Advice on bay tree care

Question

Was given a bay tree for xmas present and over the winter was kept inside. Once spring/summer came i put it into the garden which is south facing on the patio still in its original pot. Within the last few weeks i have become aware that the inner leaves are quite dirty/black with a greasy feel to them ? also there seems to be a lot of flies on it constantly. Any help/advice would be gratefully excepted.

Answer 1

cut one of the inner leaves off , pop it in a bag and take it to your local garden store. they will be able to identify the pest and give you a spray to use on it. hope this helps

Answer 2

I share the advice given by Dingbat.  I also would add: Put a few drops of Fairy Liquid in a 10 litre bucket of water and spray the tree down - it is non toxic but if used with a strong spray will remove most of the sooty mould. A side benefit being a non toxic treatment for a mild infestation of green and/or black fly as well as scale insects.  

More importantly - a healthy plant usually can see to minor infestations themselves.  So make sure that the tree gets a good thick mulch of compost or leaf mould in mid spring and early autumn and for the first 18 months after planting - water it well and regularly.

Byevanger

Answer 3

The problem is sooty mould caused by sap-sucking insects like aphids or scale insect. It's a fungus which grows on the 'honeydew' excreted by the pests and, although it doesn't invade the plant tissues, it will stop light getting to the leaves so they cannot photosynthesise. The mould is very difficult to remove so you need to prevent it hardening into a crust by hosing down the tree in dry weather to wash off the sticky deposits of honeydew. Aphids are easy to control but scale insects need a systemic insecticide to kill them.