Crepe Myrtle question

Last year my CM's were attacked by aphids REALLY bad. I noticed through out winter that they were black looking. They still are. Will this go away or do I need to do something to them. What do I do. Will it hurt them? Any advise will be greatful!
Dawn

The black stuff is probably sooty mold that tends to happen because of the honeydew that the aphids secrete. Since crape myrtles are deciduous, the new leaves that grow in won't have the black stuff on them so it won't interfere with photosynthesis, but it still probably wouldn't hurt to try and get some of it off the branches.

Good luck getting it off the branches. I would probably do nothing, it shouldn't hurt anything.

Thanks all. I don't think I can do anything to get it off. I have 10 of them and they are all atleast 10' tall. Atleast I know I won't lose them. I will spray early this year with Neem to help with the aphids. I sure hope I don't have this problem this year.
Thanks again
Dawn

I've had better luck with insecticidal soap than neem in controlling aphids so you might try it instead. Also, there's no sense in spraying until you see aphids, neither neem or insecticidal soap is going to have a preventative effect, the key is to watch and spray when there are only a few aphids rather than waiting until there are thousands (or millions!). Crape myrtles unfortunately are magnets for aphids so your chances of avoiding them aren't too good, but if you are watchful and get out there with the insecticidal soap you can probably keep them from getting as bad as the did last year. I would also watch out for ants--they "farm" the aphids and help protect them, so if you see ants I would put out some ant bait to get rid of them, the aphids will be easier to control if they don't have the ants helping them

Oh man! I had no idea they were aphid magnets! I would have planted something else. Too late now. My neighbor across the street planted the same ones at the same time and hasn't had half the problem with hers. Just my luck I guess. Will keep a look out and try insecticidal soap. Thanks!
Dawn

I have never seen aphids on my Crape Myrtle...Japanese Beetles by the hundreds, but not aphids..or at least not to the point where they have caused a visible problem.

- Brent

I've never had them on mine either, but I've read in a few places that they are magnets for them (my aphids seem to prefer Hibiscus)

Crape myrtles have their own special aphids, known as "crape myrtle aphids". I think they are mostly a problem in the southeast, where CM's are often overplanted. I have never had them on mine, but I seen some local plants that were plain out sticky with the "honeydew".

Escambiaguy, that is how mine were last year. What caught my eye was I saw yellow jackets swarming around a couple of them. I looked closer and saw this sticky looking stuff. Turned a leaf over and I bet you there were fifty aphids on each leaf. The whole tree was COVERED in them. I have 10 of these and everyone was attacked by them. I have never seen them like that before. I have never seen them on a tree fot that matter. My trees are planted 8 feet apart, get plenty of sun and air movement. I must just have the ones that "attract" the aphids. I do know that last year we had a long period with no rain and after that is when i noticed them. I plan to water each one with Bayer T&S this year. I hope to do this this weekend. I gotta try something.
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