What worked for me once was simple: A heaping tablespoon of baking soda dissolved in a quart of water. Spray on leaves. I guess it throws the pH of the leaf surface in a direction the mildew doesn't like.
A few of my squash plants have developed powdery mildew. Last year I lost all of my pumpkins and squash to this. Has anyone had it start, and then was able to stop it from spreading? If so, what did you use? I'd hate to loose my squash and pumpkins. Last year I used a fish/canola oil mixture, but it did not help any.
Powdery Mildew
This fungus produces a white powdery appearance on leaves and sometimes other green parts. It can be found on roses, dahlias, chrysanthemums, peas, and squash. Some rose varieties are so susceptible that you would be better off digging it up. You can use a fungicide or the non toxic spray made with baking soda. To each gallon of water add 3-4 tsp. oil (salad oil) and 3-4 tsp. Arm and Hammer Baking Soda, mix well. Use a fine spray and apply to affected plants. This also controls black spot on roses and foliar vegetable diseases. Some plants may show some sensitivity.
Thanks everyone for the info. I had some Organocide, which is 5% sesame oil,
92% fish oil, and 3% lecithin, which I guess acts as an emulsifier so it will mix with water. Smelly stuff. Dumped a tsp or two of baking soda into a half gallon jug, added an 1/8 cup oil, fill with water, mix, spray. I've found quite a bit of anecdotal evidence that it works well. I have some chemical fungicide, but I decided to use the oil and baking soda mixture first before I call out the heavy artillery.
Let us know how it progresses.
g'day ook,
there is a recipe for a spray using milk on our remedies page, lots have success with that.
i find that growing the cucurburts in well drained and full sun positions with good air movement ie breezes works for us the only time we might get some p.m is right toward the end of the plants productive life.
snipped With peace and brightest of blessings,
len & bev
-- "Be Content With What You Have And May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In A World That You May Not Understand."
I tried milk last year - didn't help, I still lost everything. I also noticed next to it in your remedies section a recipe for oil and soda, which is what I used. I won't know for a week if it helps any. Part of the problem is that I did not realize how large and invasive pumpkins would grow. The vines are easily 20 feet long, and have crowded out much of my squash and cucumbers. Very dense, and we don't get a lot of wind here. Plus, the only way I have to water is overhead watering, which leaves everything nice and wet :(
overhead watering is a bug bare with cucurburts they don't need their foliage wet at all we only ever water around the root zone.
no need to let pumpkins ramble all over the garden you can keep training them around and over the main root area.
if good breeze is a problem then you may need to look more at better drainage grow them on high mounds.
snipped With peace and brightest of blessings,
len & bev
-- "Be Content With What You Have And May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In A World That You May Not Understand."
It is amazing, though, to see them travel 14 miles around the property. :-)
Alas, the mildew is taking over. I sprayed a week ago, but was out of town for a week. All of the new growth is infected. The old growth that I sprayed is fine, but with the new growth infected, I don't have much hope for the plants :(. I'll spray again tomorrow and see what happens.
The real solution is to start new cucumber plants around the end of July. I've known this for 25 years. I have never done it.
:-(
You've known it but never done it? You sound like me LOL. I read somewhere that you should exactly that - plant several sucessive crops so that you have young vigorous plants when the old ones die off. My cucumbers are pretty much spent, I wish I would have planted some fresh ones a month ago. My mutant acorn squash was planted in the beginning of July, and it is healthy, vigorous, no sign of mildew, and just now starting to produce. I expect to get a lot of goodies from them until the frost hits.
I always seem to be preoccupied with some other summer thing, or there's no room in the garden. Pathetic reasons, but it's the truth.
No, they are very good reasons. I planted way too many tomatoes and tomatillos, and consequently have limited space for other stuff. My tomatillos are now 7 feet tall (they are supposed to be 3-4 foot tall plants. My tomatoes outgrew the 8 foot trellises I planted them on, half of my pathways are overgrown, a bunch of volunteer cosmos and four o'clocks took over one of the beds, volunteer sunflowers are everywhere - *huge* volunteer sunflowers, omg, I had no idea a sunflowers could get so big! Half the garden is infested with volunteer tomatillos, and I just don't have time to clean up the mess. Plus I'm trying to keep up with mowing the lawn, working, school, honey doos, etc. There is just never enough time :(
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