Spray bare branches thoroughly. Young crepe myrtles need a healthy drink at least once a week while they’re dormant and temperatures are cool, and up to five times a week in hot weather or especially dry soil. The most likely suspects are various fungal spores. Sounds like you need to swap your crape myrtle spots. University of California IPM: Scale Management, Missouri Botanical Garden: Lagerstroemia 'Acoma', The United States National Arboretum: Crape Myrtle Questions, Brown Spots and Drops on Fiddle Leaf Figs, How to Care for a Inaba-Shidare Japanese Maple Tree. How do I treat for crape myrtle bark scale? You walk out to your crepe myrtles and you see that the leaves look black. Heavy infestations of crape myrtle aphids can also cause trees to be covered with black sooty mold, but any crape myrtle that is covered with sooty mold should be carefully exa… Fortunately, the common Lady Bug can eat up to 1,000 of these little critters a day! Systemic insecticides are taken up … Sooty mold alone is not a definite indication of CMBS, but if you also find white, felt-covered scales that bleed pink when punctured, you can be sure you have found crape myrtle bark scale. I like to make the first application of insecticide about May 1 to prevent sooty mold. You did not mention what type of pests you are trying to treat or if you wanted to do a foliar spray or a soil drench on your Crape Myrtles. The small CMBS males are winged and will fly to find females and to mate. If there is an aphid infestation, blast the leaves, including their undersides with water to remove the aphids. When crushed, these scales exude pink “blood”-like liquid. Aphids are bothersome little insects that eat Crape Myrtle leaves. Using herbicides during dormant season limits injury to site of application. Although this option isn’t as traditional as the foliar spray it is still highly effective. With crape myrtle, sooty mold does appear on leaves, but it can eventually cover the the trunk. In the U.S., crapemyrtle aphids are monophagous; feeding exclusively on crape myrtle and do not attack or damage other plant species. The aphid is unable to digest fully all the sugar in the plant sap and excretes the excess in a fluid called honeydew. Penn State horticulturalists recommend herbicides that contain 2,4-D, glyphosate, Imazapyr or dicamba. Crape Myrtles are also naturally resistant to most garden variety pests. Mix only enough Bordeaux mixture to use in one session. A dormant oil spray can also be effective at controlling scales on woody ornamentals such as crape myrtles. This can be a difficult pest to control and it may take m… Plants or objects beneath the tree may also be coated with honeydew. Mildew thrives in warm, moist conditions. The crapemyrtle aphid, Tinocallis kahawaluokalani (Kirkaldy), is the most important insect pest of crape myrtle Lagerstroemiaspp. Texas A & M Agrilife Extension: Crape Myrtle Scale: New pest for US? It is of Asian origin, like the crape myrtle tree itself. Aphids are bothersome little insects that eat Crape Myrtle leaves. in the United States. A great product to use which is safe and readily available is Bayer 3 in 1 Insect, Mite & Disease Control. Crepe Myrtle Bark Scale (let’s call it CMBS) is a small insect that appears as a white or gray felt-like encrustation. Dominion 2L contains imidacloprid and is a systemic insecticide which means the plant takes the product up into it and spreads through the whole plant. Most crepe myrtles in gardens are selections of L. indica or hybrids of that specie… Many types of fungal spores appear as shelf-like mushrooms, although some simply appear as a yellowish or brownish growth. Keep treating until the mildew has retreated. Once the mated females produce their ovisacs (egg-containing capsules) and lay eggs, they die. The crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.) The white powder that comes from the leaves of an affected Crape Myrtle are the spores mildew releases in order to reproduce. Table 1. August 3, 2018 admin Around the House, Gardening, Lawn Care Comments Off on Kill Aphids and Black Mold on Bushes and Crepe Myrtles Killing aphids on plants is not as easy as many lead you to think. Heavily infected flowers may fail to open. Partial list of popular crape myrtle cultivars by height : Indicates the cultivar is a release from the U.S. National Arboretum. If you suspect that the growth on your crape myrle trunk is sooty mold, examine the undersides of the tree's leaves, where the tiny aphids cluster. On new growth and in heavy infestations, the scales may be distributed more uniformly on the branch (Figs. My "Tonto" crape myrtles stay covered with aphids and black mildew. The crape myrtle aphid attacks only crape myrtles. Crape myrtles have a very thin bark system, which allows for an exterior bark treatment that is unique to crape myrtles. Spray herbicides on crepe myrtle