Black sooty deposit on Bottlebrush

G'day,

The carpark where I work has a number of Bottlebrush trees, most of which
have a black sooty sort of a deposit on the trunk and branches ... almost
like someone has lit a fire under the tree.

I haven't seen any little critters, but from searching on the interwebnet
thingy, it seems the might have a bit of a scale infestation(?)

Any other suggestions as to what it might be, and what the right treatment
would be?

Ralph [ Mo, 10 April 2006 11:49 ] [ ID #110283 ]

Re: Black sooty deposit on Bottlebrush

"Tonto_Goldstein" <someone [at] microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:443a2a0f_4 [at] news.chariot.net.au...
> G'day,
>
> The carpark where I work has a number of Bottlebrush trees, most of which
> have a black sooty sort of a deposit on the trunk and branches ... almost
> like someone has lit a fire under the tree.
>
> I haven't seen any little critters, but from searching on the interwebnet
> thingy, it seems the might have a bit of a scale infestation(?)
>
> Any other suggestions as to what it might be, and what the right treatment
> would be?
>
>
>
>
I remember having seen this on several natives at mum and dad's place, and
it was associated with scale infection. Whether the scale caused it, or
simply took advantage of an already sick tree, I'm not sure. Try treating it
with white oil.

meeee [ Mo, 10 April 2006 12:25 ] [ ID #110284 ]

Re: Black sooty deposit on Bottlebrush

In article <443a2a0f_4 [at] news.chariot.net.au>,
"Tonto_Goldstein" <someone [at] microsoft.com> wrote:

> I haven't seen any little critters, but from searching on the interwebnet
> thingy, it seems the might have a bit of a scale infestation(?)
>
> Any other suggestions as to what it might be, and what the right treatment
> would be?

It's probably sooty mould, which IIRC can be caused by a scale infestation.
We have bottlebrushes planted as street trees, and most of them have it. You
could try a bit of pruning to let more light into the centre of the tree.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

Chookie [ Di, 11 April 2006 01:31 ] [ ID #110289 ]

Re: Black sooty deposit on Bottlebrush

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Chookie wrote:

>In article <443a2a0f_4 [at] news.chariot.net.au>,
> "Tonto_Goldstein" <someone [at] microsoft.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>>I haven't seen any little critters, but from searching on the interwebnet
>>thingy, it seems the might have a bit of a scale infestation(?)
>>
>>Any other suggestions as to what it might be, and what the right treatment
>>would be?
>>
>>
>
>It's probably sooty mould, which IIRC can be caused by a scale infestation.
>We have bottlebrushes planted as street trees, and most of them have it. You
>could try a bit of pruning to let more light into the centre of the tree.
>
>
>
Ant "farm" scale insects, which they look after. Try some white oil. It
sufficates the scale. Also try and get rid of the ants.
An argentinian ant eater would be grouse, but we have to settle for
spiny ant eaters. Er hard to get. So poison ? Boiling water
Flood them ? Er even the local pest people are at a wits end. Nothing
seems to stop em.

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Chookie wrote:
<blockquote
cite="midehrebeniuk-88D6C6.09312711042006 [at] news-vip.optusnet.com.au"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">In article <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:443a2a0f_4 [at] news.chariot.net.au"><443a2a0f_4 [at] news.chariot.net.au></a>,
"Tonto_Goldstein" <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:someone [at] microsoft.com"><someone [at] microsoft.com></a> wrote:

</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">I haven't seen any little critters, but from searching on the interwebnet
thingy, it seems the might have a bit of a scale infestation(?)

Any other suggestions as to what it might be, and what the right treatment
would be?
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">
It's probably sooty mould, which IIRC can be caused by a scale infestation.
We have bottlebrushes planted as street trees, and most of them have it. You
could try a bit of pruning to let more light into the centre of the tree.

</pre>
</blockquote>
Ant "farm" scale insects, which they look after. Try some white oil. It
sufficates the scale. Also try and get rid of the ants.<br>
An argentinian ant eater would be grouse, but we have to settle for
spiny ant eaters. Er hard to get. So poison ?  Boiling water <br>
Flood them ? Er even the local pest people are at a wits end. Nothing
seems to stop em. <br>
<br>
</body>
</html>

--------------070100000200070108030304--

Jonno [ Di, 11 April 2006 01:52 ] [ ID #110290 ]

Re: Black sooty deposit on Bottlebrush

g'dat tonto,

most likely going to becasued by infestations of either scale insect or
mealy bugs, most of those black sooy appearances caused by the sugary sweet
excrution the bugs put out and that is what the ants use as food so you
should see ants as well.

the only othe time i have seen black soot on trees is when they are right
beside a major road and they get stained by diesel air emissions. my money's
on the bugs.

len

http://www.users.bigpond.com/gardenlen1/

snipped

gardenlen [ Di, 11 April 2006 05:39 ] [ ID #110291 ]

Re: Black sooty deposit on Bottlebrush

"Jonno" <aidplus [at] fastamail.thanu.com.au> wrote in message
news:443aefb6$0$10674$afc38c87 [at] news.optusnet.com.au...
> Chookie wrote:
>
> >In article <443a2a0f_4 [at] news.chariot.net.au>,
> > "Tonto_Goldstein" <someone [at] microsoft.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >>I haven't seen any little critters, but from searching on the
interwebnet
> >>thingy, it seems the might have a bit of a scale infestation(?)
> >>
> >>Any other suggestions as to what it might be, and what the right
treatment
> >>would be?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >It's probably sooty mould, which IIRC can be caused by a scale
infestation.
> >We have bottlebrushes planted as street trees, and most of them have it.
You
> >could try a bit of pruning to let more light into the centre of the tree.
> >
> >
> >
> Ant "farm" scale insects, which they look after. Try some white oil. It
> sufficates the scale. Also try and get rid of the ants.
> An argentinian ant eater would be grouse, but we have to settle for
> spiny ant eaters. Er hard to get. So poison ? Boiling water
> Flood them ? Er even the local pest people are at a wits end. Nothing
> seems to stop em.

Eventually we did on our bottle brush .. I kept bucketing soapy water from
the washing machine onto it and it has eventually come good. It helps that
its not too far from our laundry though.
Dunno if that helps the OP though

Amanda

FlowerGirl [ Di, 11 April 2006 05:44 ] [ ID #110292 ]

Re: Black sooty deposit on Bottlebrush

"gardenlen" <gardenlen [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:443b24f6$0$7604$afc38c87 [at] news.optusnet.com.au...
> g'dat tonto,
>
> most likely going to becasued by infestations of either scale insect or
> mealy bugs, most of those black sooy appearances caused by the sugary
> sweet excrution the bugs put out and that is what the ants use as food so
> you should see ants as well.
>
> the only othe time i have seen black soot on trees is when they are right
> beside a major road and they get stained by diesel air emissions. my
> money's on the bugs.

It's just near a roolly, roolly big road, but there's no diesely looking
stuff on anything else, so I reckon it might be scale or mealy bugs - I've
seen lots of ants around the trees, so they might be farming the scale
insects as others have said.

I'll give the white oil a go (saw a DIY recipe for it on Gardening Australia
the other night), see if it helps.

Thanks for all the help, folks.

Ralph [ Di, 11 April 2006 11:53 ] [ ID #111780 ]

Re: Black sooty deposit on Bottlebrush

g'day tonto,

there's a recipe on our page as well.

len

http://www.users.bigpond.com/gardenlen1/
snipped

gardenlen [ Mi, 12 April 2006 05:57 ] [ ID #111781 ]