Talk about water!

[adk1]

Yeah, the stuff the is continuously falling from the sky! Unbelieveable this year. My ground is saturated and I have water flowing out of the ground through springs and running across my lawn (hill right behind the house)..I hope there is a a corelation between a super wet spring followed by a great sugarin season to come!

[Homestead Maple]

A friend of mine says that the old saying was that when you have a heavy seed year for maples, the following syrup season will be poor. I hope that's not so. Time will tell. Maybe others on here have had enough experience through the years to shed some light on what a heavy seed year might bring.

[adk1]

I dont particularly see a heavy seed year here?

[heus]

Very heavy seeds at my place in NE Ohio.

[3rdgen.maple]

We had heavy seeding as well but you can take all the guessing games out of what next year will be like. All the ones I have ever heard have been false. Previous 2 years have been extremely wet and not alot of sunny days from spring till the snow flew and both seasons were complete opposites. We all will get the answer come spring.

[red maples]

they are still trying figure why a few a years ago we had a dark and grade B season. lots of syrup was made it was a good year just Dark and Gr B.

It all comes down to spring weather if you get good temps you get lots of sap. not good temps not alot of sap. Sure sugar content varies but is all about the spring temps!!!

[3rdgen.maple]

Well Red you just described this past year around me thats for sure, it was a dark and b season. Not until the last couple boils of the year did I make light. And yes guys I clean tanks and evap constantly throughout the season. We had lots and lots of sap but very low sugar content. Killed the woodpile 3 weeks earlier than ever.

[Amber Gold]

I agree w/ Brad, next year's weather determines what the season will be. What happens this year will only have a minor impact on it.

I've never seen a seed year like we've had this year.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

I dont particularly see a heavy seed year here?

llok up ADK look up:lol:

[adk1]

llok up ADK look up:lol:

I have been bro, was just up GPSing some of my maples and end trees. Didnt see any "seed pods"

[3rdgen.maple]

Thats because they are not up anymore Look down now lol.

[adk1]

nothing, and I mean nothing

[OldManMaple]

Last year was a big seed year in these parts. Not so much this year.

[220 maple]

I'm curious do the trees produce seeds where the trees was under max. vac. I know U of V Proctor Research Center is doing a study on Max Vac. I wonder if they see tree seeding as a sign of distress or should I say the lack of seeding as a sign?

Mark 220 Maple

[3rdgen.maple]

All I can say to that is the trees I ran buckets on and the trees I ran 24 to 27 inchs of vac on all had a tremendous amount of seeds this year. Seen no difference between the two. An oldtimer told me once that it is a 7 year cycle for high seeding years. Is it true I dont know never payed any attention.

[adk1]

makes sence. I know that oaks hav a bumper crop about every 4 years I believe.

[Thad Blaisdell]

I believe that if a maple tree makes a lot of maple seeds that it is a maple and that it should be tapped!:lol:

[Amber Gold]

Thad, you.....are a genius!

[Ausable]

I believe that if a maple tree makes a lot of maple seeds that it is a maple and that it should be tapped!:lol:

Thad! - Josh accuses you of being a Genius. Being Geniuses are in short supply - I have a question that I have wondered about for some time. Question - If you put to much vacuum on a Sugar Maple will the tree Shrink? I would ask Dr. Tim - but I probably wouldn't understand his answer --- LOL --- Mike

[Thad Blaisdell]

I could leave a smart arse remark here but, there is no way to make a tree shrink. You never see the tree tissue being sucked into the vacuum system. Only sap. If you suck and suck and suck on the tree then at the end of the season you cut the tree down you would find that all of the fibers are still wet. The only way to shrink wood is to completely dry it. They have said (proven?) that you only are able to get out 10% of all the sap in the tree. So the higher the vacuum I guess the closer to 10% you get. I have yet to see a difference in the trees on mine and the trees on my neighbors other than they dont have my pipeline running to them (yet).

[Ausable]

Thad - I apologize - I deserved a smart arse remark, Thanks for Your kind answer. I guess all this rain is making my brain a bit soggy -- Mike