Leaves at night?

[ERLover]

So okay, it is been nice here sunny and mid 50s during the day, fairly calm as far as wind goes, just a bit of a light breeze, at night been calm, 29-30 ish, just a frost on the grass and roofs.
So to the subject at hand, do leaves drop at night? We have 3 mature hard maple trees, neighbors do to. So I get up and have coffee out side around sun rise which here is just about 7, no leaves falling off the trees till about 730 when the sun starts to hit them. I am doing a watch tomorrow, my neighbor rakes his up each late afternoon, I looked what was on the ground after at sunset, I am going to check out what is on the ground when I am out in the morning having coffee.
On an other note, ash trees, seem to drop them all on a certain day, like snow falling.

[joedw00]

That is something to ponder. I never thought about it, would think they do.Can't find anything on Google.

[JPG]

I would be inclined to monitor wind and precipitation, not darkness. However, coldness may also be a factor.

[ERLover]

JPG, I agree, but no wind at night, just dead calm, remember that pic you posted about a year ago, winter night and moon?

[ERLover]

Well no noticeable leaves fell over night, but the fly in the soup for comparison is we did not have a frost last night, and a windy storm front coming in this afternoon through tomorrow so I guess it will not be able to compare tonight.
Well the trees are still pretty full of leaves and not many falling this am compared t the last 2, so maybe a frost at night triggers that, since we did not have one last night.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Most leaves fall right after you've cleaned up the ones that are already on the ground.

[charlese]

I think Dennis has the right idea! moral is not to clean up.

If you want to know a little bit about the physical causes of what makes leaves fall - here ---

The first thing that happens when tree leaves mature is chlorophyll fades away and natural leaf color is seen. Since there is no more green, the other colors caused by chemicals in the leaves show.

As the leaf matures further, so does the leaf stem. At the end of the leaf is a layer called the abscission layer. (neat word, huh?) The stem drys and hardens along with the maturation, while the abscission layer becomes both dry from the stem and moist from the tree.

When moisture losses in the stem varies more as compared with the moisture in the branch, the abscission layer becomes a weak spot. (Frustrated?) Finally it breaks and the leaf falls.

It is mostly a guess, but rapid temperature changes outside along with moisture differences in the stem are mostly the causes of leaf separation. If a wind blows, the abscission layer is more apt to break than if it was calm.

This is likely more than you wanted to know, but if you want to know more, Google "why does a leaf fall". If you get into the physiology of leafs you may be astounded about some of the scientific explanations.

[ERLover]

Charlese,
that was what I was looking for, I just did not google it, went to Wikipedia but did not get/find the info.

[charlese]

Charlese,
that was what I was looking for, I just did not google it, went to Wikipedia but did not get/find the info.

here - have a ball!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =114288700

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=c ... %20falling

[charlese]

It's interesting that there are people out there that make their living, or part of it by studying and researching how leaves work.

I don't know anyone who will say, "I make a living looking at tree leaves."