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The apple tree is one of the most popular fruit trees in summer cottages. In order for each season to please with a large harvest, you need to find out the features of the selected varieties: the nuances of planting, the subtleties of growing.
The Cortland apple tree belongs to the winter varieties. Most suitable for cultivation in the Volgograd, Kursk regions, areas of the Lower Volga region and others.
Features of the variety
The Cortland apple tree is characterized by the presence of a high trunk and a dense rounded crown. If the branches are not specially cut, then the tree can grow to a height of six meters. The trunk is smooth, and the bark is brown-brown.
Rich red apples ripen with a weight of 90-125 grams, have a rounded shape and medium size. The pulp has a pleasant aroma and a sweet-sour taste. A distinctive feature of the variety is a wax coating of a blurry grayish hue (as in the photo).
Advantages of Cortland:
- long preservation of fruits;
- excellent taste of fruits;
- frost resistance.
The main disadvantage of the Cortland apple tree is its sensitivity to fungal diseases, especially scab and powdery mildew.
Features of growing a variety
Tall stature and longevity (up to 70 years) are amazing unusual features of the Cortland variety. If you do not control the growth of branches, then the crown can grow up to six meters. Apple trees have a highly developed root system that grows deep into the soil.
Planting and feeding trees
The Cortland apple variety prefers fertile, loose soil. It is recommended to purchase one- and two-year-old seedlings for planting.
Landing can be carried out twice a year:
- in early spring, until the apple trees swelled with buds;
- in the autumn, about a month before the expected frost.
To plant a Cortland seedling, they dig a hole about 70-80 cm deep and 85-95 cm in diameter. If the soil is poor, then a nutrient soil mixture is first prepared. To do this, peat, 300 g of wood ash, sand, 250 g of superphosphate are added to the excavated earth. This soil fills the hole by a third.
Then the seedling is carefully lowered into the pit, the roots of the tree are straightened and buried. Next to the apple tree, a support is necessarily dug in, to which the Cortland seedling is tied.
This is done so that the tree takes root confidently and does not break under sharp gusts of wind. The apple tree is watered and the area around the trunk is mulched.
In the future, for the full growth of the apple tree, top dressing is sure to be done. From organic fertilizers, you can use a solution of chicken manure / peat, in a ratio of 30 g of material per 10 liters of water.
As soon as the flowering period begins, it is advisable to fertilize the soil with settled urea solution. To do this, 10 g of fertilizer is diluted in 10 liters of water and insisted for five days. Moreover, it is recommended to feed young trees three times per season with a two-week interval.
Trimming an apple tree
In order to grow a fertile tree with stable immunity, it is recommended to carry out forming pruning for seedlings (before the apple trees reach the age of five). In order for pruning not to harm and to be done correctly, several requirements must be met.
- Spring pruning forms a central conductor in annual / biennial seedlings, which should be 21-25 cm higher than the rest of the branches.
- Pruning is recommended during the period when the air temperature does not fall below 10 ° C.
- In two-year-old seedlings, the length of the lower branches cannot be more than 30 cm.
In old apple trees, during sanitary pruning, unnecessary, old and disease-damaged branches are removed. When pruning for the purpose of rejuvenation, skeletal / semi-skeletal branches are shortened.
Tree diseases
The Cortland variety is not highly resistant to scab, therefore, to prevent infection with fungal diseases, it is recommended to carry out regular preventive measures:
- tree fertilizer with potassium-phosphorus mixtures;
- mandatory autumn garbage collection (fallen leaves, branches);
- spring whitewashing of the trunk and skeletal branches;
- spraying the apple tree with copper sulphate in autumn and Bordeaux mixture in spring.
It would be appropriate to say about the Cortland variety that with proper care, the apple tree will delight with a delicious harvest for more than a dozen years.