Frost in Ground Effect Question

[rjenneke]

This is my first year tapping sugar maples. I know in the woods the ground is still frozen. Last weekend I expected a run based upon past experiences tapping silver maples in my yard. So far I have collected 4 gallons of sap from 70 taps. Could it be that with the little snow on the ground in MN that the frost is deep causing the sap not to flow? The extened forcast looks to have some freezing/thawing temps again. The trees haven't budded yet like my silvers in my yards.

Any thoughts about this?

Thanks

[PerryW]

I think it's a good theory. I think we experienced the same thing in the northern areas of New England. Textbook sugaring weather but the trees didn't produce. But finally it ran well for me on Yesterday and the day before (3/11 & 3/12).

[Vermont Creation Hardwood]

Four miles from the Canadian border in Vermont, I had my first run on Feb 18, then 23, March 3, 7, 9, 11, 12, and 13, yesterday. This Feb 18 start is three weeks earlier than last year's first run March 12. I'm running less than last year, but not a great deal less unless this is the last run of the season.

Last year we had three to four feet of snow on the ground all winter and into late March. The ground beneath never froze. I was wallowing in mud in many places under the three feet of snow. This year the ground is still frozen now and not muddy like last year in the same places.

So who knows how it goes from here. Our forecast calls for a possible freeze tonight, which would be wonderful. If it doesn't freeze tonight, the long range looks not promising.

My current production is a little over half of last year's. So if the season is over it's bad, if we have more season left, I'm looking good. No buds opening yet on the red maples and they've looked plump all winter.

[wdchuck]

I'm on board with the frozen ground theory- our woods is still solid, a freeze at night will give us a killer sap run. I wish I had posted it last night, but swear to god, I told my wife over dinner that I thought it might freeze, and sure enough, it did, and yet none of my online weather sites had that one right. Once the sun went down, there was just this chill in the air you could feel, and the cloud cover was breaking up- so where was all this radiational cooling going to come from?....possibly a huge chunk of permafrost?

[rjenneke]

Last Saturday our woods started to flow. It has been getting better every day. Almost by double every day. The taps run 24 hours a day. I am thinking the frost held them up. Now hopefully the trees hold off budding for a little while longer.

[PerryW]

Yeah my trees keep dribbling out sap even without vacuum. And no freeze on 4-5 days. Guess I've never seen that before. THen again, I've never been plugged in for three 70+ degree days and counting.

[GeneralStark]

Yeah my trees keep dribbling out sap even without vacuum. And no freeze on 4-5 days. Guess I've never seen that before. THen again, I've never been plugged in for three 70+ degree days and counting.

Imagine how much sap you would be getting with vacuum.

[PerryW]

Imagine how much sap you would be getting with vacuum.

I was always afraid to use vacuum because I'd get too much sap. This year, I could use the extra sap. In 24 years of sugaring at my current location, my worst season was 72 gallons and my best season was 201 gallons. I'll be lucky to get 40 gallons this year.