This is what my zucchini look like now, and again the leaves were healthy and beautiful a month ago. I sprayed a neem oil spray on them because I was told I had powdery mildew, and this is what they looked like at the end of the day yesterday when I sprayed them at 6am in the morning.
Good Ol Neem spray oil will do that. Even if you spray early in the morn, if it's still on the leaves when the sun comes up, it cooks the leaves. I don't use it. Whole fresh milk if you can get it fresh, or goat milk, Spray on the leaves it takes several days for any thing to get powdery mildew off of the leaves. Once it gets on there. It's alot harder to get off. We've had quite a few rains lately, and I see some powdery mildew on a few of the leaves, I'll shop those particular leaves off if there are only a few of them, to prevent it from spreading. I've never used store bought milk to do the powdery mildew thing. I've always had fresh goatmilk on hand. Though I don't have goats any more, I have a friend who does.
there's also a bakingsoda /water solution that you can use. But I don'tknow the recipe for it. Hopefully somone will come along and repeat that recipe again.
The leaves that are burnt won't really recover, Hopefully you can get this undercontrol soon.
kathy_ann
Thanks kathy_ann. I was told that I didn't have to cut off the infected leaves, but I guess I should have cut them off right away.
kanita
It spreads fast, I have it all over my squash too, But I'm done picking so We're just going to bush hog it down now LOL
kathy
I have a question...I also have powdery mildew on the leaves of my zucchini and some on my yellow squash, but both plants are still producing well. What are the effects of powdery mildew? Will it affect the long term production...? In the meantime, I gotta go spray the leaves with skim milk...gotta go!
Thanks-
Tracy
Well, I know if you don't do something it will take over the whole plant, and has killed my squash before, and it also spreads to the other plants like the cucumbers and other squashes melons. etc... You either need to spray something on it to kill it. or it will over take your whole garden. And if your going to use the milk do it dilligently, over and over, and it takes a bit to kill it all with milk. sometimes it's not worth the effort, as I did, I just bush hogged it all down. But my garden's been in for 2 l/2 months now, and I"m sick of picking squash anyways.
kathy
here's the recipe. first got it from DG, then recently from Cornell Univ web site from a link on DG!
1 tbsp each, baking soda, veg oil, liquid soap (may use insectcidal soap), in one gallon of water.
i made 2 gallons, i sprayed my cantaloupe, watermelons, & tomatoes with it. still have gallon left.
seems like you do this weekly to prevent/ control powdery mildew, melon blight, blight on tomatoes
possibly you should consider rotating your crops since those diseases overwinter in many cases...
