How to Propagate Flowering Quince

Flowering quince can be propagated by cutting or layering.

Flowering quince, also known as Chaenomelea speciosa, is a deciduous flowering shrub that can be grown outdoors in U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zones 4 to 8. Flowering quince shrubs boast deep green foliage and showy flowers in shades of red, pink and white. The shrub also bears fruit that looks like miniature apples, which can be cooked and made into jams and jellies. When you want additional flowering quince shrubs, you'll find them easy to propagate using simple methods suitable for even the novice gardener.

Things You'll Need

• Flowering quince shrub
• Gardening shears
• Pot
• Potting soil
• Perlite
• Pencil
• Rooting hormone
• Large plastic zipper bag
• Gardening wire, 6-inch

Instructions

Propagation by Stem Cutting

1. Use a clean pair of gardening shears to take a 6-inch cutting from a healthy flowering quince shrub. Make sure that the cutting you take has at least two sets of leaves. Peel the bark off of the bottom 2 inches of the cutting to reveal the lighter inner bark.

2. Fill a 4-inch pot with moist, high-quality potting soil. For better moisture retention, enrich your potting soil with a little perlite.

3. Insert a pencil straight down into the center of your soil-filled pot to make a planting hole for your cutting. For faster rooting, dip the bottom 2 inches of your flowering quince cutting in a rooting hormone. Insert the cutting in its prepared planting hole, taking care not to knock off too much of the rooting hormone.

4. Slip a large clear-plastic zipper bag over the entire potted cutting and seal it tightly to create a humidity tent for your quince. Place your potted cutting in a warm area of your home where it can receive four to six hours of indirect sunlight each day. Check your potted cutting daily and water it as necessary to keep the soil moist.

5. Wait up to six weeks to remove the plastic humidity tent and move your rooted cutting to a larger pot. Grow your flowering quince cutting indoors until it appears strong enough to survive outside.

Propagation by Layering

1. Bend a flexible flowering quince stem over until it touches the ground. Use a clean gardening knife to cut any leaves or bark off the portion of stem that will touch the ground.

2. Make a shallow, 2-inch cut in the tip of the stem, where the bent stem will touch the ground. Dip the tip of the stem, including the wound, into rooting hormone.

3. Secure your bent stem to the ground with a piece of wire. Bend a 6-inch piece of gardening wire in half and insert both ends into the soil. Push the wire into the soil to secure. Position your stem in the middle of the wire loop, and then bend the wire to force the stem to touch the ground.

4. Cover the cut in the tip of the stem with approximately 3 inches of potting soil. Firm down the soil and water thoroughly to encourage your flowering quince to take root.

5. Wait at least a month for your flowering quince stem to take root in the soil. Once your flowering quince has formed strong roots, cut it free of its parent shrub.

Tips & Warnings

• When propagating flowering quince by cutting, setting the potted cutting on a heating mat may encourage your cutting to form roots faster.

• Always use rooting hormone, and other chemical gardening products, carefully and according to package directions to avoid damaging your flowering quince shrub.

References

• NC State University: Plant Propagation by Stem Cuttings
• University of Florida: Propagation of Landscape Plants
• NC State University: Flowering Quince
• University of Illinois: Common Flowering Quince
• University of Connecticut: Common Flowering Quince