Something is DEFINITELY wrong with my basil!!! :-(

[Horrux]

OK so I'm pretty sure my basil does not have fungal growth, because I make very sure the soil gets to drain. However, it has dark (almost black) scabs on 1-2 leaves, and there seems to be a spider living under one of the larger leaves. Also, I think there are some very tiny bugs on it.

Here's what it looks like:

Any ideas what's wrong and what to do about it? I want to keep my garden all natural, if at all possible...

 

[zigs]

Looks like sooty mold, could be caused by honeydew from aphids.

Welcome to the forums btw

 

[Brandie]

Looks moldy or like bug poos

 

[marlingardener]

If your basil is in a pot, cover the soil with waxed paper or plastic wrap, get a bucket filled with warm soapy water (soap like Ivory or Dreft) and turn your basil pot upside down and dunk the plant for a minute or two. This will wash off any bug poo, kill aphids, drown the spider, and get rid of the sticky residue from the aphids. Then rinse the basil well with tepid water.
If it isn't in a pot, do the best you can to wash the plant, and rinse.

 

[Horrux]

If your basil is in a pot, cover the soil with waxed paper or plastic wrap, get a bucket filled with warm soapy water (soap like Ivory or Dreft) and turn your basil pot upside down and dunk the plant for a minute or two. This will wash off any bug poo, kill aphids, drown the spider, and get rid of the sticky residue from the aphids. Then rinse the basil well with tepid water.
If it isn't in a pot, do the best you can to wash the plant, and rinse.

Thanks! We've done something like that, we had aphids on other plants and I think a few on the basil. But it looks like it's under control now... For now.

I now know that there will be many episodes like this during a season, where some pest or other attacks my food, and I have to retaliate. It's just part of the process I guess, and I have come to be OK with that.

Bugs still gross me out though, especially seeing them on MY FOOD.

 

[Kathryn crook]

Roflmao! Without bugs, we would have no food.

 

[Beth_B]

Roflmao! Without bugs, we would have no food.

Really. We eat bug parts (and rodent hairs) every day! The FDA has a GRAS (generally regarded as safe) limit on the percentage of bug parts/poop and hairs in flour and veggies and such.

Really it is best not to think too much about such things or you'd never eat again. We. Eat. Bugs.Every. Day.

 

[Novelangel]

Really. We eat bug parts (and rodent hairs) every day! The FDA has a GRAS (generally regarded as safe) limit on the percentage of bug parts/poop and hairs in flour and veggies and such.

Really it is best not to think too much about such things or you'd never eat again. We. Eat. Bugs.Every. Day.

I once read this online article stating that every human on the planet has, at one time or another, eaten a spider in their sleep. I think about this whenever I dream I'm eating something and then wake up with a weird taste in my mouth. I'm pretty sure it would be impossible to completely remove all bugs from our diet. As long as we just don't think about it, we're good.

 

[Corzhens]

This reminds me of our basil. It was planted in the planter box by the side of our house. We didn't notice that there were black powdery organisms that was inhabiting the leaves. No, it's different than the black thing in that picture. Anyway, our housemaid said that she had seen some small worms but she forgot to report it to us. To make the story short, the basil was consumed in its entirety by that black organism that my husband suspects are eggs of moths. Our poor basil perished just like that.

 

[kgord]

I am wondering if spider mites might be the culprit. I know they like to grow on plants. I would look on some kind of plant pest identification site and see what looks like your problem and look for potential treatments. There has to be a way of treating these problems that afflict your basil. The crop would be healthy if you could get rid of the organisms that is for sure.

 

[atlmom5]

Glad to hear that everything looks to be under control. Happy gardening and enjoy that basil!

 

[petesede]

Really. We eat bug parts (and rodent hairs) every day! The FDA has a GRAS (generally regarded as safe) limit on the percentage of bug parts/poop and hairs in flour and veggies and such.

Really it is best not to think too much about such things or you'd never eat again. We. Eat. Bugs.Every. Day.

I read somewhere that the average american eats more bug poo than they eat spinach in a given year.

As for the problem, I would worry about the spiders first and see if they are the problem. There are a few easy things to do that really are basics... the first is to buy a cheap bottle sprayer, crush up a clove of garlic and blender it with water and put in the sprayer, and then spray around your plants. Easy and cheap way to get rid of many insect pests.

 

[kgord]

I think sometimes some basic dishwashing liquid and water is a sprayer can get rid of a lot of plant pests. It sounds kind of counter intuitive but it really seems to work. It is just one of the ways you can get a cheap and non toxic method of treating pests on plants. However, it might not be right for all kinds of plants and all kinds of pests.

 

[Horrux]

Either way, stating that "It's sooty mold" doesn't help, when one doesn't know what sooty mold is or what it does.