Powdery Mildew

[pendog66]

Does anyone have a good recipe to get rid of powdery mildew? My pumpkins are in the beginning stages of getting it and i dont want a repeat of last year when i lost 3 jack o lantern plants. Heres one i found, do you guys think it would work?


Powdery mildew Recipe:
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 quart water
A few drops of liquid soap

 

[hoodat]

Neem oil works well on it but it kills an awful lot of predators also and can throw your garden balance out of whack if you aren't careful.
Do you have quite a few mature pumpkins? It's normal for pumpkin and squash vines to die off and send a last burst of energy into the fruits from the vines when they have all the mature fruits they can handle. One of the things you always get when they die back is powdery mildew. If you're at that stage just let them go and try to keep it off nearby plants. Don't take the vines out till they have finished their die back. That last burst of energy will help your pumpkins harden off and store better.
My Winter squash vines are just starting their die back.

 

[pendog66]

i have 3 pumpkins that range from the size of a baseball to a kids basketball. And my other plants are just now getting the female flowers. i dont want them to die before they produce. then to make matters worse i pulled out 2 vine borer larvae and killed two cucumber beetles today

 

[bid]

Your recipe should work pendog. I have never used baking soda, but have used milk and water in a ratio of 1 part milk to 9 parts water. All the reading I have done on powdery mildew suggests that changing the ph level only slightly on the leaves prevents the mildew from growing. So, milk would lower the ph and baking soda would raise the ph... 6 of one, half dozen of another. Good luck!

 

[hoodat]

i have 3 pumpkins that range from the size of a baseball to a kids basketball. And my other plants are just now getting the female flowers. i dont want them to die before they produce. then to make matters worse i pulled out 2 vine borer larvae and killed two cucumber beetles today

Sounds as though it's too early for a normal die back. You'll just have to be persistent with the spraying. Powdery mildew is a hard one to stop. Do your watering at the roots with a slow hose till it gets deep and try to keep the foliage as dry as possible.

 

[vfem]

i have 3 pumpkins that range from the size of a baseball to a kids basketball. And my other plants are just now getting the female flowers. i dont want them to die before they produce. then to make matters worse i pulled out 2 vine borer larvae and killed two cucumber beetles today

Sounds as though it's too early for a normal die back. You'll just have to be persistent with the spraying. Powdery mildew is a hard one to stop. Do your watering at the roots with a slow hose till it gets deep and try to keep the foliage as dry as possible.

Agreed, I use neem oil on the infected leaves, not always the best solution... but then following treatments with a milk water mix has helped keep mine under control enough I don't lose the plant and can even harvest quite a big of good fruits from mine.

My pumpkins just started showing signs of it as well. I did lose some zucchini's to it this year... but my cantaloupe was amazingly resistant, and I got it under control on that.

You just have to keep up on it daily!!!

 

[cwhit590]

ugh. I just noticed the powdery mildew starting on my zucchini/squash plants.....may have to try the milk recipe this year...

 

[ninnymary]

O.K....here in the S.F. bay area where our mornings are foggy and then the sun comes out. Do you think it's possible to stay on top of the mildew with the milk/water solution?

My leaves all have mildew already. I've cut the worse ones out to also allow some sun in. I just don't know if I should even attempt to control it.

What do you guys think?

Mary