Pest FAQs
I have a Camellia that I have had for several years. It was fine at Christmas with lots of flower buds. In January I noticed the leaves were covered in a black powdery mould. Can you help?
Your Camellia is suffering with sooty mould, this is a fungus that grows on the sticky residue secreted by sap sucking insects ( Aphid, black fly, scale insect etc.) Camellias are particularly prone to Scale insects, these (as the name suggests) look like scales or flattened wax blobs usually found on the under side of the leaves. The first step is to treat the plant with an insecticide to kill the bugs (I suggest Provado Bug Killer) , It will then be possible to clean off the sooty mould without it reoccurring.