I've found agriculture oil (like Ortho's Volck) to be very effective on mites, ahpids and scale- which inturn eliminates sooty mold in the process. Two consecutive applications, 24hrs apart on both sides of the leaves in the evening when it's cool and preferable not too windy and the pests are good as gone. Dilute per instructions, and apply it using a fine mist, portable pump sprayer....its pretty easy. Used it on my two Sapodillas, NDM, Maha for sooty mold from scale, and some ficus and hedges that had white fly problems (tiny white flies), and it just smothers those suckers and they are dead. The finer the mist/spray the better. I'm really impressed with it and it sells for less than $6.