[david glen]

I have a number of carob trees whose pods I allow local farmhands to collect for free, since I am told that leaving them to rot on the ground attracts flies. I am not sure if this is true or only their best selling point.

Apart from the fly problem, would it be wise to use them as mulch?  And would it matter if unshredded?

Alternatively, would it be beneficial to dig them into the soil  as a slow-working fertiliser? Again, does it matter if unshredded?

Any advice regarding alternative beneficial uses of these pods would be appreciated.

( I have trawled the MGS journals but have failed to find anything but general references)

[Alisdair]

Carob makes an excellent mulch, which will work in best if it's shredded first. We've never seen flies attracted to the pods that fall from our single female tree (the other are all male).
Or you could make them into a chocolate substitute; at the MGS meeting on Cyprus, John Joynes arranged for us to hold events in a former carob mill, which used to be an important producer of what on Cyprus was known as Black Gold, for its importance to the island's economy. I believe carob is still used in the "dog chocolates" that don't use cocoa (which is poisonous to dogs) - dogs love the flavour of the beans.

[david glen]

Alisdair

Many thanks for this advice. I will follow it.

I wonder if you have though about digging it in as a fertiliser? I need to enrich my soil which is extremely poor and I thought to use the means at hand ?

Regards

David

[Alisdair]

David, I haven't, but I have read that people have done this in the past. As you know the pods are pretty robust, so even if shredded may take quite a long time to break down. At the very least they'd add humus.
A recent scientific investigation (see here) seems to suggest that there is something in carob pods which does indeed stimulate plant growth and flowering.

[david glen]

Many thanks indeed!

[Hilary]

I put these photos here but had intended them for  the "Autumn Colour"
section.
I saw the yellow flowers  on a tree near the sea here on the 10th October and the red flowers at Aghios Theodoros on the 23rd October.
Do the flowers change colour from yellow to red or are the trees different?

[Alisdair]

It does look as if the flowers in your top picture are on a female tree, and bottom tree is female. If the flowers are not yet open a sure way of telling the difference is by a close look at the base of the tiny individual flowers - on the female trees you can see the little ovaries.
I've put a link to your pictures on the autumn colour thread.

[Hilary]

Thanks.
I will look mre closely next time I see a Carob tree

[JTh]

So is this one showing female flowers?

[Alisdair]

Yes, I think that's right, despite the misleadingly anther-like appearance!

[JTh]

Thank you Alisdair, then I have learnt something new, again.

[Cali]

In Mallorca last week, one of the most interesting gardens we visited was that of a local  MGS branch member, an experienced plantswoman with a relatively new garden where she collects, experiments and learns. What does she use for mulch among the more mature plants? Carobs. She uses them whole. When I asked if she'd tried shredding she said that besides being time and energy-consuming in such quantities she didn't think it would make much difference. She didn't mention flies or rats as a problem. It occurred to me that once shredded their sweet agent might bind them into an impermeable mat.

[John]

I think all of the three pictures are of male flowers. The first two haven't developed as much as the one Jorun posted. The reddish form is probably just that a colour form, at least I think so!

[Alisdair]

John is right, I think. I'll have a close look at our trees when we go out in the middle of the month.

[Alisdair]

I've now taken photos of the flowers on both male and female carob trees on our plot. As you can see, John was right, and the difference between the prominent paired anthers on the male flowers and the even more prominent single style of the female flowers is very clear.
Here they are, male first: