I'm not an expert, but I've planted a lot of bare root trees. Last year I planted a BR pomegranate in Feb, and it did nothing through May, so I assumed it was probably dead and ordered a potted Pom from someone else. The original Pom started leafing out about a week after I planted the second one beside it. You can always start snapping off the furthest out twigs. If they're soft or green, you're in business. If they're dry or dead, keep snapping down. Even if they're dead all the way down, the roots may send up new shoots which is still ok because Poms aren't grafted.

kimmsr and annpat: thank you very much for your quick responses. Correction: I started the wire bin in April 2008. Update: I also have an Earth Machine composter that I put my household refuse in. Every time I dump some refuse in, I top it with about 2 inches of oak leaves. --> I don't think it's ?working? I don't think it's heating up. (I don't have a compost thermometer yet). I don't even see things breaking down. Heck, it was breaking down more/faster when the refuse was in the tupperware container in my kitchen. --> Should I stir it around? I haven't yet (it's been ~5weeks since I started). So this wire bin is only for my insane amount of leaves from all my trees. But I was trying to speed things up a tiny bit, thinking I'll add some green in the middle to heat it up a bit. --> Isn't what I'm doing w/ the green/brown layers kinda like lasagna composting? I think I'll just stop putting greens in there and just keep piling on more browns (dried leaves). thank you very much. Amanda

Heavenlyfarm, I'm fairly new to africian violets myself. I first bought a NOID plant from my local Lowes and then I began to look for other plants online, thinking I could find other plants that were much more unique in there ways. Now, I'm a very active eBay user and buy and sell all the time. So back in July I bought 4 leaves from a seller and I didn't have any problems what so ever. I received the leaves in 3 days and within three months I finally got babies and there gradually getting bigger. Like I said, violets are new to me but I've been raising orchids for eights years. Now if you want to learn to be patient, go after orchids and they teach you that. But to each our own. The whole orchids began when I bought my wife one for Valentines Day and then she began to want more, and now it's an obsession. We presently have a dozen different orchids, which is actually down from 18 which were given as gifts to others within the family looking to try there hands at orchids. Anyways that's more for the orchid forum, I will continue to learn new info from these forums and because it's a joy to read about other peoples experiences. Dan

The following was culled from a number of very helpful posts. Thanks to all the anonymous contributors. Leaf mold is the term used for a special kind of compost using only leaves that are slowly decomposed without adding any other ingredients. Making leaf mold is a COLD process. That makes it different from composting. The decomposition is mostly done by fungi whereas composting relies on bacteria. If you try to heat up or accelerate the process by adding greens you would be making compost. There's nothing wrong with that of course but it is a different process. Compare it to slow cooking in a Crockpot vs. the Microwave approach of a traditional hot compost pile. It is a process that results in a very nutrient and mineral rich soil amendment you can use in a number of ways. You are basically just trying to recreate the environment of the forest floor in a contained space. Some ways you can use it are: Mix in with your planting/potting soil to enhance fertility Top dress your planting beds as a slow release fertilizer/mulch Brew into a tea as a root feeding solution or dilute for a foliar spray How To Do It The process can take anywhere from 9 months in very wet tropical zones to up to 3 years in more northern climates. The good thing is it is very low input: just pile up the leaves and let them alone. The most effective and widely used method is to make a wiremesh holding bin. Any size you have room for, the bigger the better. There are a number of sites that have info on making the bin. Pile in the leaves and wet them down. If you can shred them a bit first the process will be accelerated somewhat. Try to gather a wide variety of leaf types as each species will bring different concentrations of minerals to the mix. Think of it like a mixed leaf salad. You may cover the bin with a tarp or a piece of old carpeting to help it retain moisture if you wish. Depending on your zone and where your bin is located (sun or shade) this may or may not be necessary. By the next fall the contents will have reduced considerably, hence the need for as large a bin as possible initially. Open up the bin and give the contents a little stir, just fluff them up a bit to get a bit of aeration. Set up the bin alongside this pile and reload it with new leaves. Repeat in year 2, moving the bin over one more time. By the third year the pile that had been the contents of the first bin should be well broken down, black and crumbly, and smell like a walk thru the woods after a rainstorm. You can harvest and use this as you wish and start a new cycle on that spot. If your bin gets too dry you can weave slats from an old window blind into the mesh or line the bin with sheet plastic to help retain the moisture. Another method is just stockpile your leaves in lawn bags. Stuff the bags full of leaves and give them a good wetting with the hose before you close the bag. Poke a number of holes in the bags, A garden fork works well for this. Pile up the bags in an out of the way corner. You should mark the bags in some way to determine what vintage each bag contains i.e. 97-98-99 etc. Let sit for however long needed in your climate and harvest the bounty when ready. You can also use the stockpiled leaves as a brown component of your regular compost at any stage of decomposition. Image by: Monte Leaf Mold