Drought and Slow healing Tap Holes?

[SugarMama]

We we have been in a severe drought in southern wisconsin. Last numbers we were in need of at least 18" of rain to get us out of drought status. This week we have gotten 3 inches of rain an now 2 inches of snow with a few more inches on the way.

I went and checked some of trees that we tap (mostly big road side silvers and some big road side sugars.) Most of the tap holes from last year do not appear to have healed over well. I used a stick to see how far they are and I can put the stick in almost an Inch some over and inch and half. We use 5/16 health spouts. Normally we can hardly find the old tap holes from the previous year.

My concern is tapping these trees this year. I do not want to damage them, are they safe to tap? Would we be better off trying to find new trees or is our drought too severe to even think of doing maple syrup this year.

Thanks

[happy thoughts]

I know Dr Tim will give you a good answer if he sees this. For your sake and peace of mind, I hope he does.

It's odd you bring this up because just yesterday I was reading about the factors that influence sugar sap makeup and was wondering what drought would mean for sugarers in the midwest.. I wish I remembered where I read about it because I'd leave a link to it. As I recall, conditions during the growing months the previous year are important to build up starch reserves. Drought was one thing that was mentioned in lowering sugar percentages the following season. If your drought is that severe it may not be worth the boil time, assuming your trees are not so stressed that they shouldn't be tapped at all this year.

Hoping for the best for you! I wish you a productive season.... and RAIN!

[DrTimPerkins]

Most of the tap holes from last year do not appear to have healed over well. I used a stick to see how far they are and I can put the stick in almost an Inch some over and inch and half.

Depth of taphole is always going to be whatever depth you drilled it to. Unlike the way animals heal, trees heal by walling off the wound on the inside (creating the staining we see when you cut down those trees). They do not fill in the old hole, they simply grow new wood over the hole. The old hole is there forever....just buried. A 5/16" hole should close over within a few years.

It is very hard to say how much the drought impacted your trees. Did they defoliate? If so, did they refoliate (and when)? If not, then it is likely that growth was impacted some, and you may find a lower sugar content in the sap this year. If you are very concerned, don't tap them....especially if you have some trees that are obvously stressed and more so if you other trees you can tap. If not, I'd tap lightly. It is highly improbable that the stress from tapping (which is quite small if the trees are otherwise healthy) will push them over the edge. If you have lots of other stress factors....close to salted roads, insects, diseases, etc., then let them rest for a while and hope for the best.

[SugarMama]

It so seemed last year that I could hardly find our tap hole markings let alone an open deep hole. We at one time had good healthy trees.

I'm trying to think of our spring and summer, We had maybe a total of 6 inches of snow last winter and went into spring in FEB. Some people in WI got 1 day to tap trees. It was a 100 degree summer with zero rain. The trees seem to have gotten there leaves very late, the leaves were all very small. Maybe they defoliated and refoliated with smaller leaves and i missed it? I know the canopy was not thick, places I use to have shade, actually had sun coming through. The sugars were all turing there great orange in July. Others just went to crispy brown.

We only have a few inches of snow on the ground, unless we get dumped on I'm not forseeing a big melt off. Will the trees actually produce sap? Less sap than normal? or just lower sugar content?

We do have other trees we have never tapped, but most of them are road side and more than likely under stress as well. I do not want to hurt any trees and wondering if its worth the work this year.

Anyone else planning on holding back some due to the drought?

[DrTimPerkins]

I do not want to hurt any trees and wondering if its worth the work this year.

There's your answer. If you want to be conservative and don't need to make the syrup, then let the trees (and yourself) rest this year.

[SDdave]

Anyone else planning on holding back some due to the drought?

I know your pain. I made my decision not to tap this season last summer already. I am spending the time to "updgrade" and letting the trees do what the trees do best.

May the sky's open up this growing season.
SDdave