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bigrick_2u
02-14-2017, 12:35 PM
Hello everyone. I've wanted to try this first hand for years and I've finally decided to try it. I'm in Southern Ohio and tapped my first tree yesterday evening. So far it seems pretty dry but I guess we wait. The temp got around 31 last night and it's at 44 degrees now. Should I be worried if there's no sap this evening when I get home from work? I probably posted this in the wrong forum, my apologies.

Rick
psparr
02-14-2017, 01:04 PM
How big is the tree? The bigger they are the longer they take to wake up.
Is it in full sun? Sure it's a maple? :)
woodey24
02-14-2017, 01:12 PM
Yes, if no sap is in bucket you should be concerned. Depending on temp it should have been dripping when you tapped it. Last night in southern MI, as I tapped.
bigrick_2u
02-14-2017, 05:14 PM
How big is the tree? The bigger they are the longer they take to wake up.
Is it in full sun? Sure it's a maple? :)

It's huge. The biggest oak I've ever seen. And yes, definitely an oak. My neighbor said no one has ever tapped it but you could put several on it. Excited to check it shortly. Fingers crossed.
bigrick_2u
02-14-2017, 05:15 PM
Yea, I thought I would see sap almost immediately with this weather. I'll let you know. Thanks.
psparr
02-14-2017, 05:44 PM
Not sure if you were kidding or not.
If it is an oak you won't see a drop. But it will sure look good with a bucket on it.
bigrick_2u
02-14-2017, 06:38 PM
Hahaha wow. Long day at work. Definitely a MAPLE. Ha. Wow, sorry. Anyways, that tree is still dry. I took a walk in the woods and tapped 3 new maples. Each were flowing sap. I removed the tap from the first tree. Not sure what the issue is.
Jolly Acres Farm
02-14-2017, 07:39 PM
Is it a Red Maple by chance? I have a few that I tried tapping for 2 years on buckets. I couldn't get more then a few quarts out of them for the whole season. I talked to others in my area, they advised they also had "stubborn soft maples" on buckets. They also advised that when they went from buckets to vaccum it was like night and day.
psparr
02-14-2017, 08:12 PM
I would leave the tap in. It may surprise you.
BAP
02-14-2017, 08:26 PM
It may wake up and run once the season really gets going better. Sometimes they won't run when the weather is marginal but with good sugar weather they will take off and run a long lot.
dcast99
02-15-2017, 11:01 AM
When you drilled the hole, were the shavings a light color? If they were dark then you drilled into a damaged area of the tree and will not get sap. Try another location on the tree.