Question When to tap?

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Maximus
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When to tap?

Post by Maximus » Sun Feb 26, 2017 8:53 am

I've got some supplies to tap a few trees.

When? Is cold at night, warm during the day, but does it matter if you tap at night or the morning? Am I micromanaging?
What happens if you get a warm 2 days the a deep freeze? Do you remove the taps? I don't want to miss the season, but I think waiting till Middle of March I'll miss the season.

Thanks!
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thegawd
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When to tap?

Post by thegawd » Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:09 am

I didnt even bother... 3 weeks ago I should have tapped but didnt have the time. the weather has been to warm since then IMO, but i see some people with buckets hanging. so you drill a hole, if the sap flows taste it, good sap tastes sweet. once the buds open taste the sap again, when it turns bitter the season is over. the weather should be below freezing at night and above freezing during the day which hasnt been the case here for quite sometime. the buds have opened and last night it went below zero.

I'm not an expert by any means though... just a bummed out rookie that had big plans this year.
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Al

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TomK
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When to tap?

Post by TomK » Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:28 am

Calendar wise its a tad early but mother nature drives that bus...this past week was not good here but if the weather guys are right, this week coming just might have the right combination of temps to make a short run viable...guess we will see, but this year isn't going to be a great year for syrup. I don't think... :running-chicken:
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Maximus
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When to tap?

Post by Maximus » Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:35 am

Wow Al! That's too bad and very early.

Here's my weather this week.
image.png
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JimW
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When to tap?

Post by JimW » Sun Feb 26, 2017 10:55 am

Ideal temps are plus 5 during the day and minus 5 at night. Based on your forecast Monday and Tuesday too warm, Wednesday you might get some flow and Thursday and Friday might get a bit f the temperature creeps up a couple degrees warmer than forecast.

Once you put the tap in leave it in until the season is done.

For when to tap at night or in the morning? I guess it depends if you want to be able to see when you are tapping, must people I know tap during daylight hours.

As mentioned once the buds pop sap flavour changes and season is done.
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Maximus
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When to tap?

Post by Maximus » Sun Feb 26, 2017 6:23 pm

Thanks!
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Brebis
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When to tap?

Post by Brebis » Sun Feb 26, 2017 6:42 pm

It took a week but I finally have 20L of sap from 3 trees and 4 taps...will start to boil tomorrow!
We put the taps in last weekend and it worked pretty well until the temps went up here mid week but is cool and better now.
Hope to get a bit more tomorrow then we'll see how it goes over the next week as it's supposed to warm up for a few days then get bloody cold again.
Hope you can get some taps in Maximus and get enough for a few pancakes!
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Maximus
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When to tap?

Post by Maximus » Tue Mar 07, 2017 9:57 am

Brebis wrote:QR_BBPOST It took a week but I finally have 20L of sap from 3 trees and 4 taps...will start to boil tomorrow!
We put the taps in last weekend and it worked pretty well until the temps went up here mid week but is cool and better now.
Hope to get a bit more tomorrow then we'll see how it goes over the next week as it's supposed to warm up for a few days then get bloody cold again.
Hope you can get some taps in Maximus and get enough for a few pancakes!
I don't really eat pancakes. Unfortunately my parents pancakes growing up ruined me (they basically deep fried them in margarine, so when a fork dug in they would ooze). As an adult I can not seem to take a liking to pancakes or waffles.
I like cinna-bon style pancakes but they aren't really pancakes LOL.

I mostly use syrup for baking items, like butter tarts (which I eat way too often) and when I make breakfast sausage patties. Other than that, not much use for syrup. But it is lovely to give as tokens or gifts.

No buds and weather looks sap friendly for rest of week. So I am going to give it a go tomorrow. Pouring rain here today and much to warm.
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WaupoosCowgirl
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When to tap?

Post by WaupoosCowgirl » Tue Mar 07, 2017 12:26 pm

We tapped on feb 18th and boiled 60 gallons on the 28th. We only tap 12 trees. We leave our taps in for the season.
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dre75
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When to tap?

Post by dre75 » Tue Mar 07, 2017 7:22 pm

Been a slow start to the season here. Tapped 15 trees a couple weeks back and only 2.2 liters of syrup made so far. The next few days are not looking so good but the long term forecast is looking promising.
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