| You have what is called 'black sooty mold' on your camellias. That, however, is not the problem! Black sooty mold is a harmless simple mold that grows exclusively on the sugary excretions of sucking insects. It is always a one hundred percent indication that pest insects are either on the affected plant, or above it! In the case of camellias, I would bet money that you have a serious outbreak of tea scale. Turn the leaves over and you will find very tiny brown specks and a white fuzzy coating in some cases. Tea scale. Once you get rid of the scale insect, the black sooty mold will disappear on its own. The attached link illustrates a bad infestation of active tea scale. If we were to turn the leaf right side up, we would probably see black sooty mold. BSM, by the way, will also grow on lawn furniture, car roofs, etc. if the excretion drops from insect infested trees. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Tea scale
