Why is the brix so low?

I dropped in an observation tap today on a 12+ " sugar maple that I have tapped twice before, just to see what might be going on. Tapped at noon and I had 3 pints by 4:30. I brought it into the house to check the sugar content. I put it on the refractometer expecting to see 3 or more, as I remember this tree providing, and I got............1.4. Needless to say I was a bit underimpressed. The refractometer was checked. It should have been at least 2.5 as all my sugars are at this or above.

My question is: does the sugar content start out low as a tree thaws and starts to flow, or does it start high from the get go? This low number has me concerned. What to do??

The more freeze thaw cycles the higher it will get, until late in the season.

It seems to start out watery. It seems like the maple season is starting! We were planning on tapping around the 15th of February, but it seems like it's starting earlier according to the forecast for the next few weeks!

Thanks for your input. Here's another question. Does the sugar content, or can the sugar content, of a tree vary from year to year? This tree in question put out a gallon over the past few days, but still 1.5%.

There can be changes year to year in the sap sugar concentrations in an individual tree, group of trees, a whole woods, or even the state of Maine. Many are due to the weather, the amount of rainfall and sunlight and the timing of it the previous year/s. Another big factor is what went on the previous year reproductively with the tree/s, did they seed up heavily. Over all tree health or stress is another factor, were there any insect issues ?

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Originally Posted by Mvhomesteader

Does the sugar content, or can the sugar content, of a tree vary from year to year?

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Yes, sometimes considerably so. However in relation to its neighbors, a tree will retain its relative sap sugar content (SSC) rank. So a tree that is the lowest of the group will tend to be the lowest every day (or week or year), while a tree in the middle stays in the middle of the pack, and a high SSC tree tends to be high all the time. Because SSC is dynamic, it is important when you do these comparisons to measure SSC at as close to the same time as possible. You can't compare the SSC taken on a tree one day with a measurement on another tree taken the next week (or year, etc) except in very general terms.

Back when I done buckets I checked every tree and noted the strong and weak producers. with lines I don't know unless I run a tap to a bucket.

I've had some of those chronically low sugar trees and I just can't help but tap them when the line goes right by. So when I sold some timber and I had to take down lines for access, guess what, those low sugar trees had a blue mark on them. Their neighbor then got more light to produce sugar from. It was funny my timber cutter came and asked if it was a mistake.....I had always told him he'd get docked for any maple tree he damaged. So those are candidates for thinning in my woods.

I see mention of using a refractometer for measuring sugar content in sap. My nephew has a refractometer that he uses to check the sugar content of grapes before he harvests for wine making. Can this same refractometer be used to check my sap content or are sap and wine refractometers calibrated differently? I just purchased an RO bucket and I would like to measure the sugar content before and after processing.

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Originally Posted by NoblesvilleIN

I see mention of using a refractometer for measuring sugar content in sap. My nephew has a refractometer that he uses to check the sugar content of grapes before he harvests for wine making. Can this same refractometer be used to check my sap content or are sap and wine refractometers calibrated differently? I just purchased an RO bucket and I would like to measure the sugar content before and after processing.

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Yes, I believe it can. We use ours for testing fruit and vegetable sweetness (an indicator of product health).

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Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins

Yes, sometimes considerably so. However in relation to its neighbors, a tree will retain its relative sap sugar content (SSC) rank. So a tree that is the lowest of the group will tend to be the lowest every day (or week or year), while a tree in the middle stays in the middle of the pack, and a high SSC tree tends to be high all the time. Because SSC is dynamic, it is important when you do these comparisons to measure SSC at as close to the same time as possible. You can't compare the SSC taken on a tree one day with a measurement on another tree taken the next week (or year, etc) except in very general terms.

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Thanks to all for the input. I'll be tapping out this weekend so by what I see as a small run early next week I'll be able to make some judgements as to what is occurring in nearby trees at the same moment in time. I won't make any predictions or get worried till I get some more data.