Bold: [Characteristics, Detection, Effects and Treatment]

What is bold?

The Bold, also known under the names of soot, black and sooty mold is a very powerful fungus capable of attacking thousands of plant species around the world.

This fungus usually appears after the plants suffer severe attacks from insects such as aphids, aphids, whiteflies and mealybugs, so the resistance of the attacked species will be tested.

It is an opportunistic fungus, which will seek to feed on the molasses that attacking insects excrete on leaves and other parts of the plant. In this way, the fungus grows and lives in peace at the expense of others.

Consequently, we must always keep in mind that if sooty mold is spreading through your plant, it is because something else is happening: an attack by some invasive pest that is doing its thing.

Preferably, this unpleasant visual spectacle is usually recorded in the summer, when temperatures rise and aphids, mealybugs and whiteflies appear. Although it can also occur in warmer autumns.

How can we identify it?

It is quickly visible because it ferociously attacks stems, leaves, fruits, shoots and the surroundings of the plant, including the soil.

Everything turns black, a dark layer is formed that disappears on contact with the fingers, as if it were the soot produced after burning coal.

In reality, most of the time its appearance in the plant will not be lethal, but it does give it an image of tremendous ruin that must be resolved shortly, if we want to avoid greater evils.

When the effects on the plant are severe, this fungus can interrupt the photosynthesis process and affect vegetative growth, since the black crust that forms interferes with the normal gaseous exchange between the atmosphere and the leaf, so growth stuns. and stops.

This indicates that the fungus has become stronger, colonizing the plantar surface by hardening on the leaves. In drought situations, the sickest plants suffer greatly and both shoots and stems wither.The plant only dies if its root system is compromised.

What plants does bold affect?

This fungus is capable of appearing on any plant attacked by insects, because its main objective is to feed on the syrup and sugar expelled by pests that usually attack trees, shrubs and plants.

They can thus form a black crust that disfigures the surface of the leaves of trees as strong as oaks, olive trees, among others.

In fruit trees and typical plants in orchards, when soot or sooty mold appears, things get complicated, because crops are ruined and economic losses can be significant. So you have to exercise tight control over the appearance of all kinds of pests.

How to combat bold?

To avoid and exterminate the disease caused by this fungus, it is necessary to take simple measures, with a lot of common sense. Let’s see.

1. The first thing is to acquire plants that are resistant to attacks by aphids and other bugs, if we want to avoid going through these unpleasant trances. There are many resistant species that develop fully without being attacked by these pests.
2. The most important thing is to avoid, at all costs, the attack of such persistent insects as cochineal, aphids and whiteflies.
3. Remove all damaged parts, especially those that show a thick crust, when black spots appear after insect attack. This must be done immediately to prevent the proliferation of evil.
4. One of the most effective formulas to kill the fungus is cleaning the molasses, with the application on all the affected areas of a soapy solution prepared with potassium soap, diluted to 2% of water, with a frequency of three times As minimum.
5. Even if the plant is still vigorous, it is advisable to rub and clean the leaves with a cloth until the soot stain completely disappears.
6. It is convenient to apply, as a highly effective preventive measure, organic fertilizer to the soil regularly. Granular and liquid fertilizers that are poured directly on the ground are very good.
7. Likewise, it is very pertinent to apply, from time to time, a cover with specific padding based on crushed vegetable remains (mulching).
8. Irrigation must also correspond to the characteristics of the species that we are cultivating, in order to avoid excesses and deficiencies.
9. Sanitation pruning is also important, because in general, the areas affected by soot are also the ones with the greatest presence of insects on the plant and those infected areas of the plant must then be eliminated.
10. A fungicide with copper should also be applied in cold or fresh seasons, always avoiding excessive doses, an action that will help prevent fungal attack. If we use it even before the plant sprouts then we will win the battle before it starts.

What are the best products to remove bold?

Apart from potassium soap, bold can be effectively combated with the use of sulfur-based fungicides or other active ingredients.

A first effective measure is the application of a bath with warm water and neutral soap, a solution that must invade all the diseased areas of the plant, with the help of intense sprays, in order to wash the dirty surfaces of the plant.

Black soap is also used. There is a cleaner on the market called Naturen, with 3% black soap in a 750ml presentation against molasses, based on olive oil, very effective, used in organic farming.

There are commercial formulas such as the Castalia solution, highly concentrated potassium soap, which works as a powerful fertilizer that also serves as an insecticide, 100% effective, to eliminate the following pests: red spiders, thrips, whiteflies, cochineals and aphids.

This product also helps the complete disappearance of the molasses left by these insects, and can even clean machinery and agricultural tools, thus preventing the proliferation of the fungus towards new surfaces.

But we must be clear about the following: sooty mold is a consequence of the attack of a pest on the plant, so it is essential to repel them with a suitable broad-spectrum insecticide treatment, which even combats fungi and mites.

A Flower insecticide, triple effect aphid, acaricide, fungicide and insecticide. It is very common to get it over the counter on the internet.