The quince tree has always been commercially propagated by cuttings. Due to low vigor of the young plants, mainly in the first years in the orchard, a series of works was developed in Brazil in order to make possible the use of the 'Japonês' quince as a rootstock. The results were satisfactory but due to lack of other informations on the propagation process, the present work aimed to of verify the ideal stratification time and germination temperature on the percentage and speed of germination of 'Japonês' quince tree. Seeds were placed in Petri dishes, between moistened cotton layers in a B.O.D. type chamber at 4 ºC followed by planting in sand substrate inside plastic trays, using the same B.O.D. type chamber maintained at different temperatures (15, 20, 25 and 30 ºC). Counting of normal seedlings were made daily until 30 days, and at the end the speed of germination index and germination percentage were calculated. Seeds of 'Japonês' quince tree should be stratified for 30 days in cold temperature and sowed when the ambient temperatures are between 15 and 20 ºC, to obtain maximum germination.
Chaenomeles sinensis; rootstock and propagation
