Sorry this posted twice. Mods, you can delete the first one if you like! Thanks!

You need to tell us exactly where you are located.

Here in suburban Maryland outside Washington DC I have planted an Aromatayna quince I got from Hidden Springs nursery. The tree has grown vigorously but suffers from some sort of galls on the branches and fireblight. It set a lot of fruit this spring (its third year), but the fruit all got aborted. It is hard to get fruit without serious spraying here on the East coast. Raintree nursery has an extensive selection of quinces.

Austransplant:

I neglected to mention I am planting in Zone 7B, in Eastern North Carolina. Did the fruit drop due to the fireblight?

I have tried quinces for eight years and I chopped them down a month or so ago. The primary problem has been fireblight. I used a spray program of both agrimycin and copper on them. I could control the blight early on, the problem is it just would not go away and would infect fruits and twigs all summer long. I was still getting a harvest; the main reason I chopped them down is the FB was also infecting my apples all year long. On top of FB they get quince rust which ruins fruits, and codling moth is particularly brutal to them as well.

This is just one person's experience but it was definitely a failure in my book. I may have had them not open pruned enough in the first few years, but more recently I had them fairly open, and they had plenty of air circulation around them as well. If you do try one I would recommend keeping very few scaffold limbs very far apart, so the tree has a very open feel to it and half the sunlight is hitting the ground. Fireblight loves wetness so get the sun and air on and through the tree to minimize blight.

Scott

ScottFSmith:

Was just curious if you tried the soapy water treatment for the fireblight?

MT

I've never seen any study or expert recommending soap for fireblight treatment and I never tried it. There are some copper plus soap products which work but I think its the copper not the soap that is helping. Copper in delayed dormant season and then agrimycin around bloom does a great job in setting back the disease, but it is hard to completely get rid of and the quinces seem to be a reservoir of it. I will know more how much the quinces were contributing in the coming year since I won't have them anymore. I also have some very late blooming cider apples and they may also be keeping the blight around by giving blossoms to infect very late; I am also removing many of those trees this winter.

Scott

There was an article on Quince in the Winter 2010 edition of Pomona Magazine by David Karp entitled "Improbable But Nonetheless True: A New Taste for Quince"

He claims that there is a relatively new variety from Peru that many have planted in Southern California that is superior to all other Quince for eating. It is called "Karp's Sweet"

Here is the description: "a sweet-fleshed quince tree . . .
derived from cuttings imported by a friend from the Majes Valley of southern Peru, where it�s too warm for most apples and pears to grow well but where quinces flourish. The next day he brought in a round yellow fruit that indeed
had typical quince aroma, ribbing and light fuzz�but was softer, juicier and non-astringent, and quite pleasant to eat."

He says it is more sour if grown in the Northeast b/c it "needs California�s heat and long growing season to ripen properly."

Here is a link that might be useful: dallasfruitgrower

I have a Karp's Sweet but it's only been in the ground less than a year. No fruit yet.

In Southern California here so I'm pretty sure there's not going to be any problem with disease, stays pretty warm and dry most of the year. While quince is well suited to growing in Mediterranean climates, this quince variety may be an especially good choice to grow here in zone 10. First, having come from Peru, Karp's Sweet seems to be well adapted to low chill conditions. Many people have noticed that it doesn't loose its leaves in the Winter—it does not behave like a deciduous in this climate. Second, for Karp's Sweet to be at its best, this variety needs a long hot Summer over which the fruit can mature. People living in some other part of the country may be better off growing one of the Russian varieties (like Aromatnaya or Krimskaya) if they're looking for something that can be eaten raw.

A fully ripened quince grown in warm climate (and depending on variety) can give off the most wonderful fragrance. It's like the floral fragrance of the best apple, combined with a powerful note found in the fragrance profile of pear, with a slight ethereal fragrance like sweet violets. The smell is much stronger than any apple or pear. You could just let the quince sit there in a small room and the entire room would smell nice. I'm not exaggerating, it might be the best fragrance there is.

Quince is a slow grower, slower than pear or apple, but it also does not require that much water once the tree has become established.

Scott, the Russian variety Aromatnaya is supposed to be more resistant to fire blight, and more cold-hardy as well.

The reason quince is so prone to fire blight probably has to do with the fact it is more suited to drier more Mediterranean-type climates. A lot of moisture during the growing season or very high humidity is conducive to fungal disease. In terms of cold temperatures, quince is usually happiest in climate zones 8-9, although it can also be grown in 4-10. The types of places quince would grow well are places like California (with the exception of the northwest coast), parts of south Oregon, Arizona, Missouri, and Western Kentucky. Oh you can grow quince other places. Small farms in Maine and Connecticut traditionally had a quince tree a long time ago, it was important for making preserves (quince is naturally very high in pectin).

History of the Quince

Quinces grow in eastern europe like Zone 5 and 6. very popular in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine Slovakia, etc