Apple tree Cortland

Before starting the description of this subspecies of the apple tree, it is worth considering the history of the emergence of this culture. The Cortland apple tree appeared in 1898, thanks to the labors of breeders from the New York Experimental Station. The subspecies was bred by crossing varieties such as Mac and Ben Davis... In our country, the Cortland apple variety became known in the second half of 1915, although by this time it had already gained quite wide popularity in Europe and America. Below we will consider in more detail about this variety of apple trees, as well as all its pros and cons, the rules of agricultural technology.

Apple tree Cortland: variety description and characteristics

Cortland apples: variety photo

The Cortland apple tree has a fairly high trunk with a smooth surface and brown and brownish bark. The crown of this fruit tree is endowed with a lush and spreading appearance, from the side it resembles a rather voluminous circle. The shoots of the Cortland apple tree are straight, medium length and dark cherry shade, as well as slight pubescence. The leaves are not at all long, pointed. The entire surface of the leaflet is covered with grooves and veins. These leaves are not uniform in color. The upper part of the leaf plate has a pale green tint, and the lower part is endowed with the most whitish color.

The Cortland apple tree has small peduncles, which are painted in a pure white color with a slight pinkish tint. A distinctive feature of the peduncles of this apple variety is the formation of inflorescences in groups of about 6-9 pieces, starting from the second half of May until the arrival of June. Also, these peduncles are endowed with a pleasant honey aroma, due to which a large number of bees flock to them.

The apple tree of this variety begins its first fruiting period five years after planting. Although, if this seedling was purchased on a medium-sized MM-106 rootstock, then the tree can begin to bear fruit much earlier. The first harvest from these apple trees can already be started 4 years after planting the seedling.

The fruit of the Cortland apple tree has a round, slightly flattened shape. The size of each such fruit is comparatively average. One apple can weigh about 140 grams when ripe. The surface of the fruit is covered with a rather thin and smooth skin, which has a slight bloom of glaucous-waxy.

Depending on the stage of ripening, the shade of the fruit may change. For example:

• At the beginning of ripening, the fruits have a green skin tone, with a slight presence of grayness.
• In the middle of its ripening, the fruit is dominated by a yellow-lemon color with a slight visible waxy coating.
• When fruits are fully ripe, clear streaks of red tint are formed on the yellow-lemon surface, with no wax bloom.

The stem of the Cortland apple variety has a small size and a large depression. The seed chambers of the fruits are quite wide, they contain large brownish seeds. The inside of the fruit has a white tint with a subtle pinkish tint near the skin. This pulp is quite juicy and endowed with a dense structure.

Taste characteristics of Cortland apples

When tasting Cortland apples, they were awarded 4.5 points (on a five-point scale), which was quite expected, judging by the huge number of reviews from farmers and gardeners who have been cultivating this subspecies in their gardens for a long time.Such fruits have a sweet taste with a small amount of acidity, and also an unusually rich and pleasant aroma. It is also worth noting that these apples have a universal purpose, they are consumed both fresh and used to make ciders, juices, vinegars, jam, jam and preserves. These fruits are widely used in the manufacture of dried fruits.

Apple tree Cortland: advantages and disadvantages

Cortland apples: variety photo

Like any other plant and crop, the Cortland apple tree has advantages and disadvantages that you should definitely know. The advantages of the variety include:

• High index of taste characteristics.
• Fruiting regularly.
• The ability to store apples for a long time without losing their taste characteristics.
• In adulthood, this apple tree has high decorative data.
• Fruits for universal use.

The disadvantages of the Cortland apple variety include an average level of frost tolerance, as well as a predisposition to fungal diseases, for example, scab and powdery mildew. Although it is possible to prevent the occurrence of fungal diseases on this tree, thanks to timely preventive actions. But it is worth noting that it is by no means possible to process these plants during color.

Apple tree Cortland: planting and care

For the cultivation of the Cortland apple tree, the best conditions will be the right choice of a site for growth and, directly, the very area of ​​its future cultivation.

The Cortland apple tree is endowed with an average level of cold tolerance, which is why it is imperative to take this fact into account when growing in a particular region. This tree grows well and develops in the region of the Lower Volga region, in the Caucasus, in the Donbass and in the Republic of Crimea. Also, the cultivation of this apple tree in the Baltic countries and in Belarus will be quite hurried, but that's only on boles.

Compliance with agrotechnical standards and proper, timely care for this tree can lead to a tasty and high-quality harvest.

As already mentioned, it is very important to choose and prepare a place for its future growth before planting a Cortland apple tree seedling. A tree of this variety needs an illuminated area with fertile, sandy loam, or loamy soil on it, with a good level of air permeability. No less important and a prerequisite is the moisture capacity of the soil, although a long stagnation of thawed water is not at all desirable, or the proximity of groundwater to the soil surface (less than two meters), otherwise these factors can destroy the plant. If there is heavy or poor soil on the site of future growth, then in this case it is required to enrich the soil. For this, a nutritious substrate should be prepared. This is done in this way: you need to mix together such components as 300 grams of wood ash, 250 grams of superphosphate, sand, high moor peat, or humus, the topsoil is fertile, which was obtained by digging a planting hole.