during growing season. Heavy infestations may cause cosmetic damage that detracts from the visual aesthetics of crape myrtl… Treat with insecticidal soap or neem oil for best results, but wait until evening to apply either or use a shade to protect your plant from potential burns. When using insecticides, applying systemic insecticides to the soil around crape myrtles is the most effective method. Afterward, go back to wetting them thoroughly once a week. Damage occurs when the aphid sucks the juices from the crape myrtle leaves. This is an insect growth regulator that can kill ins… Up close, CMBS is white t… diazinon or malathion, available at most home improvement stores. Our Crape Myrtles have been bred to be Cold Hardy and Disease Resistant. If you want to do a foliar application you will need to use about .45 ML per gallon of water. Patches of white to grayish powdery growth occur on the surfaces of leaves, flowers and new shoots. Each female lays about 60 to 250 eggs, which may over-winter within their ovisacs, and then hatch during mid- to late Apri… If you have aphids on crepe myrtles book a consultation with an arborist using our online form or by calling 703.573.3029. Our most popular choices for these are Talstar P (topical spray, water-based concentrate- use 1 oz per gallon of water) and Dominion 2L (systemic, applied as a root drench; use 0.2 oz per inch of trunk diameter for trees or per foot of shrub height for bushes). Those are not only aphids, but the Crape myrtle aphid, Tinocallis kahawaluokalani. As with most insects, there are several life stages and the appearance of CMBS changes with the stages. Long, cool autumns yield the best leaf display; sudden frosts following warm, humid fall weather often freeze leaves while theyre still green, ruining the show. I would look at some of the dwarf varieties for the front. This often leads to a black fungus, called sooty mold, forming on leaves and branches in mid- to late summer. It also reduces blooms and weakens some trees. 4 through 6). © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Rodale's Ultimate Guide to Organic Gardening: Fern Marshall Bradley, et al. A dormant oil spray can also be effective at controlling scales on woody ornamentals such as crape myrtles. But it is possible for unsightly growth to take over the trunk of the tree itself. Saturate the areas of the crape myrtle covered by lichen. Crape myrtle bark scale is relatively easy to identify. Oil applications can do wonders to nip the aphid cycle in the bud by smothering eggs. Douglas has worked as a staff reporter for the Lakeville Journal newspaper group. University of California IPM: Crape Myrtle. You could also spray a systemic insect control on the trunk and leaves themselves. In one year, there could be at least two generations of CMBS. Water your crepe myrtle 1-5 times a week. Answer: It is usually recommended to do both a topical treatment as well as a systemic treatment for aphids. The crepe myrtles are among the most satisfactory of plants for the South: showy summer flowers, attractive bark, and (in many cases) brilliant fall color make them year-round garden performers. You should begin to see results immediately. Add 3 teaspoons of mild dish soap to 1 gallon plain water. If you want to do a soil drench you will need 3 … Just follow the instructions provided with your insecticide of choice. Although native to southeast Asia, crapemyrtle aphid was described by Kirkaldy from specimens collected in Hawaii. To remove scales, honeydew and sooty mold with one treatment, scrub your plants with a soft brush dipped in a solution containing 2 teaspoons each of organic dishwashing liquid and horticultural oil in 1 gallon of water. Something that you should do this coming winter is spray your tree a couple of times with a horticultural oil, even a dormant oil. Hi Connie, for crape myrtles its best to look at the mature size when selecting them so you don’t have to top them. Or kill the aphids with a homemade insecticide coat. Rinse the trunk after scrubbing it. Thanks to its sugary excrement, it turns crapemyrtles with beautiful honey-colored trunks into black sticks with sticky leaves. Once the fungal growth has reach this stage, cutting down the tree may be the best option, especially if the crape myrtle is large and presents a danger to people or structures. Using crape myrtle aphid-resistant cultivars and insecticide sprays can reduce sooty mold. To remedy this situation, you will need to apply fungicide. You may also use Bayer 3 in 1 Insect, Mite & Disease Control for mildew removal. We also recommendPivot 10. It’s a small sap-feeding insect that lives on the bark of certain plants, especially crapemyrtle. A group of roundish, slow-moving scale insects looks so much like a lumpy growth that gardeners often mistake scales for a plant disease. Systemic insecticides work very well to control