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06-04-2004, 09:19 PM

(Billy M. Rhodes) wrote in message ...
In a message dated 4/4/2004 11:40:25 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
writes:

I just rescued a juniper of some kind from a landscaping place ... it
was a freebie, looking a little funky ... after repotting it and
trimming off the brown crunchy parts I noticed that the green parts
have a fine black stuff on the bark mostly. Looks like mold maybe? Any
idea what this stuff is and how I can treat it?

The "black stuff" probably is a mold and means the tree was being kept too
wet without enough light. You can use an old soft tooth brush to remove the
"black stuff" but you will need to give the plant more light and less water to
keep it off.

Billy on the Florida Space Coast

Thanks for giving it a name, Billy ! I've done some research on
'sooty mold' and found that it's actually living on honeydew and the
only way it hurts the plant is when it covers the green so it can't
get any light. Since there are no honeydew producing critters that
like junipers, i think we can assume it was from the trees overhead.
I've got it out in the light, done my usual cleanup, cut off all the
brown parts and twiggy growth, repotted it in my evergreen mix with
just a little root picking and some 'transplant starter' food. I'm
told the mold should die and flake off as soon as there's no more food
for it. What do you think ?