Black Mold on Lilac Bushes

Cheryl

A: Cheryl,

It sounds like sooty mold. This type of mold is associated with aphids, scales, and other sucking insects. The insects excrete a sticky substance called honeydew, that unless washed off by the rain, sticky to the leaves. The spores of sooty molds then travel by wind and land on the sticks honeydew to develop. These molds develop exclusively on honeydew, and although the molds themselves wont harm your plant, they look pretty awful and if you have a large mold problem, the leaves may not receive enough light.

To control sooty mold you need to control the sucking insects that secret the honeydew (in your case, probably aphids or scale).

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