Some trees stopped running but not all...

[ash10383]

We are in NW Ohio. Put out 50 taps on 2/5/17. and like most people it sounds like it has been a off and on season. to hot then too cold... For two weeks at the end of feb. it was warm! High of 76 deg warm! :o Last week it cooled back off and on Mon. the sap was flowing again. While I was gathering some buckets would have 1 to 3 gallons of clear sap then others would have 10 drops of dark brown:cry: The next couple days the same trees produced and the others did the same drops. My question is: Is there a way to rekick start the trees not giving anything? At the end of this week they are calling for 40 deg high's and 20's at night for 5 days. So would like all the sap I can get for this is most likely the end of the season for us.

[saphound]

Never heard anyone describe that before. Did the buckets with the few drops of dark brown produce clear sap earlier in the season?

[motowbrowne]

Sounds like they're dried off. Your only options to get more sap from those taps are to redrill slightly deeper or with a slightly larger bit, or to retap the tree elsewhere. This, however, is far from an ideal management practice. Of course, if you have the trees, you could clean the taps and put them on other trees.

Otherwise, you just have to be happy with what you get. I have no idea if it's possible in your location, but 3/16 tubing with a Shurflo for 50 taps would be very cheap and would result in tap holes that can survive warm weather much better than buckets. That's the main reason i went to vacuum this year. I got tired of tapping too early and then coming up short when prime time came.

[ash10383]

Never heard anyone describe that before. Did the buckets with the few drops of dark brown produce clear sap earlier in the season?
Yes all were making great sap till the warm up. One good run had buckets over flowing and got 110 gallon off 50 taps.

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[ash10383]

The last thing I want to do is hurt the trees. As for the Shurflo our trees are a long ways from any power source(1/4 mile across a farm field and a road) so would need batteries/solar or some other options, but with that said It might happen in the future. Only our 2nd year for this craziness but have been bit by the sugar bug pretty hard!

[Cedar Eater]

If the taps are not running when it is cold (below 40 highs and below 32 lows), I wouldn't write them off. If they aren't running within two days of a nice warmup, they are probably done. The only thing I would try to kickstart them is a gentle whack with a hammer and putting them on vacuum. I wouldn't ream the holes or retap the tree.

[clw]

I also had some taps dry up after that warm spell. I tapped new trees to replace the dried up taps and they flowed like mad. I expect the warmup this weekend to produce great flows on those new taps and probably nothing on the remainder of the old taps. The symptoms were the same as yours, a small amount of cloudy, yellow sap on the dry taps, cristal clear on the new. I'm located in north-central Ohio, just a few miles from the lake.

[michael marrs]

we are in mid Mi. and have suffered the same weather too hot, too cold. I am anxiously awaiting this thurs, Temps according to accu. will be ideal for about 2-3 weeks straight, so we will see