Whats happening to my zucchini

brubakes 7/7/2012, 11:57 pm

Whats happening to my zucchini? It just started this past week by seems to be going down fast. Sad

Whats happening to my zucchini IMG_08421

**camprn** 8/7/2012, 1:42 am

That looks like powdery or downey mildew. Get in there and with your garden clippers cut off all the effected leaves near the vine. Do not cut the vine.

The milder happens when it's hot and humid. I have had some success keeping ahead of it by pruning (increasing the air circulation in the bed) and using a baking soda spray on top and underneath sides of the leaves.

Baking soda spray disrupts the life cycle of the mold and will need to be reapplied after it rains and every 10 days or so.

Baking Soda Recipe for Powdery Mildew
Ingredients: in a milk jug

1 gallon of water
1 tablespoon of baking soda
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid

yolos 8/7/2012, 1:56 am

Camprn, your recipe should take care of the powdery mildew, but what about the yellowing leaves. Does the mildew cause the leaves to turn yellow. I have some powdery mildew on squash I am fighting right now but so far the leaves have not turned yellow. Could the OP have more than one problem.

**camprn** 8/7/2012, 2:16 am

I think the yellowing leaves are a result of the mildew. I would remove all effected yellowing leaves, spray and then see how things progress from there.

If I start having PM issues, I usually go in there with the clippers and remove anything showing signs of PM, to reduce the risk of further infection.

brubakes 8/7/2012, 5:49 am

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I've gone and cut out the worst of the leaves and will start from there. Its been horribly hot and humid here for the past few week.

brubakes 8/7/2012, 5:51 am

I forgot to add that the white powder in the pic is actually sevin bug killer for some japanese beetles I found started to eat my leaves.

**camprn** 8/7/2012, 6:07 am

SEVIN kills bees and can kill a colony. Just thought I would point that out, seeing as how you have blooms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide_toxicity_to_bees

Pollinator 8/7/2012, 7:08 am

brubakes wrote:I forgot to add that the white powder in the pic is actually sevin bug killer for some japanese beetles I found started to eat my leaves.

Read the LABEL folks! It is a violation to use Sevin dust on blooming plants. You can be cited for pesticide misuse - and you could be held liable for losses if a beekeeper in your neighborhood reports that his livestock has been poisoned.

JeanneRamick 8/7/2012, 7:13 am

Pollinator wrote:Read the LABEL folks! It is a violation to use Sevin dust on blooming plants. You can be cited for pesticide misuse - and you could be held liable for losses if a beekeeper in your neighborhood reports that his livestock has been poisoned.

I don't use Sevin, so I had no idea about this, Pollinator. Wow.

Lindacol 8/7/2012, 7:34 am

I'm wondering if the powder is not mildew, could some of the plants have SVB (squash vine borer) and are just started to die back because of it?

**camprn** 8/7/2012, 8:20 am

Lindacol wrote:I'm wondering if the powder is not mildew, could some of the plants have SVB (squash vine borer) and are just started to die back because of it?

Typically with SVB this is what I see, sudden collapse of the entire plant.
Whats happening to my zucchini Squash-vine-borer-killed-zuke

http://texasgardeningadventures.wordpress.com/tag/squash-vine-borer/

boffer 8/7/2012, 8:23 am

Oh my gosh. I've never seen the results of SVB; have only read about it on the forum. That's gotta be gut-wrenching.

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