Problems on cukes, zucchinis, pickles and cantaloupes.

[hosspak]

What causes the sticky film that covered and finally killed these plants? I never saw any weird beetles or other strange bugs, but I still watched these plants go from riches to rags in just a few days.... Please advise.

 

[catjac1975]

Where's the image?

 

[hosspak]

Where's the image?

Sorry, no pictures. I had kept a sample of the leaves for a while but never made it to the Depot for help. I was never able to find anything regarding this problem while googling for days... nothing I found really matched my problem.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

By the palm tree that I've seen on a pic on another thread, it seems like you are in a very warm and humid climate - so probably something fungal. We need a pic to identify it for sure, though.

I've had a heck of a time with fungus and wilt in my garden in the past, now I space the plants farther apart and keep people and animals out of it when wet.

 

[thistlebloom]

Sticky film sounds like honeydew excretions from aphids. But more info would be helpful.

 

[digitS']

Yes, it sounds like aphids from the trees but it could be something more exotic & toxic.

All of my cucurbits seem to get some whitish powdery mildew after a few months in the garden. Mostly, they make it through the season okay. However, my season for these plants isn't very long. Some years, the zucchini especially fall victim to the mildew.

There is also dark-greyish "downy" mildew but it doesn't show up most years or to any degree. Peas, another powdery mildew host, will have downy mildew once in a while.

Steve

 

[hosspak]

Yes, it sounds like aphids from the trees but it could be something more exotic & toxic.

All of my cucurbits seem to get some whitish powdery mildew after a few months in the garden. Mostly, they make it through the season okay. However, my season for these plants isn't very long. Some years, the zucchini especially fall victim to the mildew.

There is also dark-greyish "downy" mildew but it doesn't show up most years or to any degree. Peas, another powdery mildew host, will have downy mildew once in a while.

Steve

So how do you treat for the mildew???

 

[digitS']

Ah, there's a recent thread on here on powder mildew, Hosspak. Some organic ideas on it. Look for that topic title.

I have used synthetic sprays on my flowers but don't feel comfortable suggesting something that I don't use on my food plants. Both of the fungicides that I have used on zinnias and such had labels that said that the sprays could be used on vegetables, I'm quite sure. So, those are out there on your garden center shelves.

I have never used things like milk sprays and using a sulfur-based dormant spray has been restricted to a fruit tree. It can't be a dormant spray for you anyway if you are using this in the growing season.

What I have done for the summer squash is just plant them so that there are always young plants in the garden. If the older plants are going under to the mildew - they can be pulled and tossed. The later and younger plants may have some mildew but they will tolerate it until they begin to age. By that time, autumn frosts are at hand . . . and the season comes to an end.

Would that be a possibility, to expect 4 or 6 weeks of production and then have another bunch of plants coming on? Could you "stagger" your plantings of these crops? Now, I hope someone with experience with the fungicides in their veggie gardens will respond.

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

So do you think it's mildew?
In my experience mildew does not make a "sticky film", but looks more like a hazy coating.

 

[catjac1975]

Did it look like mold?