What to Do With a Bamboo Plant That Has a Moldy Smell?

Identification

• Bamboos are susceptible to sooty mold, which appears as a black coating on the foliage. The mold thrives on the sticky honey secreted by aphids and mealybugs as they feed on bamboo sap. Sooty mold blocks light, retards photosynthesis in plants and is best controlled by controlling the mold-causing pests.

Pest Description

• Aphids are tiny, soft-bodied, pear-shaped pests with long mouthparts; they can be yellow, brown, black, red or green in color. The insects use their slender mouths to suck sap from tender plant areas and infest the undersides of foliage in large numbers. Mealybugs are anywhere from 0.05 to 0.2 inches long with wingless, elongated bodies and wax filaments protruding from their bodies. The pest presence resembles a cotton-like mass. Mealybugs also feed on plant juices.

Management

• Introduce natural predators such as parasitic wasps, syrphid fly and lacewings for biological control of aphids. Recommended insecticides include narrow range oils, acephate and permethrins. Ants are natural predators of mealybugs. Control heavy mealybug infestations with narrow range oils and insecticidal soap.

Recommendations

• If your bamboo has sooty mold, wash the mold off with water and concentrate on getting rid of the causal agents. You don't have to throw away the plant. However, if you don't control the pests causing the mold, the black growth will return after some period.