/container). Mature size 3-4.5m. Plant Nov-March dormant. Container 45-60cm pot. Water regularly first 2yrs, established trees usually need none except dry spells during fruit swell. Mulch spring; container trees need high-potassium liquid feed fortnightly or granular spring feed. Pruning: open-centred goblet shape when young (apple-style), light winter pruning once established, remove dead/diseased/crossing wood, preserve shoot tips (tip-bearer), remove suckers. Frost protection: fleece/hessian over blossom, remove by day. Harvest Oct-Nov when colour turns gold, before first frost; store cool dark 6-8 weeks before use, keeps 2-3 months. Problems: quince leaf blight (worse in wet seasons, affects fruiting), aphids, brown rot, fire blight, codling moth, powdery mildews -- but usually robust and healthy overall.

2 independent sources are cited for this crop. Where they disagree - soil pH is the clearest case - every figure is preserved rather than averaged into false precision.