amout of cider from 20 trees

[lastyearsmen]

Hello all. I started making cider last year on a very small scale with local ( oxfordshire apples) that i had been donated, collected.
I now have the chance to plant a small orchard on some community  farm land. The land owner thinks we could have about 20 trees, We will probably use cider verities.
I know it will be 3-5 years before we get any apples but I have no idea how much cider we will be able to make with 20 trees worth of apples , Is anyone able to give us some guidance?
We have a decent press so should get a high % of juice from a crop.

Thanks in advance.

[Claude Jolicoeur]

Tell us what size of trees you are considering... small dwarf or mid size semi dwarf or standard... This will change a lot on the yield per tree!

[Dougal]

Claude is correct; harvest varies by cultivar, rootstock and season.

As a wild rule of thumb, on dwarf trees you may estimate 10L by year 5 and 30L beyond year 7 (per tree).

Best of luck!

[Alex Slater]

Interesting. Is there a wild rule of thumb for trees on semi-dwarfing rootstocks (MM106 planted at 5M/16 feet centres)?

[Claude Jolicoeur]

Well...
My own rules of thumb are quite lower than Dougal's!
He says 30L annually from a dwarf tree, this would mean about 55kg of apples - this is quite high yield! Probably attainable on a very good year, but I don't think this can be considered as an average long term yield - at least in the sort of terroir where I live.
I usually use much more conservative numbers as average yield, like 50 kg of apples from a standard tree and 25 kg from a semi-dwarf - but this is an average taking account of the off years. For example, 50kg from a standard, at 8m x 8m spacing, would give 8 tons per hectare, which is pretty representative of a traditionnal orchard on an average year.
On a semi dwarf, I usually use 25 kg per tree, times 500 trees per hectare, which gives 12.5 tons per hectare, again a quite representative number.
Naturally, with fertilisation, rich soil and ideal climate, it is possible to get higher average yields - but often apples from such higher yields won't have the same quality for cider...
Claude

[Dougal]

That makes sense, Claude.  Not sure where I read what I read but maybe those figures were kgs (though I am sure I had converted to litres).  Anyhow, last weekend I was looking at my young trees, extrapolating the buds less thinning and despairing the small yield I would be having.  That said, I am doing the best I can to combat biennialism and that includes modest yields in the early years.

On Thursday, August 14, 2014 12:15:49 PM UTC+12, Claude Jolicoeur wrote:

My own rules of thumb are quite lower than Dougal's!

On a semi dwarf, I usually use 25 kg per tree, times 500 trees per hectare, which gives 12.5 tons per hectare, again a quite representative number.

Claude