Tapped too early? Re tap?

[jrbridges]

If anyone can weigh in on this I'd appreciate it...
We're small and generally have about 100 taps. I put in about half of those 10-14 days ago and I'm worried they will dry up by the time we get a decent run. They never actually ran very well at all but I thought the weather looked good and I was eager...especially after last season. Now what? Fortunately I waited for my other trees and will tap those this week as it looks like temperatures will be better.

What about my 2 week old taps. Should I redrill this season's tap holes, drill additional holes, or chalk it up to "lesson learned"? Thanks...

[red maples]

let em go I think they will be fine. Its not recommened to re-tap you don't want another hole for the tree to have to content with, although some people claim reaming the hole later in the season will help. I would wait and see once the trees decide to really break loose and flow they might be fine.

I think most folks were expecting an early season like last year...and it is definitely not!!! myself included!

[ejmaple]

i too probley jumped the gun on tapping early but two week old taps with the way its been, very cold for the most part, i wouldn't stress about it. looks like our turn for a big run is comming soon.

[gmcooper]

Keep the early taps. It has been cold and not the much early anyway. We saw one of the bigger operations tapping in January in NH. When it is cold only minimal bacteria buildup so don't worry.

[red maples]

yeah true I Forgot about the cold and some of those Bigger producers it might take them 2 weeks or more to get through all the trees they tap in the 10,000 + range.

[jrbridges]

Thanks for all the information. I feel a lot better knowing that I didn't ruin a good thing. I tapped some of my best trees early and I was getting worried. Looking forward to this season in a big way...Again, I appreciate the help and advice.

[BryanEx]

We're small and generally have about 100 taps. I put in about half of those 10-14 days ago and I'm worried they will dry up by the time we get a decent run.

Leave them jrbridges... you will be fine. At this time of year there is little to "dry up". Here is a great research document from the Proctor Maple Research Center about the "benefits" of tapping early;
http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/tapping.pdf
The best gains are with tubing and vacuum but even gravity buckets did not suffer much. Generally speaking the paper sums up as if you are going to miss... you are better off to be early than late for tapping.

- Bryan

[jrbridges]

Thanks Bryan
I can rest easy. You know how your mind starts working around this time of year. Your farm looks wonderful. Hope you have a great season.