Hello, I have a Cortland which has really struggled compared to my other apples. Very minimal blooms more this year than last but still for the size of the tree.
Is this a disease? Some sort fungal process? Thank you in advance!
I have a mature 25 yo Cortland, always has a lot of blossoms. How old is your tree? Are you careful when pruning to keep your spurs? The picture you posted do not look abnormal
Why do you think they are dieing?
Dennis
Kent wa
I’m not sure. I was wondering if it was related to frost but lots of other blossoms on other trees are fine. The tree itself is gorgeous and very healthy but I’ve yet to have one piece of fruit from it in the 4 years I’ve had it. Part of it was my fault and I was a noob and Buried the graft union. I uncovered it but I’m sure it’s taken on some standard characteristics. I was trying to be better about not pruning the tips this year. Any advice on pruning this one? My other spur bearing are fine but i can’t seem to find any good recs on pruning tip bearers
1 Like
How large is the tree at the base of trunk. Mine is about 27-28 years old. Below are a couple pics of my blossoms which are further along than yours but my climate is probably warmer in zone 8 A.
Also when I review its character on line I get this data:
| Vigour | Vigourous. |
|---|---|
| Habit | Drooping. Has a natural globe form; difficult to train to central leader. |
| Precocity | Bears early and well. |
| Fruit Placement | Considerable tip bearing with some development of spurs. |
| Bloom Period | Mid early, with McIntosh. |
| Pollination | Pollinated by other diploids with overlapping bloom periods. Seldom has problems with either under or over-setting. |
| Nutrition | Overfertilizing with Nitrogen should be avoided. Somewhat sensitive to Magnesium and Boron deficiency. |
I always need to thin mine a bit leaving no more than 2-3 apples per cluster. It always seems to produce a lot of flowers. There are several practices that I do that could possibly be worth considering. I add to my annual insecticide sprays both 20 mule team borax powder and Epsom salts and dish washer soap as a sticker. I have naturally acidic soil here, so for calcium I always spread gypsum around all my fruit trees in the fall so winter rains can take it into the topsoil. The gypsum breaks down providing natural calcium that all fruit needs. So my tree May be getting more borax and calcium than yours. I use triple 16 fertilizer in early spring as buds begin to break. Note in the data above that this variety needs both boron and magnesium to fully function. I suspect it’s one or both of these that your tree needs. Most likely it’s nutritional and not a pruning issue. I prune primarily to just make sure sun can penetrate the canopy reaching most limbs bearing fruit. As noted it is a tip bearing tree but on an older tree you will have quite long spurs develop.
Hope this helps
Dennis
Kent, wa
I don’t supplement with Borax or epsom… I’ll try that. Did I read right that you mix it into your orchard spray as well? How much do you put around the tree line? My tree trunk is at around 4 inches…thanks in advance! I’m hoping that it is indeed just a nutritional thing. I have it planted next to a multiV with mac, gravenstein, winesap, and yellow transplarent and that one appears to be thriving. Ive gotten apples off of that one for the last three years.
Yes, As a foliar spray, I just add both to my insecticide sprays which I start after blossom fall and when fruit is about the size of a quarter. You can start foliar sprays now even during blossom period but without insecticide of course. For gypsum probably about a pound each year around the tree out to the outer edge of the crown.
If your soil is acidic enough you can use dolomite lime instead of gypsum.
Since your tree is only 4” in diameter, give it some time, plenty triple 16 and calcium, boron and magnesium and I think you will soon notice a difference.
Good luck
Dennis
Kent, wa