Red Maples not producing

[Rozzy]

I posted this on a thread on the Maine board but wanted to post it hear hoping for more responses.

I'm a little worried after tapping yesterday. First time tapping at my new house, got about 15 bags out yesterday afternoon. Tapped mostly reds and 3-4 sugar maples. The sugar maples are down in a low spot near a stream and were running when I tapped them. They all ran well today while I didn't get a drop out of any of the reds. There are a few down near the stream as well and nothing. Is there something I'm missing? I've never had this problem before on other sites and I know some trees don't run but this seems a little extreme. The only other difference worth noting is that I am tapping earlier this year than I have before.

[Sugarmaker]

Could be the weather? Temps?
Regards,
Chris

[Maplewalnut]

Red maples are notorious for inconsistent sap output on buckets or bags. Unfortunately I do not know of any way to predict them. When I did buckets one would give alot of sap while the two right next to it would give hardly any. The next year it may be different. It does seem like reds need perfect environmental conditions (temperature, sun vs clouds etc) to run where sugar maples seem a lot less finicky. good luck

[Rozzy]

Thank you for the input thus far. The last two nights have been in the mid-20s and yesterday was 50 degrees and sunny. Today is right around 40 degrees and slightly overcast. From my limited experience I know that Reds are unpredictible but 15 taps and a clear divide between sugars and reds not running, I guess I wasn't sure if there was something simple that I'm missing. This is the first year I've tapped this early and the run has really just started maybe less than a week ago. Do reds just run later in the season compared to sugars? Does the snow pack or frozen ground have more impact on reds vs. sugars? From what Maplewalnut has said, I hope that is the case. I know it's not a perfect science but now with 25 taps in and adding 5 or 6 more today, I sure hope that the 26 Reds that I will have tapped give me some sap. As of last night I didn't have a drop in any of my bags on reds while my sugar maples ran between 1-1.5 gallons per tap.

[bowtie]

I tap quite a few reds with buckets and their inconsistency is normal if not maddening, they will produce but generally less than sugars and with lower sugar content. That said I have some really big reds that are great producers and have a relatively high sugar. Red maples do better on vacuum than buckets but for a lot of us that is not always practical.give them some time and they should do alright if not try them again next and if the results are the same you can just skip after that.

[coastie]

Thank you for the input thus far. The last two nights have been in the mid-20s and yesterday was 50 degrees and sunny. Today is right around 40 degrees and slightly overcast. From my limited experience I know that Reds are unpredictible but 15 taps and a clear divide between sugars and reds not running, I guess I wasn't sure if there was something simple that I'm missing. This is the first year I've tapped this early and the run has really just started maybe less than a week ago. Do reds just run later in the season compared to sugars? Does the snow pack or frozen ground have more impact on reds vs. sugars? From what Maplewalnut has said, I hope that is the case. I know it's not a perfect science but now with 25 taps in and adding 5 or 6 more today, I sure hope that the 26 Reds that I will have tapped give me some sap. As of last night I didn't have a drop in any of my bags on reds while my sugar maples ran between 1-1.5 gallons per tap.

Mine are doing the exact same thing. I am getting beter than a gal a tap out of the sugars but maybe 2-3 gals a day out of 12 reds.

[Jal-Bear]

I tap almost all reds on buckets and mine do the same. Some run better that others, some run great and others barley give up any sap even when conditions are perfect.

[mspina14]

I have about 80 Red Maples tapped this year. They are all on vacuum.

This is the first year I'm using vacuum.

I've tried tapping the Reds with buckets in the past, but they never ran much at all. Maybe 1/4 gallon all season on the best tree.

With vacuum, it's a whole different story. I'm still chasing leakings on 5/16 inch tubing I installed in December. But I've already collected probably 200 gallons of sap from these same Reds that barely produced anything on buckets.

I use a small diaphragm pump to create vacuum.

Mark