sap flow question

[andrew martin]

We tapped our maples here in Central, KY on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, and just started seeing some good sap flows yesterday and today, but one thing puzzles me. I checked the crowns of all our trees this summer to make sure they were good and full, and then checked again this fall for crown damage and dieback, and although some trees had some dieback, some of our larger trees were in apparent good health from looking at the quality of the canopy during full foliage. Yet, when many of these larger maples were tapped this week, they have yet to yield any substantial sap flow. Many of the taps are directly above major roots, and since this is a virgin sugar bush, there are no old sap holes to worry about. Does it take longer for a larger tree to " warm up" to yield sap? Does anyone have possible explanations for this?

Thanks,

Andrew

[Russell Lampron]

Big trees do start to run a little later than the small ones because they have to thaw out. It usually takes about 3 days after a good freeze for them to run good.

Russ

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

It's still early, trees not real awake with the colder weather.

[maplehound]

I'm with Brandon on this one. It is still early. What has the winter in your area been like this year? Have you had enough cold to start a good run? Has there been enough of a change in night and day temps? All these can make for a bigger or smaller run.

[andrew martin]

Our winter has been relatively and the cold just started to set in this past week when I had posted my first note. THe day I wrote my question, it was 23 at night and 40 during the day on a perfectly sunny afternoon, so I was a little puzzled that the sap had not yet flowed out these larger trees. THe next day, the temperatures were very similar to the day before and the larger trees had some sap in the buckets, on par with what we were getting out of the rest of the sugarbush. I just want it to get a little colder and at least get to 43 degrees during the day time. We're getting sap and making syrup on our new 3x8 evaporator, so life is good. Thanks for your replies

Andrew

[andrew martin]

Our winter has been relatively mild (lots of rain) and the cold just started to set in this past week when I had posted my first note. THe day I wrote my question, it was 23 at night and 40 during the day on a perfectly sunny afternoon, so I was a little puzzled that the sap had not yet flowed out these larger trees. THe next day, the temperatures were very similar to the day before and the larger trees had some sap in the buckets, on par with what we were getting out of the rest of the sugarbush. I just want it to get a little colder and at least get to 43 degrees during the day time. We're getting sap and making syrup on our new 3x8 evaporator, so life is good. Thanks for your replies

Andrew