On Fri, 04 Apr 2003 15:07:20 GMT, Steve Ravet
wrote:

There were a few of these last year, but it's covered this year. The
leaves are covered with black powder also, some kind of
pollen/spore/??? This is my son's sapling, he grew it from an acorn.
Do I need to do anything with it?

thanks,

--steve

ftp://ftp.diy-efi.org/incoming/oak.jpg

The black lumps are aphids, a pretty bad infestation from the looks of
it. The black powder on the leaves is sooty mold, growing on the
sugary excretia of the aphids.

In a case this bad I'd reach for "neem oil" to kill the aphids
quickly. The sooty mold should go away with the removal of the
aphids, or treat it directly with potassium carbonate. Once the aphid
population is reduced you could apply a biological control like
lacewings or ladybugs to keep the population in check. Check the
Natural Gardener for predatory insects and the other controls as well.
Or Lowes for all but the bugs

I'd foliar feed the tree with seaweed, make sure its well mulched and
watered.