Before planting, it is worthwhile to prepare the place of growth you have chosen. To do this, a few months before disembarkation, the following activities are performed:

• Digging the soil.
• Loosening the soil.
• Weeding the area from weeds.
• Top dressing.

After completing all these works, the earth is re-dug up, and then a landing hole is prepared. It is worth noting that when planting a seedling of this variety in the spring period of the year, the planting hole should be dug out in the autumn season. If you did not manage to prepare the landing hole in the fall, then they begin to prepare it a couple of weeks before the landing date.

The Cortland apple seedling should also be prepared before planting. But initially it should be purchased, and experienced gardeners are advised to take seedlings 1-2 years old.Young trees should be bought in certified nurseries, thereby minimizing the risk of acquiring a fragile or even diseased seedling. Before planting, it is required to thoroughly check the rootstock of the seedling. If you find signs of damage to the skeletal roots, then pruning them will be required. If the root system has very branched overgrowing roots, their pruning is required, by about 15 centimeters. In order for the roots to have good contact with the soil, they should first be lowered into the talker solution. In order to make it, you need to take a mullein and clay in equal quantities. Thanks to this action, the rhizome of the tree adapts much faster and takes root in a new place.

Cortland apple seedlings are planted in early spring or in the autumn season. But according to experts, the spring planting of this tree will be the best option for such actions. When planting this seedling, it is required to take into account the fertility and structure of the soil. If there is a predominance of fertile soil in the area, the planting hole should be dug 70 by 70 centimeters in size, and the depth should also be 70 centimeters. With this type of soil, the introduction of a nutrient substrate is not required. When you are on the site for planting heavy clay soil, you must first add a nutrient substrate to the planting hole, and the size of such a hole should be one meter by one meter, the depth is the same. If there is a sandy type of soil on the site, then the planting hole is dug 100 by 100 centimeters in size, the depth is also one meter. It is required to add a nutrient substrate to it, and pour a layer of clay 15, approximately, centimeters on its bottom.

When planting several seedlings at the same time, it is required to leave a distance of up to five meters between them. This point is very important, since this tree can grow and develop for 70 years or more. The technology of high-quality and correct landing should consist of several stages, these are:

• Preparatory work for the landing hole.
• The introduction of the nutrient substrate into the well, and in the volume of one third of the total size of the well.
• Digging in the trunk support.
• Neat placement of the seedling in the hole in an upright position, and with the leveling of the rhizome.
• Spreading the top layer of soil, with further compaction.
• Watering the planted seedling (about three buckets of water per plant).
• Applying a layer of mulch to the trunk circle.

With the correct planting of the Cortland apple seedling, the grafting site will be located 6 centimeters above the soil surface.

In the first years of life, this seedling is irrigated twice a month. In the case of a dry summer period, before starting to prepare the apple tree for winter, it is required to carry out moisture-charging watering (in the month of September). To do this, pour 30 liters of liquid into the tree trunk circle for each year of its life. So, for example, when the tree is three years old (from the moment of planting), you need to pour 90 liters of water into its near-trunk circle.

Cortland apples: variety photo

Consider how much fertilizer should be applied to a plant at different periods of its life, for the best growth and development:

• When the plant is 1-2 years old and with a circumference of its near-stem circle of about two meters, 40 grams of potassium sulfate, 120 grams of superphosphate, 30 grams of carbamide, 18 kilograms (on average) of compost or manure should be added.
• When the tree is 3-4 years old and the diameter of its trunk circle is 2.5 meters, 60 grams of potassium sulfate, 180 grams of superphosphate, 45 grams of carbamide, 23 kilograms of compost or manure, on average, are required.
• At five to six years of age and a trunk circle diameter of three meters, 90 grams of potassium sulfate, 270 grams of superphosphate, 65 grams of carbamide, 35 kilograms of compost or manure will be required.
• 7-8 years after planting and with a diameter of the trunk circle of 3.5 meters, 120 grams of potassium sulfate, 360 grams of superphosphate, 90 grams of carbamide, 45 kilograms of manure or compost should be added.
• After 9-10 years after planting and with a diameter of the near-stem circle of 4 meters, 45-50 kilograms of compost or manure, 140 grams of carbamide, 480 grams of superphosphate and 150 grams of potassium sulfate will be required.
• After 11 years and further and the diameter of the trunk circle from five meters, it is necessary to make about 80 kilograms of manure or compost, 240 grams of potassium sulfate, 750 grams of superphosphate, 180 grams of carbamide.

The Cortland apple tree needs an annual pruning procedure. These measures should be carried out on both old and young plants. There are four types of pruning for this tree:

• Formative. This type of pruning is practiced on five-year-old apple trees in order to give the crown of the tree the correct shape, as well as to increase its illumination.
• Sanitary... With this type of pruning, all incorrectly growing branches are removed, as well as those that have traces of damage.
• Regulatory... This type of pruning is able to slow down crop growth upwards and deprive the crown of the tree of shading stems.
• Rejuvenating... This procedure is required for old trees. Thanks to her, you can increase the amount of the crop.

