Description and characteristics of the plant, how to grow a carob tree, the reproduction of ceratonia, the fight against possible pests and diseases, facts to note, types. Ceratonia (Ceratonia) is often found under the name Carob tree, and it is also called Tsargrad horns or carob (carob), although we are talking about only one variety, and not about the whole genus of Ceratonia plants. It belongs to the large family of legumes (Fabaceae). This representative of the flora has long been known to mankind and it was grown mainly on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where in some places it even ran wild and created large thickets. In this oligotypic genus, there are only two varieties: Ceratonia siliqua and Ceratonia oreothauma.
The plant bears its scientific name thanks to the translation of the Greek word "ceration" or "ceras", which means "horn". The fruits of ceratonia became such an analogy for the ancient Greeks. And the specific epithet originates from the Latin word “siliqua”, which means “pod, bean”. You can often hear the following names of the carob tree (since if they talk about this plant, they mean this particular species): Tsaregrad pods, sweet horn, locust tree, as well as crane peas, Mediterranean acacia and carat tree and many others.
Basically, the height of the ceratonia is within 6–12 m. Its crown is rather wide and evergreen. The crown consists of leaves with a pinnate and pinnate shape, dense, leathery to the touch. The foliage is dark green. With its outlines, the tree is very reminiscent of the white acacia. The plant prefers to settle on dry and stony substrates, while launching its powerful root shoots into multiple crevices and cracks in the soil surface.
During flowering, rather small flowers are formed, from which racemose inflorescences are collected. The flower's cup is not decorative, and it quickly falls off. The flower has no corolla. It is the female flowers that give rise to the fruits of ceratonia. But it is necessary to plant trees with female and male flowers next to them so that they are pollinated.
Of great value are the fruits - beans, which are 10–25 cm long and about 2–4 cm wide, with a thickness of 0.5–1 cm. Their surface is painted in brown color, which does not open. In addition to the sweet and juicy pulp, the beans inside contain seeds. The pulp is sweet, it contains up to 50% sugar. The seeds contain the polysaccharide polygalactomannan, which contributes to their hardness.
A plant in nature can live up to several hundred years and bear fruit for a period of 80-100 years, so it is not surprising that the properties and characteristics of ceratonia have long been known to mankind. If the plant is young, then 5-10 kg of fruit are obtained from it per year, but as the carob grows up, its yield increases. Its performance can go up to 100-200 kg. If the tree is healthy and strong, then it can bring up to 250 kg of beans per year.
Today the carob tree is usually cultivated in many countries of the Mediterranean coast, which include Spain, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and also grows ceratoniyat leguminous in Malta and Cyprus. It can be found in the subtropical territory of India, in Argentina and Brazil, it did not ignore the African continent (Egypt) and the Middle East (Syria, Israel and Palestine). America also "boasts" the presence of plantings of ceratonia. And on the Black Sea coast you can often see a growing carob tree - in the Caucasus and in the regions of Abkhazia.
Rules for growing carob in room conditions
When cultivating at home, it must be borne in mind that ceratonia grows very slowly, but if the basic rules of care are not violated, then you can grow this tree on your windowsill.
- Lighting for "Tsargrad pods" you need a bright one, but devoid of direct streams of ultraviolet radiation in the summer afternoon. Therefore, it is better to place the pot with the plant on the windowsills of windows facing east or west. If the ceratonia is located in the northern location, then additional lighting will have to be carried out so that its branches do not lengthen too much, stretching towards inaccessible lighting. Phytolamps are used for this. The plant will also be comfortable on the southern window, but it will have to be shaded at lunchtime. All this is because in nature, high temperatures are compensated by the movement of air masses, which cannot be arranged in a room.
- Growing temperature The carob tree should not go beyond 25 degrees in the spring-summer period, but it is important to arrange a cool content in the winter months so that the ceratonia has time to rest. In this case, the heat indicators should be 15-18 degrees and not lower. In the summertime, it is recommended to take the carob tree out into the air.
- Cultivation moisture should be quite high - 85%. This can only be achieved by regularly spraying the foliage. In winter, at low temperatures, care should be different. During this period, household steam generators or humidifiers are installed nearby, or a pot with ceratonia is placed in a pallet, at the bottom of which there is chopped moss or expanded clay (pebbles, clay shards) and a little water is poured. The bottom of the pot should not touch the liquid.
