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How to Control Powdery Mildew
Powdery mildew thrives on roses, crape myrtles, zinnias, squash and watermelon plants. I've seen it on cucumber vines, grape vines, fruit trees, and yard trees like sycamores. Some plants take it in stride, but the mildew might kill other plants such as roses and fruit trees. The most effective way to control it is with good planting methods such as allowing plenty of sunlight to get to your plants, such as crape myrtles or roses that need full sun. (On a side note, crape myrtle varieties with Indian names such as Natchez, are less prone to powdery mildew.) Also, allow good air circulation between plants, so don't crowd them together. If a plant is severely infected and the other plants of the same variety around it are doing well, pull the infected plant and throw it away. Also, use organic fertilizers that release nitrogen slowly into the soil. Adding a high nitrogen chemical fertilizer might give you a lot of new green top growth, but that new green top growth is most susceptible to damage from powdery mildew and insects. Never use a chemical foliar feed fertilizer on vegetables. Seaweed, fish emulsion and compost teas are suitable for foliar feeding. Sulfur it highly effective against powdery mildew. If you use a sulfur-based product, use on a regular 10-14 day spraying program but test on a small area first. Some plants, such as those from the cucumber and squash family, cannot tolerate any sulfur and the leaves will dry out, crack and fall off. A more organic solution is a garlic-based spray that has naturally occurring sulfur and is not as toxic to your plants. Baking soda or Sodium Bicarbonate mixed with water is routinely used for powdery mildew, but Potassium Bicarbonate is better because you are not adding the sodium, or salt, to your soil. Just add 1 teaspoon to one quart of water with two drops of liquid soap. Spray in the cool of the day. Plain milk mixed with water at a ration of 1 part milk to 9 parts water seems to work well on zucchini and squash plants. Don't overdo it with the milk. A ratio higher than what is recommended will increase the chance of another type of fungus that is worse than powdery mildew. Skim milk works just as well as milk fresh from the cow. Neem oil is also an organic solution for powdery mildew as is light horticultural oil. Never use oils in temperatures above 90 degrees. Use all sprays with caution. Powdery mildew spends the winter on twigs and stems of many host plants. That's why it's a good idea to keep the garden free of weeds. If you use a winter cover crop, wait two to three weeks after tilling it under in the spring before planting. This is also important because the cover crop needs time to decompose or else it will pull nitrogen from the soil while it decomposes. If your soil test shows you need to add rapid release nitrogen to the soil, add two weeks before planting.
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If there is one garden malady we all share this time of year it's powdery mildew. There are several different kinds that cause the disease on different plants but it all looks the same. If you have a white fuzzy coating on the leaves of any of your ornamentals or vegetable plant leaves that you didn't put there, you probably have powdery mildew. Powdery mildew does not need dark damp places to grow. In fact, it prefers dry days and nights and warm temperatures in the 60-80 degree range, which we have at night. The mildew doesn't grow much during the day when the temperatures get really hot. However, once it gets going, shade and poor air circulation will make the situation much worse.
