How To Grow Chaenomeles

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Japonica

Recently, great attention has been paid to the aesthetic design of garden plots. Every gardener strives to plant not only useful, but also pleasing plants with their beauty. One of them is chaenomeles or Japanese quince. The fruits of this quince are distinguished by their original taste and exquisite, delicate aroma, and during the flowering period it is simply impossible to take your eyes off it.

Thanks to its high decorative qualities, chaenomeles conquered the entire planet. No wonder Japanese artists, inspired by his image, created their works, and the British included him in the list of the twelve best flowering shrubs.

Translated from the Greek "henomeles" means "to split an apple". Like most Asian plants, chaenomeles or Japanese quince was not known to the inhabitants of the Old World for a long time. In Europe, this plant became popular only at the end of the 18th century.

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The genome Chaenomefes belongs to the Rosaceae family. The closest relatives of Japanese quince are apple, pear, hawthorn, irga, etc. The genomeles genus includes four natural species: Japanese chaenomeles, beautiful chaenomeles, Chinese chaenomeles, Tibetan chaenomeles. Among amateur gardeners in Russia, the most widespread is Japanese chaenomeles, which is a low, very decorative deciduous shrub.

Japanese quince blooms in late April - early May, flowering duration is 2-4 weeks, depending on species characteristics, weather, place of cultivation. Sometimes there is additional summer or autumn bloom. The color range of petals is very diverse - from snow-white, pink, orange, scarlet to dark red.

It is no coincidence that chaenomeles is called the northern lemon. Indeed, its fruits contain several times more vitamin C than lemons. In addition, it is a real storehouse of vitamins and other biologically active substances. Quince fruits contain vitamins of groups P, E, F, B, pectin substances, organic acids, macro- and microelements.

The fruits of this plant have anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antiemetic and astringent effects. And the systematic use of the fruits of Japanese quince in food has a beneficial effect on the entire human body. In addition, chaenomeles is an excellent honey plant. And also this plant is very often used for landscaping large cities. And this is due not only to the decorative appearance during flowering, but also to the fact that it perfectly adapts to the negative conditions of a big city. Cut branches and even individual flowers are also used for decorative purposes.

When choosing a place for planting chaenomeles, it should be remembered that this plant prefers sunny areas, on which a large amount of snow accumulates in winter. This is due to the fact that Japanese quince is not frost-resistant enough, and in severe frosts, the ends of annual shoots can freeze slightly.

In general, chaenomeles is an unpretentious plant. However, it feels better on light, well-moistened loams with a high content of nutrients and a slightly acidic reaction of the medium (pH 5.5-6.0).

Japanese quince is planted in early spring before bud break in planting pits measuring 30x30x40. But autumn planting is also possible. For this, high-quality two-year-old seedlings are used. The distance between the plants during planting should be at least 1.5 m. The root collar should not be buried, it should be at the level of the soil. When planting, organic and mineral fertilizers are applied: 10-12 kg of manure, 200-250 g of superphosphate and 30-50 g of potassium salt per planting pit. These shrubs are cross-pollinated, so they need to be planted in 2-3 specimens of different origins, otherwise there will be no harvest.

Further care comes down to abundant, but not frequent watering (1-2 times a month), weeding, loosening the soil. After watering, the soil around the plant is mulched with sawdust or peat with a layer of 3-5 cm. Chaenomeles is responsive to the introduction of mineral fertilizers, which are applied three times per season. In the spring, it is necessary to scatter nitrogen fertilizers around the bush, and after flowering and harvesting, phosphorus and potash liquid fertilizers (250-350 g per 10 l of water) are applied. Pruning is carried out every 5-6 years. After flowering, remove old, dried or frozen branches. For the winter, young seedlings must be covered with spruce branches.

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Chaenomeles is propagated both vegetatively (by green cuttings, cuttings, root suckers) and by seeds. This is the easiest and most effective way.

One fruit of Japanese quince contains about 60-80 seeds. The best germination is observed when freshly harvested seeds are planted in autumn. When planting in spring, the seeds must be stratified in wet sand for 2-3 months at a temperature of 0 … -3 ° C. In the second year of life, the seedlings are pruned to stimulate their growth.

In the conditions of the central zone of Russia and in more northern regions, diseases and pests were not detected in this plant, which contributes to obtaining an ecologically clean harvest.

Chaenomeles can grow and bear fruit in one area for 60-80 years. And every year this shrub pleases with an abundance of fruits. The fruits themselves are also attractive. They are very diverse: spherical, ovoid, pear-shaped, golden-yellow, orange, green, sometimes with a blush, weighing from 10 to 300 g. They ripen at the end of September, they are used to make jams, preserves, marmalades, compotes, candied fruits, etc. The by-products of Japanese quince fruit have medicinal and dietary properties, as they contain various biologically active substances.

Read the next part. Chanomeles and chaenomeles juice with sugar, recipes →

Dmitry Bryksin, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Researcher of the Department of Berry Crops, VNIIS im. I. V. Michurina, Michurinsk