Sun drying leaf litter liquidambar/Sweet gum

[ohmiko]

I have sweet gum trees at my house. They're still summer green right now except for one branch i saw that had all of its leaves bright yellow like signs of early Autumn. I picked two leaves and it sort of just popped off really easily. I saw someone on a forum not here say they've used Sweet gum leaves so I plan to try it out. I forgot I had to go somewhere so I left them in my car dashboard and remembered today. 

 

So point of this entry is, Why not sun dry leaves in your car when you arent going anywhere? Temperatures rise significantly in your car and it doesn't pollute the environment/waste resources like gas or electricity. After one day if being in my car, they went from freshly picked to crackly and dry.

 

What do you think about this idea? I dont have any fresheners in my car so no contaminants. 

 

Also can anyone chime in on this

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/chanet/item/199938/

 

it's the seedpods of the tree which I didn't know could be used but I hope it can considering they appear everywhere in the fall :o) Would love to collect and use them all 

[oem]

Hi Omiko.  I dry a lot of vegetables and wild medicinal plants (think yarrow, feverfew, ginseng).  The temperature would be perfect (120-140 degrees) , but sunlight deteriorates nutritional value.  If the items can be placed in a paper bag or better yet a box with shelves so no sunlight will contact the leaves that would work great.  A friend of mine does that in her farm truck that isn't used for everyday driving.  I also agree that growing leaves will provide more food value then leaves that are dying at the end of the season.   Mike

[ohmiko]

6 hours ago, oem said:

Hi Omiko.  I dry a lot of vegetables and wild medicinal plants (think yarrow, feverfew, ginseng).  The temperature would be perfect (120-140 degrees) , but sunlight deteriorates nutritional value.  If the items can be placed in a paper bag or better yet a box with shelves so no sunlight will contact the leaves that would work great.  A friend of mine does that in her farm truck that isn't used for everyday driving.  I also agree that growing leaves will provide more food value then leaves that are dying at the end of the season.   Mike

Oh!!! I see a lot of forums saying never to harvest the fresh ones on the tree. So it's okay to take those and dry them?  fascinating! I will place them in a bag and put them in my car next time

[oem]

I have no idea why fresh leaves would be harmful but I have limited experience with shrimp.  Amaranth, Kale, ect are harvested while the plant and leaves are still growing.  All of you with more experience have any answers ?

[ohmiko]

1 hour ago, oem said:

I have no idea why fresh leaves would be harmful but I have limited experience with shrimp.  Amaranth, Kale, ect are harvested while the plant and leaves are still growing.  All of you with more experience have any answers ?

I guess its like a theory people say the more sap/plant fluids could leak into the tank. Anyone with leaf litter experience have any info?

[35ppt]

I believe the idea is that there are more sugars in the green leaves, which could cause bacterial bloom. It's been a loooong time since I had botany, so I'd have to refresh my memory on what happens when leaves die back, and what happens when you dry a green leaf.

That being said, I have used (dried) green mulberry leaves without issue, although I do use just a tiny portion of a leaf per tank. A larger amount/left in tank longer might be an issue.

 

[ohmiko]

4 hours ago, 35ppt said:

I believe the idea is that there are more sugars in the green leaves, which could cause bacterial bloom. It's been a loooong time since I had botany, so I'd have to refresh my memory on what happens when leaves die back, and what happens when you dry a green leaf.

That being said, I have used (dried) green mulberry leaves without issue, although I do use just a tiny portion of a leaf per tank. A larger amount/left in tank longer might be an issue.

 

Yes! I'm scared something in this sweet gum leaf while green and dry would cause my water to turn foul. So I might dry both the ones in fall and summer and test out both and update

[35ppt]

BTW, kudos for knowing the genus name of the tree.  

 

For drying, I make use of the residual heat in the oven after I cook something else. Otherwise, I only heat it for a minute or two and use that residual heat.

