white powder

garden mark 10/5/2010, 3:57 pm

It started on the cucumber plant and now has moved to the squash as well, it looks like a white powder on the older leaves and turns almost blue, is this natural part of the end of the season or do I have some type of fungas?

Chopper 10/5/2010, 6:28 pm

I would guess powdery mildew. Once you get it it is hard to defeat but there are remedies out there. There might be a powdery mildew thread on the forum you could access or the WWW of course. Smile

garden mark 10/6/2010, 3:32 pm

Soda I see by your post on another location that you are having some of the same problem, what is the milk spray/bath?
Mark

Chopper 10/6/2010, 6:12 pm

In my garden notes I found this:
Fungal spray - mildew, blight etc. : Hydrogen peroxide or BAKING SODA - 1/4 oz in gal with oil or soap

boffer 10/6/2010, 6:28 pm

Oh....I thought he meant Shoda...oops

My guess was PM also. My solution, since I get it every year, is to throw the plant away at the end of the season (don't compost it) and not worry about it. But I'm in a different climate, and not everyone is comfortable doing nothing.

Megan 10/6/2010, 7:13 pm

Looks like powdery mildew to me. Some of my squash struggled on despite it. You might try some Neem oil spray; if I remember correctly the bottle says it gets rid of it.

garden mark 10/6/2010, 8:31 pm

garden mark wrote:Shoda I see by your post on another location that you are having some of the same problem, what is the milk spray/bath?
Mark

garden mark 10/6/2010, 8:43 pm

thanks for the reply, I cut off infected leaves and will keep away from compost.
Wow a rain shower, first in months!

Shoda 10/7/2010, 1:16 am

Sorry I have not been on the forum as much lately. Here is some of the information I found on milk sprays:

Less than 3 years ago, researchers in South America discovered a new alternative to controlling powdery mildew. Wagner Bettiol, a scientist from Brazil, found that weekly sprays of milk controlled powdery mildew in just as effectively as synthetic fungicides such as fenarimol or benomyl. Not only was milk found to be effective at controlling the disease, it also acted as a foliar, boosting the plant's immune system.

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/tv-mildew.html

The ratio they talk about is 1 part milk to 9 parts water.

Hope this helps.

Boxbuilder 10/8/2010, 6:22 pm

I've been treating my cucumbers, zucchini, and acorn squash with a spray (mostly water) with baking soda, dish soap, and veg. oil. I haven't been measuring amounts, but there are recipes online. I have to reapply it every week or so, but I think it's helped keep my plants healthy.

PNG_Grandma 10/14/2010, 3:24 pm

I've been using the milk/water spray over the past few days and my plants actually look better. There is less of the powdery stuff on the squash leaves and they all seem to be greener, not sure if that's something that would have happened naturally or the milk spray...but it seems to be working! I sprayed two days ago and then again today. The plants are producing more blossoms so I'm hoping this is working!

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