- Watering in spring and summer it is matured abundantly, and with the arrival of winter - moderate. Water is used only soft and warm (20-25 degrees). The surface of the soil in the pot becomes a reference point - if it has dried out, then it is time for watering. The leaked water from the stand is drained after 10-15 minutes.
- Fertilizers for carob, complex in liquid form is used. The period of their introduction is from spring to September. The frequency of feeding is once every 14 days. It is better to dissolve the preparations in water for irrigation, but the main thing is not to overdo it with dressings.
- Transplant and soil selection. At home, the growth rate of ceratonia increases. If the root system has entwined the soil, then in the springtime you can transplant by the transshipment method. In this case, the plant is carefully removed from the pot, and then, without destroying the earthen coma, is transferred to a new flowerpot. Basically, a transplant is required every 2-3 years. The pot is selected large by 3-5 cm in diameter. In a new container, holes are made in the bottom so that excess water flows out and does not stagnate. And also a drainage layer is laid in the pot, which will prevent waterlogging of the soil. Such material can be medium-sized pebbles, expanded clay, broken shards of ceramics, but some flower growers use parts of crushed bricks, previously sifted from dust. The soil must be of high quality, you cannot use garden soil or sand from the yard. It is better if the qualities of lightness, looseness and nutritional value are inherent in it, to be stony and a little calcareous. Combine sod, leafy soil, humus, a little fine gravel and lime.
Indoor breeding steps
In order to obtain a new carob tree, the seed method is used. It is necessary to select the healthiest and strongest seeds from the pod. Planting is carried out in a moist peat-sandy substrate, or you can use a universal soil into which the seeds are immersed and sprinkled with peat on top. Some growers recommend using ready-made peat pots, so as not to injure the roots of young ceratonia later and simply plant seedlings without removing them from the container, or when the plants grow, they use the transshipment method so that the root system does not experience injury.
After sowing the seeds into the soil, the containers should be covered with a transparent film or placed under glass, so more moisture will be retained. The temperature during germination is maintained within 22-25 degrees, and the place where containers with crops are placed should not be in direct sunlight, otherwise it will burn young sprouts. But in this case, you must not forget to arrange air baths for your crops (ventilate) every day in order to shake off condensation from the shelter. Otherwise, high humidity will lead to decay. If the substrate begins to dry out on the surface, then it is sprayed with soft water from a spray bottle.
Often, a terrarium is used for growing carob, where containers with crops are placed. The terrarium is covered with glass and the microclimate necessary for seed germination is established.
Even when young sprouts hatch, you should not immediately remove the shelter, you need to let them grow a little stronger. A week can go on like this, the seedlings mature, and then the shelter is removed, and young ceratonia are accustomed to indoor conditions. When a pair of true leaves forms from a seedling, it is necessary to transfer to more fertile soil in separate pots, if they are planted together.
Difficulties in growing carob and ways to overcome them
The most interesting thing is that the ceratonia is protected from the attack of harmful insects and therefore it is considered a sacred tree in its places of natural growth. But such a property in carob is observed only in nature, and when cultivated at home, the plant is weakened and suffers from a spider mite or mealybug.
If a thin cobweb is seen on leaf plates or in internodes, the foliage began to acquire yellowness, and young leaves grow deformed and soon fall off, then we can talk about an attack by a spider mite. And when white lumps appear on the back of the leaf or in the nodes between them, resembling pieces of cotton wool or a sugary sticky bloom, then these are manifestations of a mealybug and its excrement.
You will need to wipe the foliage and twigs with solutions that help eliminate harmful insects:
- Soapy, which is made from grated laundry soap (about 300 grams), diluted in a bucket of water. Then the liquid is infused for a day, filtered and ready for wiping.
- Oil. It is obtained by dissolving a few drops of rosemary essential oil in a liter jar of water.
- Alcohol, purchased at the pharmacy, tincture of calendula.
