So I lost the fight against the flea beetles for my eggplant. And I have a feeling based on how far gone the problem is I'll likely lose the fight against powdery mildew for my zucchini. It was a few days since I was out there and it has gotten pretty bad. Nearly every leaf is covered. Only a few of the leaves have actually turned yellow/brown but I'm sure that it's not too long before the whole plant just can't take it any more and dies.
The good news is that I've already pulled nearly 20 delicious zucchini from them, but I'd still like to get 20 more! I've talked to some people in the area who say that Powdery Mildew kind of just happens in this area at a certain time of the year, and to get zucchini all summer you should do a few plantings of one plant through out the late spring/early summer. There are certain preventative measures you can take, like watering in the morning and only at base. But it sounds like even that will just delay the point at which you'll eventually get it.
So what to do? I read that using plain 'ole milk does a better job than any commercial fungicide on the market. So that's what I'm trying... read more here:
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/powdery-milk-mildew.html
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/3125/title/A_Dairy_Solution_to_Mildew_Woes
Check out this haul today!
I live in Southeast Indiana, right across the border from Cincinnati, OH, and I've been pulling in some MONSTRUOUS zucchini this year! But then, about a week or two ago, the zucchini started wilting and the leaves began turning a paler color, with white spots on them --- powdery mildew. I guess it's been all the rain we've been getting this year, combined with the wacky temperature variations. I guess it's a bit better to get a bunch of rain instead of too little.
ReplyDeleteI am having the same problem, and this is the first year we have tried to have a garden so its kind of discouraging, we have only gotten a few zucchini and a couple of yellow crooknecks out of maybe twelve vines. I was wondering if it was my fault due to planting to closely but looks like more folks are having this problem to
ReplyDeleteYou can reduce your risk by watering in the morning and spacing your plants but from what I've read and heard anecdotally it's a very common problem that is hard to avoid. A friend of mine recommends a particular fungicide that works well against powdery mildew - when I get the information from him I'll post it for you. Good luck with your battle!!!
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