Growing Medlar and and Quince trees in the South East

[Halina]

Hello, does anyone have any anecdotes, experience or advice on growing Medlars or Quinces?

I've got some room against a South-west facing wall, which is warm but not that sheltered. Would they do well in large pots or do they have to be in the ground?

Any advice much appreciated, thanks

[sparrow100]

I have a quince in a pot on a north-facing balcony - doing well but too young to fruit yet. I have a Vranja quince in the ground at the allotment - they love boggy ground (fortunately as the base of the tree is regularly under water in winter/early spring) and my allotment is not sheltered. I get easily 50+ fruits from it at the moment and it's not a ginormous tree. If you put them in something south-dacing just make sure they can get enough water.

I bought the Vranja as a 2-3 year old tree and it started fruiting at 5.

I have a medlar in a pot at the allotment - it fruits (3 years old) and is thriving, but I am not sure I like 'em. It would perhaps be better in the ground but they do grow very big. (As do quinces if you take your eye off them)

My allotments are on heavy London clay, orange about 6 inches down and blue a spit down.

[nickdub]

Neither the quince nor the medlar need a wall, as long as you get reasonable weather they'll ripen OK in the open - if you have the time I'd suggest fan-training a Peach or Pear against your wall.

All trees are much easier to grown in the ground as opposed to a container, as long as they are not so tender as to be killed by frost.

[veggiechicken]

Hi Halina and welcome.


This thread about Quinces makes help you https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...nia_96542.html

[TrixC]

I’m in London and grow both - quince Isfahan in my garden and Medlar Royal in a large pot on my patio. Both are very ornamental and great for smaller gardens, but I’d say the quince is much more useful for culinary purposes. The medlars are edible fresh but the fruits are small and have large pips, plus you have to let them soften (blet) before you can eat them. Really their main use is jelly, whereas the quinces can be used for both sweet and savoury recipes. Incidentally the medlar seems to be very successful in a pot, more so than my other patio fruits. It’s a 3 year old tree on rootstock Quince C and I had probably 25 fruits last year.

[chrisdb]

Medlars are unfussy. They'll take partial shade, cool conditions etc. and keep on going. I've read that people are growing them in Scotland, so you should be fine almost anywhere in the south east. I'd say a few things based on my experience:

1. Grafted on quince, they prefer soil that doesn't dry out too much, but no more so than pears or quinces grafted onto the same rootstock - I've read that they're more tolerant of drought grafted onto hawthorn, but I've never tried.

2. I believe they don't like very windy locations much - mine grows like a triffid in spring but the young growth is easily damaged by heavy winds. It tends to snap off while still green at the join with the old wood.

3. I've seen dwarf medlars for pots advertised, but I suspect that a normal variety on QA or QC is eventually going to be a bit big for a pot. You also can't really prune them into cordons or other very restricted forms and get high yields, because they tend to flower from newer wood.

4. I disagree that they're mostly a cooked fruit. I love the flavour of them raw, and will happy eat a number of them in one sitting. You do really have to suck in the flesh and then spit out the pips to avoid wastage though.

[Selymbria]

My favourite tree. Mine is vranja on quince A rootstock and now 10 years old. Happy to help in Quincemania thread.