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Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

I was getting something at the feed store and they had maple syrup stuff on sale. It got me thinking, one year for fun I tapped three large maple trees on my property. All I got out of it was several gallons of watery liquid with only a hint of maple. Of course it has to be boiled down to become syrup but would this sap be any good for the soil like molasses. It is already diluted. Is it made up of simple or complex sugars?
Thanks

3/7/2008 12:03:18 PM

Berlin,mi.(zuhlke2@hotmail.com)

Andy, Here's a little info about the sugar content. I'm not sure if this answers your question.
Is the sugar in maple syrup healthier than white sugar?
The sugar in maple syrup is sucrose and invert sugar. White sugar is sucrose, whereas invert sugar is a breakdown product of sucrose. There is no evidence that maple syrup is healthier than white sugar.

3/7/2008 12:48:01 PM

Sheridan . NY

maple syrup brings $50.00 dollars a gallon here --that would pay for a LOT molasses---

3/7/2008 1:49:19 PM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

I'm asking about the sap, not the final product. Two years ago I got about 10 gallons of sap in @ 3 days. I was wondering if that was good for the soil, not maple syrup.

3/7/2008 2:21:58 PM

derry n.h u.s.a.

I Tapped and boiled way back when.once and a while i,d retrive a bucket that went bad,you could tell because of the color was not clear it was brownish and didnt smell very good!if the 3% sugar content was enough to feed bactiera it probley would not hurt your soil.Although the time and effert spent to get the sapp would be costly.it might be easier and less work to buy molasses.Just a thought!

3/10/2008 11:00:45 AM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

Just asking out of curiosity. There is no cost for me, I already have the gear. Anyway, think I'll stick with molasses. Thanks for the input.

3/10/2008 11:10:42 AM

Western NY

i'm not sure about the raw stuff from the tree, but i know Todd Kline was using maple syrup (he has trees also). I think he was using it as a foliar with other things.

3/10/2008 11:36:00 AM

Ohio

Andy, I have thought about using the clear water like sap(before its cooked) on my patch as a foliar, but I haven't used it yet. I don't think it would hurt a thing to use it even to water your plants with, Id say that the Molasses has a lot more sugar if I was to guess.
I have boiled down one gallon of clear maple sap before, and out of that gallon of clear sap it cooked down to roughly a cup full of maple syrup. I let that syrup sit for a few days and noticed that about 1/4 of the cup had sugar that settles to the bottom of the cup. So this might give you a rough idea on how much sugar is in a gallon of the clear sap before boiled down to syrup.
I was just experimenting with it some last year for the first time. There is a way these guys make this syrup that the sugar dont settle to the bottom some how, but not exactly sure how they do it.

3/15/2008 8:47:07 PM