the bark scale, but the timing is most effective when applied in late winter/early spring. It is one of the only scales known to infest crape myrtles. However, if you don't happen to have a large supply of Lady Bugs on hand, you can spray your Crape Myrtle with over the counter. Root rots can be prevented by growing plants in well-drained soil. For the back some of the large crape myrtles … You can remove sooty mold and honeydew with a soap spray and soft brush, but to keep it from returning, you'll need to control the insects that leave the honeydew. Crape myrtles are commonly attacked by crape myrtle aphids. However, if you don't happen to have a large supply of Lady Bugs on hand, you can spray your Crape Myrtle with over the counter diazinon or malathion, available at most home improvement stores. Infected parts of the plant are usually distorted and stunted. Fortunately, the common Lady Bug can eat up to 1,000 of these little critters a day! She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Connecticut. Its host is honeydew, a substance excreted by aphids and some other insects. Tags: ants aphids crape myrtle crepe myrtle drooping leaves honeydew lacewing ladybugs sooty mold yellow spots on leaves The eggs remain protected within the white colored ovisacs until the crawlers (immatures) hatch and disperse onto the branches. To treat for Crape Myrtle Bark Scale, use Dominion 2L. Washing your crepe myrtles with a strong spray of hose water may be enough to dislodge small aphid populations and honeydew. When trees are just beginning to bud, mix 7 1/2 tablespoons of a dormant oil solution with 1 gallon of water. Heavy infestations of crape myrtle bark scale are easy to spot and identify. Most often, mold problems, such as powdery mildew, associated with crape myrtle can be found primarily on its leaves, as can fungal spot. Ellen Douglas has written on food, gardening, education and the arts since 1992. The disease is most serious in shady, damp locations, especially where plants … Continue on this watering schedule for the first two months. Existing scales can be washed off, along with sooty mold, using a soft-bristled brush and a pail of soapy water -- about 3 teaspoons mild liquid soap to 1 gallon water. Herbicide application can come before or after cutting to the stump. As with aphids, treating crape myrtles for the pests is the best way to eradicate sooty mold. For this reason, sooty mold will often feel sticky. Sooty mold looks much like it sounds -- as if black ashes had been rubbed over part of a plant. Systemic herbicides provide effective control of crape myrtle trees by killing their roots. These can develop in the center of the tree, but wounds or natural cavities on the outside of the trunk will encourage spores to reproduce there as well. Before using any pesticides make sure you have proper PPE (Gloves, protective eyewear, safety mask) on hand and ready to go. CMBS might be able to overwinter in the adult female and egg life stages, and crawlers and later stage nymphs have been observed overwintering under the loose bark and in cracks and crevices of crapemyrtles in our area. The control options for CMBS include avoiding buying infested plants, choosing alternatives to crape myrtles in the landscape, destroying infected plants, or the application of insecticide treatments. The herbicide is designed to travel through the crape myrtle's vascular system to disable it. Previously, she served as a communication specialist in the nonprofit field. Adult females are felt-like white or gray encrustations that stick to crape myrtle parts ranging from small twigs to large trunks. Powdery Mildew: Powdery mildew is one of the most common problems of crape myrtle, and it is caused by the fungus Erysiphe lagerstroemia. Crepe myrtle growing season is typically between the spring and fall. Coat the base of the tree and everywhere else scales congregate. Spray on a clear day with little or no wind and temperatures between 40 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit in spring. Growths other than sooty mold can leave their mark on the trunks of crape myrtle trees. During the tree's growth phase, herbicides will translocate through the plant. Insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, sprayed on the pests and over the plant, kills the pests on contact. CMBS might be found anywhere on crepe myrtles bark, and often appears near pruning sites and branch crotches of more mature wood. Follow the instructions included with your fungicide of choice. If you are just now spotting the problem, you can clean off the trunk with warm, soapy water to remove the black sooty mold. Using a garden hose sprayer, coat the leaves thoroughly, especially lower leaves. That way the insects that are piercing and sucking insects, such as aphids and scales, will be affected. 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