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I'm pretty sure I remember reading about this before, but I can't find the thread(s). I have sooty black mold (I assume) on many of the small branch nodes of my Ph. atrovaginata. I don't think the aureosulcata next to it is affected. I assume this is aphids or something similar. What's the cure?

The only time I have seen this is when overwintering plants indoors, and yes the mold seems to grow on insect excretions. Once plants are outside, the aphids and whitefly don't do so well on bamboo, at least in my climate.

You could treat potted plants with a systemic without doing much environmental damage, if the plants are to stay inside.

Down here in Florida it's from mealy bugs. Bayer Advanced tree and shrub (systemic) works well. The mold however will stick around. I have used a hose with a sprayer or my pressure washer to remove it

I have black mold on my Phyllostachys aureosulcata spectabilis. It doesn't seem to have any bugs on it, but there are hundreds of sparrows inside, screaming at each other. It's fun to watch whole grove move when they fight inside. When someone walks by, they go into mute mode, they don't move until you walk away (not more than a few meters away from them). Then the party continues. Well, sometimes, they fail to even see you when you go by. A lot of guano.

I remove their droppings with a garden hose. It gets off easily.

Can the birds be the source of that mold, I guess so.. I doubt any insect can co-exist with such number of birds.

This is outdoors on an established in-ground plant. I first noticed it last season.

shuboo wrote:Down here in Florida it's from mealy bugs. Bayer Advanced tree and shrub (systemic) works well. The mold however will stick around. I have used a hose with a sprayer or my pressure washer to remove it

I'm battling what I think is mealy bugs. There is a white cotton substance on branch nodes and on the tops of new shoots. Some shoots have aborted and the whole Kanapaha plant seems to be struggling while the other plants are doing great. I've treated with Talstar and it seems like it's working, but the cotton substance is still lingering.

It seems like a pressure washer would be too brutal for the Boo. After you've washed off does it damage the Boo? Was your issue resolved?

The "white cotton substance" is common in B. Textiles species. It will fade in time. That's different from the mold that's from mealy bugs. After I treat for mealies I use a hose with a spray nozzle or my pressure set to low. I've never had a problem with damage. But at this point I've got so many different clumps that I even bother with spraying them anymore. Some species seem to be more susceptible to mealy bugs such as the B. Multiplex ssp. I gave up on trying to make those look good

I'm in Orlando and have black spots on my bamboo ... does this look like mealy bugs ?

Not really. You can rub sooty mold off. It happens when there are mites or aphids on bamboo, sucking the juices from the leaves. Their droppings fall to the lower laying leaves and culms and allow sooty mold spores to start growing. All leaves affected are covered with black layer of mold. It doesn't kill the leaf (or culm), it just makes it less productive because it gets shaded. Usually you can spray it with water (under enough pressure) and it goes off.

Ophiuchus wrote:

shuboo wrote:Down here in Florida it's from mealy bugs. Bayer Advanced tree and shrub (systemic) works well. The mold however will stick around. I have used a hose with a sprayer or my pressure washer to remove it

I'm battling what I think is mealy bugs. There is a white cotton substance on branch nodes and on the tops of new shoots. Some shoots have aborted and the whole Kanapaha plant seems to be struggling while the other plants are doing great. I've treated with Talstar and it seems like it's working, but the cotton substance is still lingering.

It seems like a pressure washer would be too brutal for the Boo. After you've washed off does it damage the Boo? Was your issue resolved?

When mealy's were the problem, my issue was resolved for as long as the Imidocloprid lasted. Within about 6 months or so the mealy's decide to visit again. It's fairly easy to keep in check if you don't have a lot of plants. I gave up on treating my adult plants due to the expense. I just treat any heavily infested adults and any containerized divisions that I plan on selling. You can always use a hose with a decent spray nozzle if you're not up to a pressure washer. Mine has adjustable settings and various nozzles for lower pressure that don't damage the plants too much

Adam wrote:I'm in Orlando and have black spots on my bamboo ... does this look like mealy bugs ?

No, that is fungal spots on older culms. This can be treated topically with a copper-based fungicide as a preventative measure. It usually happens to older culms and it's typically just cosmetic. The high Florida humidity can promote the fungal growth. Not really much you can do to the already affected culms except remove them or just ignore them. It happens.

It's a year later, and I'm noticing the soot -- it's so bad now. As a reminder, this is on Ph. atrovaginata, and I first noticed it 2 years ago now. The sooty area seems to have a crunchy "shell"... maybe something is living inside? It's on pretty much every branch/leaf joint that I can see on this plant now. I've attached two images.

I'm thinking I need to treat the plant with a systemic (Bayer Advanced tree and shrub was mentioned), and then try spraying or power washing to remove the black gunk. Sound right?

Note that I'm in a cold climate. This problem was completely unexpected!

I work at a cannabis grow op and we use baking soda water mixture to treat the mold on the plants maybe try a mixture of that on a small section of your bamboo, I'd be curious to know if it works.