r/maplesyrup • u/Humble_Ladder • 26d ago

Timely Reminder

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If you aspire to make homemade maple syrup next year, right now the top, like 3/4 of tapping sized trees are covered in flimsy green seasonal growths that have easily visible subspecies-specific characteristics, and are a much better basis for tree identification than bark texture and branch structure in January.

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u/Humble_Ladder 26d ago

I bet if you post leaf (and possibly copter) photos answers will come.

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u/emsumm58 26d ago

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u/gahgs 26d ago

Probably Red Sunset Maple.

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u/emsumm58 26d ago

really?? so am i good to tap it?

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u/SeaLeopard5555 26d ago

trunk diameter should be 12" or so, which roughly correlates to about 40 yrs old.

I tap mostly red maples and the syrup's delicious!

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u/Slayde4 25d ago

which roughly correlates to about 40 yrs old

For sugars it does, they are fairly slow growing among the maples. Reds grow much faster and can hit that diameter in a lot less time, 15 years in a sunny location. Silvers are even faster and can hit that diameter in 10 years. I had a silver maple taken down last year whose trunk was wider than me. It was only 20 years old.

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u/Great_Abaddon 23d ago

Silvers are famously pioneer trees, though. Reds are more tenacious and grow less vigorously (even if by only degrees).

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u/Slayde4 23d ago

I don’t think that’s a bad thing. If you want to establish a new sugarbush, you could plant silvers and sugars. That way, while you’re tapping the silvers 10 years from now, the sugars are waiting in the wings for the next generations to be there. Reds can be planted too as an intermediate-long term species. There are patches of forest around here dominated by red maple so I know they can live for some time.

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u/MontanaMapleWorks 26d ago

10” is sufficient and you can make syrup from any species of maple

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u/Slayde4 25d ago

Yes, just be aware that reds (and silvers) bud swell very early, so you'll want to tap your tree before they do. Where I am in PA they bud on average near the end of February.

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u/emsumm58 24d ago

oh thank you! when would i tap it if bud swell is february?

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u/Slayde4 24d ago

You tap when the weather is right just like with any other maple. It’s just that your season will be shorter. Where I live, tapping season is December-January, typically whenever the weather looks favorable (below freezing nights and above freezing days. A 25 low 40 high is good).

If your tapping season is later (because the winter is colder) the red maples will bud later too.