Crepe myrtles leaves black?

[lilwhitelie]

My crepe myrtles have been having very small winged bugs on the back of the leaves. I bought stuff and sprayed. Later I saw what looked like small eggs on leaves. Again only on back of leaves. Then the leaves started turning black and falling off. Just looking terrible and wanted help as the same thing happened last year!

[stevea]

spray with fungicide

[Northbigmuddy]

Call your extension agent I think yard and garden stuff is a big deal for them now. Could be any number of things. Aphids come to mind but the ones I see are greenish.

[Morris1]

Sooty mold appears as a black film or powdery coating on leaves and stems. The blackened plant parts are often the most obvious sign of aphid infestation. This layer of black fungus can however shade the leaves and interfere with photosynthesis. Just a thought.

[Dux Be Us]

spray with fungicide

What he said...Ill cut mine back real good as well

[eSJay]

yep - it's not eggs, it's a fungus.

[lilwhitelie]

yep - it's not eggs, it's a fungus.

What are the small flylike creatures???? You have to look really close to see them but they are on the back of the leaves. I sprayed with stuff for aphids but thought the small white sandlike things stuck to the leaves could be eggs after what I killed had died and I was just fighting a never ending battle. WHen I mean small.. I mean SMALL. ANd they don't fly off. But there are soooo manyy on just a single leaf.

[adame]

you have an aphid problem, get rid of them and that will get rid of your sooty mold

[hiballer]

Sounds like whiteflies to me. If you move the limbs or the plant do the flies rise off of the plant? If so, You can spray the plant top and bottom of leaves with insect soap mixture every 4-5 days about three times and you can control them this way. They are also suseptible to pyrethrum spays. I have had excellent success with the soap. Hope this helps.

[eSJay]

yep - it's not eggs, it's a fungus.

What are the small flylike creatures???? You have to look really close to see them but they are on the back of the leaves. I sprayed with stuff for aphids but thought the small white sandlike things stuck to the leaves could be eggs after what I killed had died and I was just fighting a never ending battle. WHen I mean small.. I mean SMALL. ANd they don't fly off. But there are soooo manyy on just a single leaf.

can you take a picture and post on here?
in addition to direct damage, aphids can damage plants indirectly by secreting honeydew which is a perfect substrate for the growth of sooty mold fungi. dealing with the aphids will eventually get rid of the mold.
i don't rekon it would hurt to go ahead & treat with a fungicide.

[MudHog]

Dithane M-45 is what I use for fungus. I had a bad case of mold on my hibiscus, but cleared it up. I find it lasts a good while too. Also works wonders for black spot on roses.

[lilwhitelie]

yep - it's not eggs, it's a fungus.

What are the small flylike creatures???? You have to look really close to see them but they are on the back of the leaves. I sprayed with stuff for aphids but thought the small white sandlike things stuck to the leaves could be eggs after what I killed had died and I was just fighting a never ending battle. WHen I mean small.. I mean SMALL. ANd they don't fly off. But there are soooo manyy on just a single leaf.

can you take a picture and post on here?
in addition to direct damage, aphids can damage plants indirectly by secreting honeydew which is a perfect substrate for the growth of sooty mold fungi. dealing with the aphids will eventually get rid of the mold.
i don't rekon it would hurt to go ahead & treat with a fungicide.



Thanks...you got it dead on. After a google I found some stuff by Bayer that you put at base of tree. Seems to be a big problem with all the info I found on forums.

aphid.jpg

[dukmisr2005]

A good spray with dawn dish soap will work too. And a good washing with a water hose will wash the aphids and mold off. Then spray with anything to control or kill aphids. Go to a coop and ask them what to spray. I would think acephate would work but may kill more than you want. Lorsban, karate, ammo, are a few that come to mind that will work for them and skeeters, wasps, bees, etc.

[MudHog]

Thanks...you got it dead on. After a google I found some stuff by Bayer that you put at base of tree. Seems to be a big problem with all the info I found on forums.

Words of wisdom when using a "systemic" as you have found. A systemic works quickest when the plant is actively growing. If the plant is dormat due to climate (dry, hot, etc), the systemic won't get into the plant all that quickly. For surface treatment, I would get a good mix of regular dawn soap and water and spray the myrtle real good. Make sure you get UNDER the leaves as spray just the tops won't help the problem. To make things easier, get your tip to spray a heavy mist as opposed to a stream. The mist will get you more of a 360° spraying and you can stick the wand into the branches and turn it around. As mentioned, do this every three days and you will see results quickly. I would even say that the soap and water will give you quicker results than the systemic, even if the plant is actively growing and drawing in nutrients.


I always relate a systemic to a maintaince program, than a quick cure type program. As in, get the problem under control and then use the systemic to keep it going.