When carrying out any type of pruning, one should take into account the factor that the air temperature at this moment should be stable, and the temperature indicator should not be lower than +10 degrees.

For a successful wintering of the Cortland apple variety in the last days of September and the first half of October, it is required to prepare the plant for the winter period. To do this, a dry mixture of potassium and superphosphate should be added to the tree trunk circle. One square meter will take 50 grams of superphosphate, and 30 grams of potassium. Such a mixture must be scattered at a short distance from the tree itself, after which the soil must be dug onto the bayonet of a shovel. Then watering is carried out.

Until the moment when the leaves completely fall off, it is required to process the culture with this carbamide. To prepare such a solution, half a kilogram of fertilizer should be diluted in one bucket of water. Such processing is carried out by spraying the sheet. Thanks to this treatment, the likelihood of fungal diseases will decrease, as well as the risk of a spider mite attack in the spring. You should also whitewash the tree, since thanks to it you can protect the bark of the plant from sudden temperature changes, too bright sunlight, rather cold winds and frost. Even whitewashing a tree trunk can protect the bark from the attack of harmful insects and rodents. As a whitewash, such a solution is used: 100 grams of copper sulfate and 400 grams of lime are dissolved in 10 liters of water. With this solution, the surface of the tree trunk should be well treated.

The Cortland apple tree belongs to non-self-fertile fruit crops, which is why it requires additional pollination. Since bumblebees and bees cannot fully cope with such a process, the farmer needs to take care of creating other conditions for pollination in advance. To do this, other subspecies of apple trees are planted near a tree of this variety, such as Golden Delicious, or Boyken... The close proximity of these subspecies to your tree will help you end up with a plentiful, high-quality and tasty harvest of ripe fruits.

The Cortland apple variety belongs to the winter varieties, the ripeness of which comes in September. Although there were cases when this apple tree bore fruit in the month of October.

The Cortland apple tree is considered to be a representative of the category of apple trees with an average yield. Only after 7-8 years of its life, this crop begins to produce a regular and stable harvest of ripe apples. A maximum of 25 kilograms of ripe fruit can be harvested from one such tree.

Diseases and pests of the Cortland apple tree

Despite all its positive distinctive features, the Cortland apple tree is not one hundred percent protected from the attack of harmful insects and it does not fully possess immunity to diseases of a fungal nature. Often this variety of fruit crops can be affected by diseases such as powdery mildew and scab. In order to avoid such a nuisance as scab, a number of measures are taken, such as:

• Top dressing with fertilizers based on potassium and phosphorus.
• Carrying out harvesting of foliage and carrion during the autumn period.
• Carrying out stripping and whitewashing of the tree bark in the autumn.
• Treatment of the plant in the autumn season with a solution of urea and copper sulfate.
• Wood processing in the spring with Bordeaux liquid.

In order to prevent and treat this fruit tree from a disease such as powdery mildew, the farmer needs to treat the culture with fungicides, and in the period before and after flowering. Solutions such as speed, Bordeaux mixture, chorus are suitable as processing.

To combat harmful insects, such preparations of acaricidal action are used as Karbaphos, Inta-Vir, Aktara, Talstar.

It should be noted that any treatment must be carried out in calm and dry weather, in the morning or evening time of the day, and all safety measures must be followed.

Apple tree Cortland: reviews of gardeners

Apple tree Cortland: video about the variety

Based on the general description of this subspecies, we can conclude that even the presence of some shortcomings, the variety is worthy of great recognition and love. Today, this culture occupies one of the leading places among other varieties of apple trees, and it is not at all accidental: amazing taste characteristics, plus a high level of keeping quality make gardeners recognize this subspecies as one of the best.

You can see and read a huge number of reviews about this subspecies of the apple tree on the Internet, here are some of them:

• 12 years ago, the seller in the nursery simply insisted that we buy the Cortland apple variety. After that, for several years after disembarkation, my husband and I simply wanted to cut it down. And in the third year of her life, the apple tree gave us two apples. And after that, every year, our surprise grew, as more and more apples grew on this tree, and the taste cannot be compared with another subspecies. 8 years after planting, our Kortland apple tree began to bear fruit every year, and amicably and abundantly. Therefore, we advise those who are just going to purchase an apple tree seedling to choose this particular subspecies. Just a little patience, and the result will surprise and delight you!

Svetlana, Lugansk

• My garden plot is located quite close to the river, due to which absolutely any subspecies of an apple tree, no matter what I planted, perishes in four years. Friends recommended the Cortland apple tree. And what was my surprise when this subspecies was able to survive all the previous ones. When I tasted the first fruits, I was delighted. Wonderful sweet taste with a slight sourness, as well as an amazing aroma, just fell in love with. And also a huge plus, it's excellent storage. After all, in winter, when Cortland apples in the store cost quite a lot of money, mine lie perfectly in the basement and are stored until April. Now I advise everyone to purchase this particular variety of apple trees, and it does not require much care.

Mikhail, Volgograd