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Vancouver Washington

I see alot of people refering to using maple leaves as the best leaf source. Is there something special about maple leaves? I know some leaves supposedly have growth inhibiting potentials - like black walnut... is there other leaves i should watch out for? I have access to tons of regular old oak leaves. Are they alright?

11/5/2007 9:45:12 PM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

I think the general rule to be safe is to not use any leaves from trees that produce nuts. I get that impression from some other threads, but as for the reason I cant say I read it in any known source.

A reference has been made to hydrojugolon which gets converted to a toxin. The walnut has that anyhow (other thread in here), not certain about oak. Oak does have tannins which are discussed at this link:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/b762/b762_25.html

It can apparently kill animals...don't know about plants. I suppose it cant hurt to lean towards the safe side of things.

Another link says "Poisoning is caused by young oak browse, sprouts in cutover areas, mature foliage on felled trees, acorns, and fallen leaves. Oak is most dangerous in the budding and leafing stages and when acorns are available. As leaves mature, oak decreases in toxicity."

So as the mature, they become less dangerous.

So....in the end, I guess I cant say if it is bad for sure for pumpkins, but this is at least some interesting information. LOL.

11/5/2007 10:57:16 PM

Oak leaves get a bad rap because they take longer to break down. Use of a bio product for reduction, or shredding and composting and they seem to work fine here,,nothing odd in my soil tests and I'm pairly happy with my results. Fewer diseases in most oaks is a plus IMO.

11/5/2007 11:21:46 PM

Dallas, Oregon

I would avoid them if possible. Not sure if it's the tannin's or the formation of hydrojugolon but I have had bad luck with oak leaves. Hydrojugolon is a problem with black walnut and to a lesser degree in english walnut, pecan and hickory.

11/5/2007 11:28:22 PM

[email protected]

If you can avoid fresh fallen Oak leaves then do so. Maple, birch, aspen, etc all break down much faster.

However as Dan points out, you can shred Oak leaves & treat them with a bacterial inoculant & some molasses to speed their decay. A well managed compost pile will have enough biological activity to render Oak leaves usable in short order.

11/6/2007 12:05:58 AM