 

 

[oem]

Hi All,   After doing some research on tree leaves this is what I understand.

 

Butler University has a great explanation of why leaves change color which was the most informational to me. 

Leaf color is comprised of four main chemicals chlorophyll, carotenoids, tannins, and anthocyanins.

 

1) Chlorophyll is the green we are most familiar with.  It converts sunlight and CO2 into sugar that the tree uses for cell growth.  It is like a solar cell in that it converts sunlight into electricity but does not store it.  So limited amounts of sugar in leaves.

2) Carotenoids are always present and appear as orange/yellow in leaves but are only visible when the chlorophyll is gone.It is also the coloration in carrots, squash, ect.

3) Tannins are a waste product of photosynthesis but provide color and taste in teas.

4) Anthocyanins are always present and appear as pink, purple, or red depending on PH of the plant.  An antioxidant, it is also present in grapes, cranberries,nuts, ect.  However it is only present as the chlorophyll breaks down and disappears in the Fall.

 

  So I'm guessing that leaves collected in the fall with high red, purple, and orange coloration have the most benefit for our animals. Unless you have green shrimp (chlorophyll)

 

Man I love learning new stuff !!

 

P.S. The information on anthocyanins came from The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).  Great resource

 

 

 

 

[ohmiko]

On 8/18/2016 at 0:05 PM, 35ppt said:

BTW, kudos for knowing the genus name of the tree.  

 

For drying, I make use of the residual heat in the oven after I cook something else. Otherwise, I only heat it for a minute or two and use that residual heat.

 

 

Thanks! After figuring it out, I found more information. There's one site that sells the spiky seed pods as natural shrimplet shelters  that also release tannins. 

 

17 hours ago, oem said:

Hi All,   After doing some research on tree leaves this is what I understand.

 

Butler University has a great explanation of why leaves change color which was the most informational to me. 

Leaf color is comprised of four main chemicals chlorophyll, carotenoids, tannins, and anthocyanins.

 

1) Chlorophyll is the green we are most familiar with.  It converts sunlight and CO2 into sugar that the tree uses for cell growth.  It is like a solar cell in that it converts sunlight into electricity but does not store it......

 

 

 

FASCINATING!!! I never new that (besides #1) I will definitely try them out maybe even sell them  Thanks so much

[ohmiko]

UPDATE: So this is one of the leaves from the photo and about 5 days It's been in my tank. My water didnt turn toxic and my snails/shrimp seem to enjoy it. Also it isn't breaking down quickly, and the symmetrical  shape of the leaves look so nice in the shrimp tanks. Enjo my yellow goldenbacks are exploring. I have a batch of green ones too, but the real test is in the fall when they change colors.

[ohmiko]

@Aquarium Creation

[Aquarium Creation]

Great information in this thread!@ohmiko let us know how your fig leaves turn out.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[ohmiko]

16 minutes ago, Aquarium Creation said:

Great information in this thread!@ohmiko let us know how your fig leaves turn out.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 

will do :3

[Vpier]

On 8/21/2016 at 2:09 AM, ohmiko said:

UPDATE: So this is one of the leaves from the photo and about 5 days It's been in my tank. My water didnt turn toxic and my snails/shrimp seem to enjoy it. Also it isn't breaking down quickly, and the symmetrical  shape of the leaves look so nice in the shrimp tanks. Enjo my yellow goldenbacks are exploring. I have a batch of green ones too, but the real test is in the fall when they change colors.

Depending on the type of leaves you put in an aquarium it can take time to break down. It is recommended to boil leaves anywhere from 5-15 minutes. This will help speed up the process.

[ohmiko]

4 hours ago, Vpier said:

Depending on the type of leaves you put in an aquarium it can take time to break down. It is recommended to boil leaves anywhere from 5-15 minutes. This will help speed up the process.

Yes I've been doing that for the other leaves after I did that! Now shrimp and snails pick at it immediately and within days there's holes throughout the leaves and evidence of eating :-)