Pests & diseases › Pear Psylla
Pear Psylla
Tiny sap-sucking insects on pear shoot tips. Honeydew leads to sooty mold.
Symptoms
- Sticky honeydew on leaves and developing fruit
- Black sooty mold coating
- Stunted, distorted young leaves
- Tiny aphid-like insects on shoot tips
Lifecycle
Multiple generations a year, March–October.
What to do
- Wash off honeydew with strong water jet
- Encourage anthocorid bugs and earwigs
- Insecticidal soap
If it's bad
- Dormant horticultural oil
- Kaolin clay (Surround) repeated through season
Stop it coming back
- Don't overfeed with nitrogen
- Encourage beneficial insects
Crops it goes for
Plan the plot, track every sowing, cook the harvest
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.