You can prepare a similar action solutions from onion husks or garlic gruel, infused tobacco. But such funds do not always bring a positive result, therefore, if after a week the pests are not destroyed, then they are sprayed with a chemical preparation - an insecticide, for example, Aktara, Aktellik or Fitoverm.
Facts to note about the ceratonia plant
It is curious that all the seeds of ceratonia, as if for selection, have an equal mass and since biblical times they have been used as a measure of weight, since their mass was 0.19 grams. Therefore, even the unit of measure was due to the fruit of this plant - the carat (creation). The purity of gold and precious stones was also measured.
If you break a dried carob pod, you can clearly hear the smell of yeast, because it is not uncommon that this plant in some national languages is referred to as the "Breadfruit of John" or "Bread of St. John". There is a legend related to this that John the Baptist, wandering through the desert, ate only the fruits of ceratonia.
If you grind the dried pods of ceratonia, you get a powder called carob, and it is used by people for whom caffeine is contraindicated as cocoa powder.
Ceratonia fruits were known back in tsarist Russia as a rather popular and expensive delicacy. They were called "Tsargrad pods" or "sweet horns". Beans were brought from the territories of countries located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The fruits were removed long before ripening and laid out on a dense cloth to dry. The fruits were in this state for several days until the pulp filling the beans was fermented. But only wealthy people could afford such a sweetness, since it was quite expensive.
When the fruits are dried and then ground to a powdery state, they are not only a valuable food product, but also recommended by nutritionists for people suffering from diabetes. Due to the substances that the pod powder contains, beans are also used in official medicine and are included in the pharmacopoeial lists of many countries (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and others). This drug has expectorant, antibacterial and astringent properties, and also helps to stop the blood, is applicable as a diuretic, and also contributes to the overall strengthening of the body.
Ceratonia beans are used to obtain a gum used in the manufacture of medicines that are recommended for colds and coughs, as support for the immune system and gastrointestinal disorders. And where the carob tree grows and is cultivated in natural conditions, then traditional healers prescribe to take the fruits and bark to combat diarrhea, helminths, as well as in the form of an expectorant and diuretic.
However, there are also contraindications for the consumption of ceratonia beans: it is required not to abuse the "Tsargrad horns" to pregnant and lactating women, and also to offer them to young children with caution. It has been noticed that when using bean syrup with dairy products, you can cause not only nausea and flatulence, but also provoke diarrhea.
Description of the varieties of ceratonia
- Ceratonia oreothauma (Ceratonia oreothauma) mainly distributed in the eastern part of the Hajar Mountains in northern Oman. There it can be found at an absolute altitude of about 1500 m. There is an isolated subpopulation located in Hadhramaut in South Yemen. It is an evergreen tree, which reaches 4–8 m in height, young branches are tightly pressed and have pubescence. The leaves are 5–17 cm long. There are 5–12 pairs of leaf lobes, they are located alternately, or opposite each other. The shape of the leaflets is from oblong to ovoid or obovate. Their sizes are 0, 6-4, 5x0, 2-1, 7 cm. Hairy, on both sides or from above can be naked. When flowering, sessile inflorescences are formed with parameters 2.5–6 cm in length. They have 40-50 flowers. Flowers are unisexual: male flowers are 3-6 cm long with anthers growing up to 1-1.5 mm in length; female - have a subcylindrical pistil. The beans are reddish-brown in color, reaching sizes of 1, 5-10x1-1, 3 cm. When dried, they taper between the seeds. The shape of the seeds is oblong to ovoid. Their dimensions are 5–6.5 mm long and about 3.5–4.5 mm wide.
- Pod Ceratonia (Ceratonia siliqua), which is called the Carob tree or Tsargrad horns. The plant is represented by an evergreen tree, reaching a height of 6–12 m. The deciduous crown is wide and branched. The leaves have a pinnate or pinnately dissected shape. They have a dense leathery surface to the touch. When flowering, small buds are formed, connecting in a racemose inflorescence. The calyx of the flower does not differ in beauty and soon falls off. The flower has no corolla. The fruits are beans, which measure 10–25 cm in length, about 2–4 cm in width and close to 0.5–1 cm in thickness. Their color is brown; when ripe, the pods do not open. Inside there are seeds surrounded by sweet pulp.
For more on carob, see the following video:
