Can't tell you about the leaves, but your plant should be kept in the shade until it re-establishes. You should have watered once after transplanting and then again later depending on your weather, but don't drown it.

I don't think it would hurt to take away the oak leaves for now.

I hope others can be more helpful to you. Good luck.

Thanks for the response, I just wanted to add I did the watering maybe did soak the soil, but there is a good drain at the bottom of the pot. I know I could remove the oak leaves, I'm just hesitant to disturb it further as it is full of gulf frit caterpillars and that would mean pulling the three plants out of the pot, dumping the leaves then refilling this rather large pot again but this time with all potting soil further stressing the plants as well as killing many of the caterpillars.

I could do that, but am hoping I don't have to. I just started thinking maybe the leaves were causing some type of a reaction.

I wasn't sure where to post this and hope this was the right place.

The leaves didn't hurt a thing....when you water does the excess run out of the bottom? My concern is that you have plugged up the drainage hole.
Linda C

From where did you transplant your passionfruit plants - and what size are they? And what kind? (Edibles or ornamentals.)

If they were seedlings then they need a rich mix with excellent drainage. Passionfruit do not like to be waterlogged. If you plan to plant out into the garden against a trellis then planting them on a mound will help a lot - and keep the usual run of molds at bay.

Be sure that your big pot has a hole at least as big across as a fat thumb. Anything smaller is too slow in moving surplus water.

If you put fresh leaves in the bottom as a sort of filter they can start to rot and ferment and cause a spot of havoc. If you are trying to keep creepies out of the mix use a patch of a fine mesh - stiff - to cover the hole. Your garden centre may have the sort that some bonsai people use for their potting up.

Oak leaves tend to make a soil quite acidic. Passionfruit prefer a mildly acidic medium. You can achieve this by adding well-rotted (you can't tell what they were) leaf-mold to the potting mix.

For my part - being a reckless soul - I'd empty them out now and do the repotting. Then I'd put them into very filtered light for about two to three weeks - particularly at this time of the year - and keep them barely moist.

If you plan to plant them out know that the black passionfruit is pretty short lived, and if you want a reliable supply of fruit then you need to start new seeds every year or so. As you live in Florida - you may need to be careful about planting the banana passionfruit (yellow, furry skin, egg-shape) because it has a strong tendency to escape and run wild. Pretty, but a real curse in nature.

Oak leaves are NOT highly acidic. Their use could cause a broblem by clogging up the drainage, as Linda said, or by turning into a soggy mess in the bottom. Did you use a good container medium for this transplanting project, or some soil from the yard? Any soilless potting medium, being peat based as they all are, are suitable for any plant that requires a mildly acidic pH. If you want something to place in the bottom of the container that will allow for perfect drainage of excess water, use a layer of styrafoam packing peanuts.

Did you transplant them from smaller containers, or did you dig them from the yard and transplant them? The physical act of repotting container grown plants into another container should cause no shock whatsoever, unless your soil is horrible or your aftercare practices not appropriate.