Bamboo plant's stalk has black spots forming on it.?

I have had this plant for 5 years but recently, the leaves have started turning yellow and about a month later, there are black spots appearing on the stalk. What is happening and can anything be done?

Bamboo plant's stalk has black spots forming on it.?
This is not uncommon for some bamboos. Knowing what species you have could help narrow down the problem. Often times it is a nutritional deficiency, but sometimes it can be a mold. Often this is found around the base of the branching where it comes out from the culm, and is known as balck sooty mold. The cause is aphids, which secrete a substance that eventually molds. Often times this will be accompied with a nitocable amount of ants as they "herd" that aphids, using the secretion as a food supply.





Use of a pesticide such as Bayer Advanced Garden Tree and Shrub works great to get rid of the bugs if this is the case, and a hard blast of water will remove most of the unsightly mold.





If it is a nutritional deficicency feed it some high nitrogen fertilizer. Bamboo is grass and it loves nitrogen.





As a last resort you could cut down all effected culms and just wait for the new shoots to spring up.
Reply:Fungus problem.

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