Sooty mold on citrus .

Dahlonega, GA

From my window , I thought my new Satsuma had dark leaves and healthy . I've been unable to get out this winter and check on any of my citrus . Now I find it's sooty mold . I treated it via the net and checked my other trees . All have it in one degree or another .
What I need is a D G er to tell me what you use to treat the stuff . I have more faith in my friends than the internet . I used peroxide and water three times and then soaked overnight . Will rinse in a few minutes . I'm afraid of the vinegar recipe because it's used to kill grass .
Any help is appreciated .

Dahlonega, GA

Well , the spray only helped a little . The water rinse the next day washed off only a little soot .

Titusville, FL(Zone 9b)

Black sooty mold has to cohabite with another pest, first comes the pest (scale, aphids, mealy bugs ect) then comes the sooty mold. The mold feeds on the bug poo, get rid of the bugs the sooty mold will starve.
You don't have to rinse off peroxide since its photosensitive. Thats why you have to spray it at night, as soon as the sun comes up the UV light degrades it. The brown bottle stops the UV light from reaching the photosensitive peroxide inside.
In this case peroxide won't help because it won't kill your real issue which is the pesty bugs.

Dahlonega, GA

What do you recommend for fruit spray ? I'm only there Oct to April .
And how long does it take for the huge limes to ripen that bloomed in March and April ? My yard man says my tree is loaded this year . I pick grapefruit in Jan and early Feb .

Titusville, FL(Zone 9b)

Almost all your sour citrus fruits ripen during the winter. For edibles safers soap is best if you want to consume them.
I wouldn't recommend a horticultural oil /neem oil for the fact that the yard people come during the day and it's hot here! It is a true oil, you don't want to fry your tree with oil in this heat. It should be applied only at dusk. For 2 reasons
#1 its hot here, it will fry your leaves.
#2 you want it to stay as wet as long as possible to kill the bugs.

Either one (safers soap or neem)should be applied with a tree sprayer to ensure both top & bottoms of leaves are really covered and wet.
The ground under the tree should also be sprayed to make sure the ickies sprayed that just got knocked off get a covering as well and don't climb up the tree again.
Follow the product direction for reapplication since each product formula is slightly different. Since it's an organic it has to be re-applied regularly to stay on top of the bug issue till you have killed all the adults and then the hatching eggs of what ever vermin it is. Then do a prophylactic spray just for giggles every 3 months to make sure your not missing anything that could get out of hand like you have now.
The safers soap will help to dissolve to black on your leaves as well...good luck and happy harvest

Dahlonega, GA

Thank you . The lime is a new tree and I knew nothing about it . Other than the ickies , it is beautiful .The Satsuma is new also and I'm looking forward to enjoying pest free citrus .

Titusville, FL(Zone 9b)

Just an after thought to keep in mind.
Don't spray flowers avoid blooming times as much as possible, sometimes hard with an established tree. After a while they seam to be always in blooming season. You'll get the hang of avoiding te flowers.
Don't worry about eating fruit that my have black soot on it. Just scrub rinse & enjoy cheers ^_^

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