On Sun, 20 Apr 2003 09:22:37 -0700, David Shalita wrote:

Since my last post, MANY LARGE black flies are swarming on this gardenia
by our kitchen door. It is a large plant which has had black fungus and
white disks on leaves before. Leaves are very green, recently fed plant so
need a fix that is not going to provide too much nitrogen I think.

I can only guess that their is another attack occuring but do not see the
black fungus. The sweet deposit from the attackers must be attracting the
black flies.

Good day David. I firmly believe that the black flies are doing no harm to
your gardenia. If you have open blooms, they may be attracted to them. The
'black fungus' may also be drawing them to the plant. The 'black fungus'
is the real issue here. The fungus is growing on the the sticky excretions
that come from aphids. You will find them on the underneath sections of
the leaves. Once the aphids are gone, the black mold will disappear and
the food source for the flies will be gone.
Hose off the bottoms of the leaves regularly with your garden hose. Give
it a good deal of pressure to really blast the aphids off. Once off the
aphids are knocked off the leaves, they will die on the ground rather
quickly. You can also use safer soap or a summer oil spray. Lady bugs will
also help get rid of them also... but much slower.
Hope that helps, good luck....

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