To: "Anton Callaway" <marillen@earthlink.net>, "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] quince pollination
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:30:09 -0500
I've wondered about quinces and pollination myself. TTU used to have some
quinces that cropped like crazy every year. They had the little white, red
and orange ones from Hector's nursery, and they had Toya Nishiki which I
adore anyway, so the nice fragrant fruits meant I just had to have one
myself. Well, it turns out they bloom too early for our microclimate. Tech
has all those nice big brick buildings to hold in the heat and stop the
wind. This year as usual despite the mild spring I have no fruit, but was
thrilled to find a big old bush at a rental house in town with a nice little
haul of fragrant fruit. I don't think they need a pollinator, but might
crop better with one nearby. Have a good look inside your blossoms, make
sure they don't have black dead centers, because no amount of pollination is
going to overcome the effects of frost. Donna