How to Remove Sooty Mold on Bushes
- 1). Fill a 5-gallon bucket with 1 gallon of cool water. Add three to four drops of a mild dish soap that does not contain bleach, and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
- 2). Pour the mixture carefully into a garden sprayer. This mixture is a simple cleaning solution that will remove the sooty mold from the bushes but will not kill the fungus or the pests.
- 3). Spray the bushes liberally with the mixture. Do not be stingy with the mixture. Rinse the cleaning solution off the bushes with a water hose.
- 4). Discard the contents inside the garden sprayer and rinse it clean with water.
- 5). Fill the clean garden spray with horticultural oil. Each brand and type of horticultural oil has its own set of specific instructions. Some oils should be mixed with water, while others should not. Refer to the directions for your brand of horticultural oil for more information.
- 6). Apply the horticultural oil to the bushes on a day when the temperature will not exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature reaches higher than that, the oil could burn the bushes.
- 7). Reapply the horticultural oil 10 days after you applied the initial treatment.