Alan Magnus-Bennett

by Alan Magnus-Bennett
(Fife, Scotland )

I have carob seeds from California and down to my last seedling. I live in Scotland and grew the seedlings in my greenhouse. Since bringing it indoors from the cold the leaves have started to drop. Can you help from here on. It is about 5 inches in height.

Comments for Alan Magnus-Bennett

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

Dec 01, 2021
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
Could it be the humidity and wet soil ?
by: Caroline

Below is an extract from a post I found online which describes your symptoms, and they are due to wetness. Does this fit the bill ?

Disease Problem
Carob trees are strong plants that rarely experience major disease problems. However, due to their drought-tolerance and dislike for wet conditions, waterlogged soil may cause decline. In alkaline soils, leaves begin to lose their color when soil remains wet. Excessive moisture causes plants to take in higher volumes of water than necessary, often too quickly for the plant to process. Wet conditions lead to die back, stunted growth, poorly developed foliage and nutrient deficiencies. In addition, standing water promotes the development of root rot that ultimately ends in plant death.

Here in Cape Town carobs grow as street trees and are never irrigated, and they seem to like this lack of care. I lost all my carob seedlings too, about twenty plants, after planting them out in the garden. Thank you for your question. I will stop watering the survivor today !

But the trouble with having only one is that they can only produce fruit with a male and female tree. Some can be bisexual but you still need cross pollination.

The carobs are saying in their own way, they are unhappy with our watering or climate regime and they want to go. If it interests you, you can do something amazing for species diversity and ecology by cultivating rare species from your immediate locality which are more suited to your climate, perhaps a plant that is threatened with extinction and that is host to an endangered butterfly or wasp ? That should be exciting ! There are plenty of carobs all over California, and Cape Town that are doing just fine, their survival is not threatened. It could be both easier and more worthwhile to put your beautiful green fingered horticultural passion and energy where the tar hits the road in our battle to maintain species diversity on the planet.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Please give me comments and questions.

SEARCH


Check out our selection of ecological designs printed on T-shirts, accessories and decor items. The designs are about soil regeneration, indigenous Cape wild flowers, wild African animals and other fauna, as well as bible quotes and geometric patterns.



Our New Book  

DIY Grey Water Wetland

Build your own system and grow fruit and vegetables with your dish water and other waste water at home

Order the Kindle E-book for the SPECIAL PRICE of only

$3.95




Recent Articles

  1. Pruning advice

    Jan 15, 23 07:46 AM

    I've got a num num hedge on our side-walk but struggle to find the right tools to keep it nice and low as well as square. What tools do you use for pruning

    Read More

  2. Saving seeds after fermenting

    Dec 02, 22 01:18 PM

    Hello, I am very curious as to whether you found the seeds to be fertile after having left it to ferment for a month. I am processing a large amount of

    Read More

  3. The 3 Wild Plums.

    Dec 02, 22 12:51 PM

    I have 3 Wild Plums in my garden. I moved in 25 years ago and they were here already. Now I have trouble with my neighbors because the garden wall is

    Read More




How to make

$ -MONEY - $

with earthworms

The Book 

"How to start a profitable worm business on a shoestring budget 

Order a printed copy from "Amazon"  at the SPECIAL PRICE of only

$11.95

or a digital version from the "Kindle" store at the SPECIAL PRICE of only

$4.54




BLUE GARDEN FLOWER ALBUM 

HOW TO CONTROL FRUITFLIES

How to make good Compost.

HOW TO MAKE GOOD COMPOST



Worms Recycle Dog Poop