What is it? This is a fungus that grows on the sticky sweet honeydew that is secreted by many sap sucking insects such as mealybug, planthoppers, leafhoppers, psyllids, whiteflies, aphids and scale insects. Wherever the honeydew occurs, sooty moulds may grow. A thick coating of sooty mould makes plants look ugly. On fruit trees, the fruit quality is affected.
Can we live with it? Although sooty mould does not infect plants, they cause damage by coating the leaves so that sunlight penetration is reduced or inhibited and photosynthesis is reduced, which may stunt plant growth. Coated leaves may also prematurely senesce and die, causing premature leaf drop. Fruits or vegetables covered with sooty moulds are edible.
How is it controlled? Prune off affected leaves. Or remove the sooty mould with a solution of mild soap and warm water. Spray new foliage with Pest oil or Ecooil to prevent the sap suckling insects from landing on the plant again.
Sooty mould, scale and mealy bug can build up in plants that are stressed or that lack vigour. When plants lose vigour they become susceptible to pests and to disease. Gardenias and citrus become stressed if they are not well fed and watered. Scale insects infest the plant and will secrete honeydew, a sweet substance that grows sooty mould. Once the plant loses vigour the problem is nearly irreversible.So the three problems exist together but there is one solution (thankfully). Spray the leaves with EcoOil and repeat weekly until the sooty mould disppears. Regularly spraying glossy leaf plants such as lilly pilly, gardenias, citrus, spathyphyllum, Zanziber Gem, viburnum etc with EcoOil with prevent all these pests and diseases. If you occasionally spray your leaves, they will remain healthy and glossy and insects just slip off.
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