The Cortland variety also belongs to the McIntosh variety group, however, its growth and fruiting properties are different. The trees grow moderately, crowns form dense, branches have drooping, flower buds are formed mainly at the ends of annuals. The main mass of apples is located around the perimeter of the crown. Older branches tend to strip away fruiting buds. When illuminating apple trees of the Cortland variety, we follow the principle, to leave the crowns denser after cutting than those of other varieties (Lynx.).
Lynx. X-raying of Cortland apple trees.
Cortland variety trees require a large number of small shoots for good fruiting. When x-rayed, remove a few thick branches on the tree, avoiding cutting one-year shoots and small two or three-year-old twigs. You need to pay attention to the lower branches, which, as a rule, lie on the ground. They should be cut or shortened from the bottom to the height 0,5 m.
When growing the Cortland variety, it is rarely necessary to limit tree height or crown span. However, trees that are too tall can be found in fertile soils. In such cases, you need to trim their tops to approx 3 m.
The Cortland variety is easily affected by apple mildew. Effective control of this disease is possible only with the combined use of spraying and cutting infected shoots. Cutting sick shoots must be done in winter and two- or three times a summer.
As with the Cortland variety, we are dealing with the Raspberry Oberlandia variety, which has similar growth and fruiting characteristics.
