Grove trees

[SDdave]

How many of you tap grove trees? Sugar content? Gallons of sap per tap? I ask cuz' my father in law has a pretty good # of silvers in his grove. He has "reminded" me again, so I think I will have to do it to appease him. Just trying to get some #'s to see if it's feasible (weekend pickups of sap).


The season may just of have gotten over, but it's almost here again!

SDdave

[SilverLeaf]

Hey Dave - what's the spacing on those trees? and are they all on "inside" rows or are some on "outside" rows of the grove?

[maple flats]

Dave, weekend only pickup will yield lots of sap, the sugar might run somewhere in the 1.0-1.5 range depending on spacing, and crown size. There are several producers who use silvers, but most will have an RO. Do you have an RO to get rid of some of the water?
With weekend only pickup you will then lose some of the sugar and end up making darker syrup, but there is a good market for dark syrup and the price retail is the same as light and medium. If it runs darker, the price may drop but that's determined by what you develop for a market. Salesmanship helps.

[maplerookie]

How many of you tap grove trees? Sugar content? Gallons of sap per tap? I ask cuz' my father in law has a pretty good # of silvers in his grove. He has "reminded" me again, so I think I will have to do it to appease him. Just trying to get some #'s to see if it's feasible (weekend pickups of sap).

SDdave Dave I tap silvers though not on a large scale. while the sugar content may be lower than sugars and blacks and reds , it still comes out syrup in the end. Dave Klish has a good point about the ro but that is an expense that some of us are not willing or able to pay at least at this point in time, while some want to make life easier by not boiling so long. I guess if you are producing on a large scale money spent now is savings in time, energy and oil or wood costs going forward. anyway... Tap the silvers mix the sap into your yield from other trees and your syrup will have a hint of butterscotch flavor. A

[SDdave]

Holy crap I should check the Trader more often!! Let's answer some questions.

Silverleaf, smack dab in the middle of the grove line. They are spaced out nicely though I bet around 30' or so.

Maple flats, Yes I have an RO. A very small one homemade one. I was kinda thinking the same on the 1 to 1.5% range.

Maple Rookie, Silvers are all I tap!! I just have only tapped the large crown yard trees.

Thanks for all the input thus far!!

SDdave

[SilverLeaf]

Normally "smack dab in the middle" would be a bad thing, but in this case, with 30' spacing they have enough crown that you'll probably be ok. (I've got about 25 trees in an equivalent spot and they do ok. I also have some spindly things in another spot in the middle of the grove planted at 15' spacing and they do NOT do ok & bring my averages way down. :) ) You won't set any records, but as long as they're not hard to get to it'll be worth your time. 1-1.5% sugar is low; you'll get more than that! Plan for 1.75% and you might even be pleasantly surprised. Gallons of sap per tap? 5 would be a low year; 10 would be a good year; as a guess I'd say plan for 7-8 avg.

[Birddog]

Dave, I don't have any experience with silvers or grove trees but I do with woods trees. The ones that get more sun do better for sure. But I tap what I have and appreciate what I get. With 30 foot spacing I think you might be surprised. I have some trees with another tree right next to then that do pretty well. Tap em and see what you get.

Larry


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[SDdave]

Dave, I don't have any experience with silvers or grove trees but I do with woods trees.

Larry

Total brain fart on my part. I suppose they would be like woods trees, just never thought of that till I read your post. Justs proves one thing... one mans forest is another mans grove!

SDdave