Silly Trees

[Snappyssweets]

I tapped back in Feb. However as many know I use home made 3/16 spiles with 3/16 fish tank air line leading from spile to bucket.
Anyhow I keep things really conservative. I have about 70 trees tapped most could hold two or three taps and on ones that could hold two I still usually only run one on and ones that could hold three I usually only tap with two.

So with that said. Today I went out and with the warm up happening I checked. All but about ten of my taps were dry nothing. No moisture and when I sucked on the line it was dry as could be no dampness even around the holes. So I decided to add the taps I could on the trees. An attempt to extend my season if you will.

So I drilled a few more holes and took taps from the dry holes and put them on the new ones.

Anyhow what do I get? Purple tinted sap. LOL
I have had it happen before and always assumed it was just some residue or such inside my taps perhaps. So I would dump all sap from the first day it went into the jugs just to be sure. Because by day two its always turned clear.

I walk out this afternoon and every tree I put a new hole in today has purplish tint to the sap that ran.
So now I know its obviously something with all these red maples I have. I looked it up and seen a few years back it was brought up too.

I think I will boil my purple sap separate and tell everyone it comes from a rare maple tree.

[Run Forest Run!]

Snappy, the purple sap is special sap for Easter. Very festive for springtime.

[Sinzibuckwud]

I have one red that has given me pink, purple, grey, and plenty of yellow boiled everything but the yellow and had no issue with one or two gallons mixed into 40-50 gallons of clear sap. It flowers early every year, this year it was third week of February.
I am not going to tap it anymore with plenty of new trees at my disposal Im retiring it. it has had its leader broken off several times and is struggling, putting out new growth low on the tree and starting suckering last year.

[SEB]

Purple! Can you post a picture? I'd love to see it and learn what has caused its color.

[Sinzibuckwud]

http://http://mapletrader.com/commun...ght=Purple+sap

[Snappyssweets]

Purple! Can you post a picture? I'd love to see it and learn what has caused its color.

I would have if I had seen it before I dumped the 58 gallons of clear into it yesterday.

I will try to get a picture next spring when they do it. They have done it each year so far.