Battling Powdery Mildew

Where I live in California, we usually have a HOT summer with temps in the high 90's to low 100's for at least 6 weeks. Nighttime temps drop to 80 (usually)

We have had a cool strange summer with daytime temps in the low 80's and the night times have been in the cool 60's to low 70s. Mornings are often foggy.

This summer I am seeing a lot of powdery mildew. I have tried spraying it with organic copper stuff but it doesn't seem to get rid of anything and doesn't really slow it down too much. I have stayed on top if it by cutting off the badly infected leaves.

I thought someone else might have some experience that would be helpful. For example, is the spray supposed to get rid of the powdery stuff or just prevent it from spreading? Am I really supposed to disinfect my tools when working in that area? How about my gloves?

I have heard that baking soda sprays can help prevent it. As fall is coming upon us and I am planning my fall garden, I wanted to come up with a better plan because what I am doing isn't working that well. (P.S. We can't spray with a milk solution because my son Evan is highly allergic).

Thanks for the help!

My winter and summer squash have all got powdery mildew. My spaghetti squash has lost almost all it's leaves, but the vine and squash are hanging in there! I am hoping that it will live until it's time to harvest the squash. We sprayed with Mildew Cure (ordered form www.johnnyseeds.com), but in my opinion, the effect was minimal. We've had more success using Neem oil, but it's still like the mildew is two steps ahead! We are spraying weekly and after rains (we have a gallon-size sprayer), but the weather has been so hot and humid it makes winning the battle even more difficult.

I've come to the conclusion that the planting part of SFG'ing is easy...but battling bugs and disease organically is VERY hard. I actually saw some of the Squash Vine Borer moths flying around my buttercup squash earlier this afernoon. I went out with a spray bottle of Rotenone, but the darn moths are too fast! The neighbors probably thought I had lost it! :-)

Patti