Chinese Quince Seeds

A robust seed selection of a hardy and fireblight resistant version of Chinese Quince. This species is well known for its mosaic bark and large fruits. It is more commonly found in southern landscapes. When I first grew the plants from seed, I started with 4 plants and soon found that fireblight was incredibly tough on them. There was one left from this planting. Another planting which had over 25 plants faired better until the minus 27F hit. Today these few plants that I have are now producing fruit in great quantity. Despite the problems this seed source provides a zone 5 seed source of this species. Chinese quince offers a challenge to develop uses for it. It is almost flavorless and the fruit is very dense which explains finding them in mint condition on the ground in the spring. It is normally candied in sugar and stored the same way the other quinces are processed and used. 

To Germinate from Seed;  Soak the seeds overnight before cold dormancy.  Place the seed in a zip lock bag mixed with a slightly moist Canadian peat moss. Seeds can then be placed in the refrigerator for 90-120 days at 33-39F.   After refrigeration put at root temperature. Seeds will immediately sprout. Some sprouting may occur in the refrigerator as well. A clear viscous gel encapsulates the seeds. It takes a lot of time removing this. If you find some gel forming in the refrigerator, wash and put back into dormancy. Sometimes I do not get it all in processing.