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Can anyone who actually has a quince tree give some advice on this?
The guides online say that since quinces are tip-bearers they should be pruned only sparingly, simply removing any dead, diseased or congested branches, reducing any overly strong leaders, and removing old and unproductive branches.
However, the idea that they are tip-bearing doesn't seem to line up with my experience. I've only had the tree for two years, but both years so far it has not behaved as a tip-bearer or spur-bearer as it has not fruited on old wood at all. It has produced flowers only on shoots produced that same spring, growing a shoot around 3 inches long with a single flower at the tip (so in that respect I suppose it could be called "tip-bearing", but it is not tip-bearing in the same way apples are).
So if it really does fruit on new shoots, rather than on last year's growth like most fruit trees do, does it really matter how I prune it? Surely I would still get a decent number of flowers with pretty much any pruning method (within reason, of course. Obviously I shouldn't cut it back too hard or it will produce only vegetative growth)?
The guides online say that since quinces are tip-bearers they should be pruned only sparingly, simply removing any dead, diseased or congested branches, reducing any overly strong leaders, and removing old and unproductive branches.
However, the idea that they are tip-bearing doesn't seem to line up with my experience. I've only had the tree for two years, but both years so far it has not behaved as a tip-bearer or spur-bearer as it has not fruited on old wood at all. It has produced flowers only on shoots produced that same spring, growing a shoot around 3 inches long with a single flower at the tip (so in that respect I suppose it could be called "tip-bearing", but it is not tip-bearing in the same way apples are).
So if it really does fruit on new shoots, rather than on last year's growth like most fruit trees do, does it really matter how I prune it? Surely I would still get a decent number of flowers with pretty much any pruning method (within reason, of course. Obviously I shouldn't cut it back too hard or it will produce only vegetative growth)?
