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Thread: "Super Sweet" saplings?

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default "Super Sweet" saplings?

    Hey all, we moved to a new property this year with 30 acres (from 4) and nice split of some flat pasture with majority sloped forest with a ton of sugar maples. The front pasture had not been mowed in years it seems but now that it's been brush hogged and cleaned up I see an opportunity to plant some trees along the main drive into the property (which my wife would like, too).

    Anyone have experience with planting the "super sweet" or "super sap" maple varieties that some nurseries tout? The one I'm interested in is from St. Lawrence Nurseries (a bit north of us) and promises a fast-growing silver maple variety with 3-5% sugar content. Any other varieties to consider?

    One reason I like the idea of the silvers is that they say it tolerates clay soils decently well and we certainly have a lot of that out in our pastures and along the driveway.
    --
    2015: 8 bucket taps (7 red, 1 sugar) on DIY barrel evaporator
    2016: 13 taps (bucket and tube) on block arch and hotel pans
    2017: SAME
    2018: 25 taps on 2x3 flat pan and resurrected barrel arch
    2019: 25 taps...same setup plus DIY 3x150gpd RO filter
    2020: 50 taps, all buckets..."new" oil tank arch setup
    2021: 100 taps (50/50 buckets/3-16 tubing) on 2x4 divided pan
    2022: 150 taps (50/100 b/t) on 2x4 pan with sap warmer pan
    2023: SAME
    2024: 150 taps, added single-post 4x40 RO system

  2. #2
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    Nov 2013
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    N.E.Ohio
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    Default

    I got a price from a nursery that sells the super sweet. Kinda had the same idea to plant for retirement and the super sweets grow fast which is nice. If ordering just a few it’s feasible, I got a quote for 500 trees and with shipping was just under $9,000.00. Not saying it wouldn’t be nice when they started production its just not financially feasible at this time.
    Kevin

  3. #3
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    Feb 2015
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    What Nursery was it, may I ask?
    --
    2015: 8 bucket taps (7 red, 1 sugar) on DIY barrel evaporator
    2016: 13 taps (bucket and tube) on block arch and hotel pans
    2017: SAME
    2018: 25 taps on 2x3 flat pan and resurrected barrel arch
    2019: 25 taps...same setup plus DIY 3x150gpd RO filter
    2020: 50 taps, all buckets..."new" oil tank arch setup
    2021: 100 taps (50/50 buckets/3-16 tubing) on 2x4 divided pan
    2022: 150 taps (50/100 b/t) on 2x4 pan with sap warmer pan
    2023: SAME
    2024: 150 taps, added single-post 4x40 RO system

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2009
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    UVM Proctor Maple Research Center, Underhill Ctr, VT
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    6,391

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ADK_XJ View Post
    What Nursery was it, may I ask?
    St. Lawrence Nurseries, Potsdam, NY
    https://stlawrencenurseries.com/prod...p-silver-maple

    These are silver maple saplings, 4-6 feet tall. I don't believe they would "promise" that the sap would be super-sweet, but it is likely that the sap sugar content would be higher than typical. We planted a bunch a few years ago. They aren't doing particularly well on our site (upland, mesic).

    Cornell "Super Sweet" trees are offered through FK Nursery in Missouri and are RPM seedlings (so supposedly quite fast growing, at least for a while)
    https://www.fknursery.com/page/Corne...on-Techonology
    I don't know the availability of these. There was a place in upstate NY that offered them for a while, but I believe they went bankrupt. Mike Farrell bought a bunch of them when the company went out of business, and we acquired several hundred from him at the time. The deer love them, but they're generally doing well.

    This shot is one of the newer plantations. Probably about 8-10 yrs old.
    harvey road plantation.jpg
    Last edited by DrTimPerkins; 12-08-2020 at 11:18 AM.
    Dr. Tim Perkins
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
    http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
    https://mapleresearch.org
    Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu

  5. #5
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    Feb 2015
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    Saratoga, NY
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    Thanks for the info! I'm interested in the silver maples because it says right there in the description that they can handle clay soil and I know the area I was thinking of planting them has clay in it. There's also a good bit of shale around here near the Hudson River as we are.

    Any thoughts on sites / soil that would be ideal for the rapid growing silvers they are selling?

    I'm sure this question has been asked before but would it be completely impractical to find maple saplings in the woods and replant them?
    --
    2015: 8 bucket taps (7 red, 1 sugar) on DIY barrel evaporator
    2016: 13 taps (bucket and tube) on block arch and hotel pans
    2017: SAME
    2018: 25 taps on 2x3 flat pan and resurrected barrel arch
    2019: 25 taps...same setup plus DIY 3x150gpd RO filter
    2020: 50 taps, all buckets..."new" oil tank arch setup
    2021: 100 taps (50/50 buckets/3-16 tubing) on 2x4 divided pan
    2022: 150 taps (50/100 b/t) on 2x4 pan with sap warmer pan
    2023: SAME
    2024: 150 taps, added single-post 4x40 RO system

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Center, Underhill Ctr, VT
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ADK_XJ View Post
    Any thoughts on sites / soil that would be ideal for the rapid growing silvers they are selling?
    That would be a question best asked of the nursery, however silver maples tend to do best in moist/wet sites.

    I'm sure this question has been asked before but would it be completely impractical to find maple saplings in the woods and replant them?
    Not impractical at all. Success depends upon a lot of things, especially: size of sapling, how much of the root ball you get, time of planting, plentiful watering afterward. Lots of recommendations on this site and elsewhere.
    Dr. Tim Perkins
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
    http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
    https://mapleresearch.org
    Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu

  7. #7
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    Sep 2020
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    Corbeil, ON
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    171

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    Quote Originally Posted by ADK_XJ View Post
    I'm sure this question has been asked before but would it be completely impractical to find maple saplings in the woods and replant them?
    This past summer I transplanted 4 red maples from the back woods that were in the way for making my trail. They varied from 3' to 8' in height. As mentioned plenty of watering and they will take. I wasn't very gentle with the root ball either, I didn't have much earth in the ball mostly just the roots. I made sure to have a good hole filled with good topsoil to give them some good soil to the root contact to help them take in the new location.

  8. #8
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    Feb 2015
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    Default

    Ok, thanks for the info!
    --
    2015: 8 bucket taps (7 red, 1 sugar) on DIY barrel evaporator
    2016: 13 taps (bucket and tube) on block arch and hotel pans
    2017: SAME
    2018: 25 taps on 2x3 flat pan and resurrected barrel arch
    2019: 25 taps...same setup plus DIY 3x150gpd RO filter
    2020: 50 taps, all buckets..."new" oil tank arch setup
    2021: 100 taps (50/50 buckets/3-16 tubing) on 2x4 divided pan
    2022: 150 taps (50/100 b/t) on 2x4 pan with sap warmer pan
    2023: SAME
    2024: 150 taps, added single-post 4x40 RO system

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    chazy,ny
    Posts
    4

    Default

    20191015_174334.jpg
    These trees shown here are supersweet's that Lewis Staats sold me back in the 90's
    Last edited by twinhullstwo; 12-13-2020 at 04:18 AM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Center, Underhill Ctr, VT
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    Default

    Nice. How big are they now. Have you tested the sugar content yet?
    Dr. Tim Perkins
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
    http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
    https://mapleresearch.org
    Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu

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