I noticed these huge flies on my bushes outside my front door - not your ordinary house fly...more like flies on steroids! Now there are baby flies too! It's so gross! The bush's leaves look like they have black mildew on them, and some of the branches have white stuff on (fly larvae?)....
Do I have to simply get rid of the bush????
2006-11-29 00:22:56 · 5 answers · asked by aali_and_harith 5 in Home & Garden ➔ Other - Home & Garden
The black stuff is sooty mildew--it's a fungal disease that results from having sugary sap on the leaves. The flies are there also to get the sugary sap. The sap is getting there from the white stuff on the branches. They are cottony scale (an insect that pierces the stem and sucks out sap). They get so much sap that a lot of it runs right through them and drips onto the leaves below.
So--you can get rid of the flies and sooty mildew by squiting off the leaves with a hard stream of water. That washes off the sap and the mildew so the flies will leave (if it's all gone). Problem is if you don't kill the cottony scale, it will all start again. Sevin liquid is OK but I recommend a horticultural oil or neem oil. They are nontoxic and are very effective at killing scale insects. Spray it all over them and they will suffocate. The neem oil also has some fungicidal properties that will help kill the sooty mildew. If your lawn & garden center has neem oil, buy and use it. Otherwise any horticultural oil will work.
2006-11-29 08:34:54 · answer #1 · answered by college kid 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try a simple, non-toxic approach first. Spray the bush with a garden hose with the nozzle focused into a hard heavy stream. Work it side to side, and up and down, spraying horizontally so that you cover the whole bush. Try this several times for a week or two.
If that doesn't work, try dusting the bush with Sevin. This is a broad spectrum insecticide that is used on fruits and vegetables that are used for food. Be sure to read the label and follow the directions.
2006-11-29 00:28:42 · answer #2 · answered by Ralfcoder 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have the same problem on ALL my bushes out by my patio and I just finished purchasing and spraying the heck out of the bushes with malathion! My pest control man told me to get pyrithione but couldn't find that. I will use seven dust also tomorrow since I'm reading now about the scaly stuff. All I know is it is gross - all these flies!
2015-04-08 13:39:33 · answer #3 · answered by jaf 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mix dish soap and warm water in a spray bottle,spray the bush daily for a week.
2006-11-29 00:26:38 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get rid of the bush!!! hahaa.... just joking
2006-11-29 00:31:11 · answer #5 · answered by rise 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