Sooty mould
clarawicks
Posts: 53
morning
further my previous thread on aphids on my acer, I decided I'd tackle another mystery that has puzzled us since we moved in.. why our beautiful fragant honeysuckle was covered in black soot. We've always thought the guttering from the conservatory must be overflowing at times, and spewing out dirt etc down the plant. So hubby dutifully cleans gutters and wipes all leaves, still black on plant.
i consult the god of google, discover sooty mould... rhs say look above for aphids, mites etc. First glance, no tiny fly like aphids like my acer I think...
then I look closer at a stem, think "oh it's a bit knobbly, are they new shoots, is it the woodiness of the stem looking bumpy?"
NO.
to my horror I realise it's my next garden horror!!! What in the name of Monty are these?! Whole plant COVERED in the things!
Can I save it?! Honestly there are so many, is this a battle I can win??
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Posts
It looks like a bab infestation of mealy bugs, lm pretty sure you can get a bug spray for this if you don't mind using chemicals.
The sooty mouldy is caused by aphids, it's the secretion ( poo ) from them you might also have ants in that area I think I read that ants milk aphids,so have a look and get rid of both.
Bab should of course read bad, how I hate predictive text.
Chrissy I just text my husband that we have a big problem in the garden, he rang in a panic, it was supposed to say "bug"!
thanks, its such a lovely mature plant I don't want to lose it, so will try the garden centre for a suitable treatment.
so this week, that's slugs, aphids, and now mealy bugs... what next!!
Those are scale insects, not mealy bugs. They can be rubbed off but that will be a lot of work. The only other thing which will work would be a systemic insecticide like provado, but that will affect all insects and is very bad for bees.
Give the scale ('scuse the pun!) of the problem, I would highly recommend that you cut the honeysuckle back to the ground instead. It will almost certainly sprout fresh shoots and although you will get no flowers this year, you will end up with a much healthier plant.
Yes scale not mealy bug sorry, same procedure though.
After another inspection I think Bob you are right, it's going to need to be cut right back ?
Such a shame, its about 6ft tall and otherwise very healthy ☹️
It'll soon grow up again, bigger and better than ever - just make sure it gets plenty of water - drought stresses honeysuckles and when a plant is stressed they succumb to pests even more.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Clara,
Before you cut your plant down it might be worth trying a spray of neem oil solution.
I use this for sawfly and lily beetles ... I haven't tried it for scale / sooty mould but this link suggests it should work .
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/insects/control-plant-scale.htm
I make my own up rather than buy it ready made .... let me know if you'd like to do this and I'll post the info.
Bee
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime