[Markw]

Hello all. I've just recently found that my entire college campus nearby is literally peppered with magnolia trees! As fall comes, I expect these trees will lose their leaves. So, I would like to collect them and dry them out to put in future tanks. Is it as simple as getting them, nuking them in the microwave, and throwing them in a tote?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[frogface]

Yup, pretty much.

The only concern is whether or not your university uses pesticides and/or fertilizers on campus. You want leaves that come from unmolested trees.

 

[Markw]

I asked the horticulture dept. They don't use any pesticides, and they said if they do use fertilizer, they havent used any on the trees in over 65 years (when the trees were planted), but she doubts they use them at all. If the trees died when planted, they just planted a new one until one took. (This woman had obviously not been teaching there for 65 years, but I can only assume, as head of the Horticulture dept, that she'd know better than anyone. The dean looks younger than she did.

Mark