Anyone else worried about the forecast for the coming week?

[johnpjackson]

Our forecast here in Western Mass says warm days this week and into the weekend, in the 50's and 60's, and nights in the upper 30's-40's. Is that likely to end our sap season?? :o

[bigschuss]

Could put it on hold. But if temps. return to typical mid-March averages it will kick back in. I have boiled into the 2nd week of April on occasion.

[berkshires]

Our forecast here in Western Mass says warm days this week and into the weekend, in the 50's and 60's, and nights in the upper 30's-40's. Is that likely to end our sap season?? :o

My trees certainly won't bud out this early in the season. The main effect of these mid -season warmups is that they accelerate tap hole closure. This is why it doesn't pay to tap too early. If you already have a good bit of microbial growth going, this could well mean the end. However if your tap holes are still pretty fresh, you could still get a lot out of later runs (assuming there are any!)

Gabe

[ecolbeck]

I too am worried about the coming forecast. We are at only about 1/2 crop. Our taps are 3 weeks old so I doubt they will survive the warm-up. I just noticed daffodils coming up in the yard.

[tgormley358]

I’m looking at 12-13 straight days above freezing starting tomorrow. If that forecast holds (and of course it might not), I think this will be a very short season. I’ve had 7 days so far with > .75 gallon per tap collected. Today was slower than expected with 24F last night and 50F today. With high hopes for flow tomorrow that’ll be 8 days, which is 6 short of last years 14 days where I had >.75 per tap. Will trees hold off budding or closing tap holes for 12-13 days, with the lowest daily high at 47F? I wish I could feel more optimistic about that.

[Florence sap]

Nope Wisconsins season is just kicking off

[WoznicaSyrup]

I wouldn't be as worried if I could get out of my own way this season. Burned the pans for the second time in 3 days last night, that first time being the first ever in my 11 years of making syrup.

Expecting about a gallon per tap today and for the trees to shut off for the next week for me at least. Collected 160 gallons off 88 taps last night. Overall seeming like a very short season for me. I only put taps out last Wednesday.

[red dorakeen]

Yesterday was my last boil. Today I'll pull taps.

Glad I started early. If I were going to try a stretch the season I would have to tap additional trees since the current taps wouldn't last 10 days frost free.

Time to move on to the garden chores.

[littleTapper]

Nope Wisconsins season is just kicking off

Down here in the SE corner, we've been going for a while and we're generally lucky to be able to make it into April (silver maples never seem to have good sap that late). Wish I was more northern, but it's what I have for now until I can retire from my normal job and tap on our farm between LaCrosse and Eau Claire. Hopefully this warm spell wakes things up good for you

Down here it's going to make lots of fun getting stuff clean enough for if/when it gets cold again. We're way behind typical years and yields. Been cold with brief enough warm-ups to run, but not much until it warmed up the last few days. Just hit 5 gal/tap. That's usually a mark for very early March or even late Feb here. This warmup is going to put the hurt on the season even more.

[johnpjackson]

Hmmm. It only got down to the high 30's here last night, and it's around 60 and sunny today. My taps are still running! Do night time temps have to go below the freezing point to support sap flow, or do they just have to get down to the 30's? My understanding has been it has to get below freezing, and the mid 20's is ideal. But since my sap is still flowing, I'm wondering if I might expect that to continue. The night time temps forecast for here are high 30's to high 40's for the next several nights, at least. I'm trying to figure out what to actually expect will happen with the sap flow here should that play out.

[berkshires]

Trees will keep flowing for a couple of days, but with less and less flow, and less and less sugar. A freeze is needed to recharge them.

GO

[johnpjackson]

Trees will keep flowing for a couple of days, but with less and less flow, and less and less sugar. A freeze is needed to recharge them.

GO

Ohh!!!!

Ok, good to know! I will measure the sugar in what I collect tonight. The last collection was ~2.8 brix. I'll see if I can measure a difference in what was produced today. It'll be a good way to find out if my measurement capabilities are accurate enough to see that expected difference. Even though I would prefer a good sugar content each time, it would be cool to have an indication that my measurements are reliable!

[eagle lake sugar]

I'm ecstatic about it here in northern Maine, it's the first time temps have been above freezing for months! I'm hoping some sap will flow today or tomorrow for the first time.

[WoznicaSyrup]

Hmmm. It only got down to the high 30's here last night, and it's around 60 and sunny today. My taps are still running! Do night time temps have to go below the freezing point to support sap flow, or do they just have to get down to the 30's? My understanding has been it has to get below freezing, and the mid 20's is ideal. But since my sap is still flowing, I'm wondering if I might expect that to continue. The night time temps forecast for here are high 30's to high 40's for the next several nights, at least. I'm trying to figure out what to actually expect will happen with the sap flow here should that play out.

It is my understanding that a run can last a few days before the trees shut off, But ideally you want day time temps below 45, and I consider high 20's ideal. For instance, I had a good run on Tuesday - 160 gallons off 88 taps. The temperature Tuesday night only dropped to 36 with Wednesday having a high of 54. Wednesday I collected another 60 gallons. The trees were still running but with another night above freezing, I'm not expecting much today.

[berkshires]

Up higher in the Berkshires, I bet Bigschuss is having a monster week this week.

And actually the worrisome forecast for this week may turn out to be very pleasantly wrong for me. I wasn't supposed to get any freezes this week. I won't know for sure what I got until I drive out on Friday evening, but the actual temperature reported from a station near my sugarbush shows temps under freezing for at least two hours every single night this week so far. I may have my biggest boil of the season this weekend!

GO

[johnpjackson]

Up higher in the Berkshires, I bet Bigschuss is having a monster week this week.

And actually the worrisome forecast for this week may turn out to be very pleasantly wrong for me. I wasn't supposed to get any freezes this week. I won't know for sure what I got until I drive out on Friday evening, but the actual temperature reported from a station near my sugarbush shows temps under freezing for at least two hours every single night this week so far. I may have my biggest boil of the season this weekend!

GO

I hope you guys find yourselves swimming in sap! :D

I got ~25 gallons yesterday and most of my taps were no longer dripping at all when I collected. The forecast for next Tuesday night shows a low of 32 at the moment. I'll just have to see if I get another hurrah here next week or if yesterday was the end of the season here.