Quince, do I admit defeat ?

[Samphire]

I have 3 quince trees planted 5 yrs ago. Every year they get the same problem. Leaves turn mottled black and fall off. Plus, although I get some blossom I have had no fruit. The site isn't particularly dry or in a frost pocket. There are planty of other trees in the orchard (apples/medlar) that do produce fruit. Should I give up and remove them? I'm organic so don't want to use chemicals and have little time to a really rigorous leaf collecting regime is probably not do-able.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Samphire, it sounds as if your quinces are suffering from quince leaf blight, you can spray with bordeaux mixture as the first leaves are appearing and repeat in the summer if the symptoms persist.
I'm affraid the only other alternative is to rake up any fallen leaves and prune out any dead shoots in the Winter.

The above has got to be easier than digging them out.

[Tony Hague]

I have exactly the same problem with mine; I'm planning to give the Bordeaux mixture a go this spring, even though I prefer the organic way. 2 quince fruits in 7 years is just not good enough !

[garden_serf]

I have a pathetic looking, bent Quince that I nearly sent back last year when it arrived as it looked so poor. I planted it Feb08 time and it had 9 fat Quinces on it in late 2008. And I got a full refund for it from the company I bought it from.

It goes up 8-9 inches, then bends at a 130 degree angle off to the right.
Since it is now officially a freebie and it fruited so well, I think the only thing I can do is treat it like an espalier and fix it up against a support somewhere.

Just shows you how perfect looking is not always the best!

[Samphire]

Well at least I know I'm not the only one. I guess I may have to give the spray a go as a last resort this year and if that doesn't work then at least I'll have one more year of growth to add to my firewood pile next year ! Thanks.

[garden_serf]

The fruit were great, but the tree looks very dodgy