Weird Maple Tree issue...

[DonMcJr]

Ok so both the maples I tapped this year are 27+ Diameter. During the "Summer of March 2012" when it was 70-80 F the one had red buds and they all opened then fell off. The other Maple I never really could see any buds. Got 130 gallons of SAP from them together in 3 weeks.

Well now all the trees in my woods incuding maples I didn't tap have leaves growing and the two big trees I tapped have nothing!

Is it normal for trees to get leaves later after being tapped or are they dead?

I sure hope they are ok...

[maple flats]

I never noticed that, but the tree that had red buds and dropped them is likely a red maple and the other could be some other. If it is a sugar maple, they bud later, but mine are all budded now. Occasionally a tree will have a delay, but the sap you removed is not the cause. Even a tree with major damage from a chainsaw or storm damage which causes it to lose a huge volume of sap, the remaining limbs or stems will still bud and leaf out.
The red may have had it's buds freeze after the "early summer" but it is likely OK, as is the other, as long as you know both gave sap. If you used one line of tubing to tap both into a single container, it is possible the one was dead, if you know both gave sap it is alive.

[DonMcJr]

Yes they both gave alot of sap...

The one with the red buds dropped the buds and there isn't anything where the buds are now...

The other tree never seemed to have buds, gave ALOT of sap. The only thing I noticed in during the warm up on that tree is long skinny small "stems" with what appeared to be a small ball at the end. Now I see nothing. All the leaves and buds on this tree are pretty high for me to get a good look...

It's just weird that every other tree all around have green leaves now and these two that I tapped seem to have NOTHING!

But they both did give alot of sap...

[DrTimPerkins]

The tree with "red buds" is likely a red maple, and the "buds" you saw that fell off were flowers. The bud scales and petals fall off after flowering....that is normal. The other tree is likely a sugar maple, and the buds are probably still closed or just partially open. Maples tend to leaf out somewhat later than many other trees. It is still about a month earlier than normal (at least here) for leaves, but our red maples have already flowered and dropped their bud scales/flowers too, but no leaves yet. It'll just take some time.

Possible negative consequences of this early bud opening and then the delay in leaf emergence.....pear thrips. The little buggers emerge from the soil, crawl into the buds when they start to open, and feed inside the developing leaf. If leaf emergence is slow, pear thrip damage (if they emerged during the warm spell) could be high. The second possible negative impact would be frost damage. Fortunately most sugar maple buds are still fairly closed, and they are somewhat more "hardy" at this stage than after the leaves emerge. Time will tell though whether either of these problems happen.....keep your fingers crossed.

[DonMcJr]

Thanks Dave and Dr. Tim! Time will tell and when I know I'll reply back!

What worries me most is the one with the red buds (could it be a silver maple?) Has another tree I didn't tap 10 feet from it that is the same kind of maple and it has leaves...

[sirsapsalot]

How do the box elder maples look ???????

[sirsapsalot]

BTW not to sound stupid but what is a box elder maple ?

[DonMcJr]

All my box elders have leaves too...

I'll post a link later to box elder maples...

[sirsapsalot]

You should post a video of the dead looking maples so we can see.

[Michael Greer]

Box Elder is also known as Ash-leaved-Maple. It has a compound leaf and grows like kudzu. They're a pesky invasive that drops seeds like rain. You can tap them, but you should burn them instead.

[sirsapsalot]

If you can get sap from a box elder maple why would you burn them ?

[Cake O' Maple]

[QUOTE=DonMcJr;188165]During the "Summer of March 2012" QUOTE]

That there's funny; I don't care who you are!!

[DonMcJr]

[QUOTE=DonMcJr;188165]During the "Summer of March 2012" QUOTE]

That there's funny; I don't care who you are!!

I thought someone would get a chuckle out of that!:)

Here's a link to Box Elders>>> http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/kids/tree_box.htm

I'll make a Video Tomorrow of the Trees I am talking about compared to the other trees with leaves.

The two trees I am talking about were tapped Feb 19th...
The other trees that I tapped including 3 other Maples and 3 Box Elders I tapped just before, LOL, "The Summer of March 2012"...
The later tapped trees didn't give me much sap (about a gallon from all of them) and they all have leaves now...

Weird huh?

[sirsapsalot]

Cool Thanks Don !

[DonMcJr]

Ok I went out and made a Video of the 2 Trees and the Trees all around them. Not the best Video but maybe you can see what I am talking about...


http://youtu.be/IKX_L6ndZpw

[sirsapsalot]

Thanks Don can you do a video of the buds on the ground and the bark on the tree.

[RustyBuckets]

How many taps did you put on those trees? A close up of the tap holes themselves would be cool. Be interesting to see what the holes look like. Are they all black and nasty looking?

[DonMcJr]

I put 10 Taps on the 1st and 15 taps on the 2nd...

LOL Just kidding!

2 Taps on the 1st Tree and 3 on the 2nd tree...

I'll take some more Video tomorow when it's light of of the Buds on the ground, Bark, and Tap holes...

Anything else needed in the video please ask before noon Saturday so I don't have to take anymore videos...LOL!

No I will not show you my secret "Gimme All yer Sap" Dance either!!!:cool:

[sirsapsalot]

[QUOTE=



No I will not show you my secret "Gimme All yer Sap" Dance either!!!:cool:[/QUOTE]

everyone is going to wonder what that is, now your going to have to do it Don.

[DonMcJr]

Well I went out and took the video and you won't believe what I got a video of on the 2nd tree...


http://youtu.be/hgkFhwP9yzk

[Revi]

Looks like the butterfly was doing a little sugaring too. Nice video. I think the first one is either a red or a silver and the second tree looks like a sugar maple. Those trees aren't dead, and I'll bet the amount of sap you took out of them affected them very little. They take a little while to leaf out. The little trees seem to leaf out first, followed by the really old ones. I had a popple that I thought was dead. It was holding up a fence on my woodlot and I thought I would have to cut it down. It finally leafed out way later than the others and saved me a lot of trouble.

Hang in there, it seems like a watched tree never leaves, but it will leaf out some day soon.

[DonMcJr]

The Big Sugar Maple has buds way up high now...The other tree nothing yet...

The other maples I didn't tap have seeds and leaves already...

[sirsapsalot]

That dont sound good, i am a good 200 miles north and we are all leafed out, the leafs are brown but out. How many taps did you use ?

[DonMcJr]

I take that back...the 2 I tapped are now both sprouting buds way up. 3 Taps on the Big Sugar Maple and 2 taps on the one that just showed buds today...both are 27 inch or better trees...

They both budded way slower than all the rest of the trees.

Musta been from "The Summer of March 2012"

[DonMcJr]

Another Update... both trees are full of leaves now... Slower than all the other trees in my woods but they both look healthy!!!:cool: