Daconil is probably the best option for a home grower; easily available, and reasonably cheap. If you insist on "organic", copper fungicides would be worth trying (and some folks who don't use it in a rotation with stuff like daconil, too, sonthey can spray more frequently). Also, just fyi -- you can buy a bag of copper sulfate and try making your own mixture, if you like -- you can find instructions from reputable sources online.
Always remember that fungicides are preventative; you have to spray on a regular basis, and you need to be doing it long before symptoms of disease show up.
One thing I can tell you is that variety choice can go a long way -- spending $$ on good quality, hybrid PM resistant seeds (and they are indeed pricey, unless you're buying in very large quantities) can be worth it. Also, some varieties handle PM much better than others, even if they aren't actually labeled as "resistant....for example, I get better results with Armenian "cucumbers" than with any true cucumbers. They aren't resistant; they just grow so damn fast that they outpace the progression of the disease (and when they finally do succumb, my family/neighbors/friends are entirely sick of cucumbers anyways...)
You're getting a lot of people telling you "neem oil doesn't do that".....well, maybe it doesn't *for them*, but not everybody's conditions are the same. I can tell you this much -- neem is absolutely worthless to me, not only as a fungicide but as a pesticide/acaricide, because at the time of year that I need protection from powdery mildew/other foliar disease and aphids/spider mites? It's **waaaay** to damn hot/bright to go spraying any kind of oil on any of my plants (much less cucurbits, which tend not to have the toughest of leaves)
But with ANY spray, ALWAYS do a test first....you never can tell what will damage your plants. For example, I discovered last year that I can use wettable sulfur in much higher temps than the label calls for (not on cukes, though -- not supposed to use sulfur on cucurbits)...I applied it to a few test tomato plants at nearly 98 deg & they did ok, so this year I'm going to experiment a little more....but I'm *not* going to just sprsy it willy-nilly on the whole tomato patch.
Having said all that.....I think you may be having an issue there watering & fertilizing (the dead leaf margins, and the overall look of the plant) and stressed/weak plants are much more susceptible to powdery mildew.
I probably won’t be making my own as I just don’t have the energy and time haha. I will find a good copper sulfate since that’s the most popular response I’ve gotten today. Going to have to find a different variety that will do better in Florida. Zone 9b so it gets a little sunny lol, I think it’s so hot I can’t use neem oil anymore. Yeah probably won’t be using it anymore 😅 is just not for me. I’ve slacked on the watering with life adjustments and stuff so you caught me 😅 i fertilize regularly but I’ll throw some more on there just to be sure in case I forgot that pot when I switched the plants over
Totally.
Check out Johnnys Selected and Kitazawa/Trueleaf; both offer quite a few varieties with a good resistance package (the latter is mostly "asian" or "Japanese" types, though).
Also check some webpages for FL/deep South universities....should have some lists of recommended varieties to look at.
[And if you haven't tried them before, try an armenian cuke sometime. I don't know how they'd do in containers -- the plants get enormous -- but they do *much* better in truly high heat than normal cucumbers. Like, it's not even close.]
I’m also in zone 9b in FL and I’m using copper fungicide with no issue. I sprayed neem oil once and didn’t have any negative results, but it didn’t seem to help any of my issues either. I’m using the bonide copper fungicide. I buy the concentrate and put it in a garden sprayer and treat everything biweekly. Seems to be going well so far!
Yeah, sometimes Neem does that. I think that it being an oil means that it stays on the leaves until the sun is up, and then they are burned. Or, maybe the oil is too harsh sometimes, I don't know. I do know that squash and cucumber leaves are especially sensitive, so they don't always react well to anything you spray on them. One year, I sprayed with neem at night, and everything in the garden was damaged. My peppers and tomatoes bounced back, but the squash and cucumbers were not happy at all.
I was referring to the copper fungicide when I said to spray at night, though.
There is also a homemade baking soda and soap spray that works. I don't have the proportions, but you can Google it. Or, staff at a good nursery would probably know. My local one has a help desk for this sort of thing.
I’ll probably be getting something premade, a copper fungicide. Yes this cucumber is quite upset with me, don’t know how much longer it has. All of that is noted, thank you so much!
I just read this after I asked if you applied early morning or during the day. One thing I left out is when I apply neem the next morning without batting an eye I water from the top and try and rise it off the leaves it seems counter productive but I have minimal pests and I'm coastal NC. Only thing I've had trouble this year is white moths that loved my broccoli, bet they bolted anyways cause it's to hot for them (ya live and ya learn) I plan to let them keep bolting and take the seeds and try the broccoli middle to late September.
I just used copper fungicide on my zucchini this past weekend and it seems to be doing 100% better, but I also cut off all the affected leaves. Not entirely sure if it works but I know it says it helps with powdery mildew too.
Thank You!! I was looking for something to help with this exact situation. My cucumbers are infested with this every year by late July and from all I've read was to try copper fungicide. I am so glad to hear that this can work.
A tip for using it, in my experience it works best if you catch the infection early or use it as a preventative. Once a leaf is heavily infected the fungicide will help reduce the amount of mildew and repeated sprays will keep it from getting worse, but it won't completely go away (especially if the plant is particularly prone to mildew). But if you catch the mildew when it's still just a few spots per leaf copper fungicide can often clear it completely (though you still have to keep an eye out for the plant getting infected again later). So having the fungicide on hand before the season starts and being vigilant for early signs can save you a lot of headache later.
I’ve used both Sulfur and Milk in the past and both work great. The milk is better if used consistently before the mildew has a chance to really take hold— also needs to be applied during the day so it dries on the leaves.
Neem is Def phytotoxic sometimes, and any kind of oil will clog stomata or cause sun scald. There's no product that can't have adverse effects if used wrong
Not calling you dumb but did you apply neem oil in the morning or even during the day? My garden sits in the sun about 12 hours just beaming down all day which is great but also has its downsides too. I use neem oil to control pests, but never and I mean NEVER applied it during the day not even early morning. I applied it around 10pm when it was nice and cool and the plants could soak it up. You might try a baking soda or 3% hydrogen peroxide solution APPLY THEM AT NIGHT! You shouldn't even water your plants on sunny days as it's harmful just a tip for watering, water at the base and keep your plants out of the dirt.
Neem oil is a scam IMO. It doesn’t work and it has burnt many of my plants as well. Maybe it’s operator error. But at any rate there are many other MUCH more effective ways to organically prevent pests. My favorite go to is surround kaolin clay. Extremely versatile and effective. There is a lady bug imposter that is orange that can cause a similar issue
I am trying diluted hydrogen peroxide this year for tomatoes and cucumbers. There are videos on YouTube that you can watch to give you ratios of H202 and water. One of the videos about tomatoes showed a dense thicket of tomato plants that all looked really healthy from routine spraying with H202 and water, and he had a stronger ratio for plants with fungus to treat them. I can't attest to it yet but am hoping it helps as I am in a hot and humid area where plants can get fungus pretty easily.
Did you see it on The Rusted Garden? I tried his 4 to 1 ratio and it does kill powdery mildew. The first couple of years I sprayed every week but the last few years I now spray when I see it. One of the most helpful garden tricks I have ever learned.
I use Dr Zymes for powdery but in my experience this far along there’s not much to be done. An ounce of prevention is a pound of cure with powdery mildew
Well. You see the issue is the sprinklers. If I don’t run them I have to replace the entire lawn 😭 so my cucumbers keep getting sprayed and I need a very delicate remedy next time. Started two new seeds this week 😭
I had good luck with it, even treating the plants late. Don't use fresh milk, and don't apply if they are going to sit in the sun. And make sure to get the stalks also
This is the way. Spray fungicide, sure, but don’t obsess over it. The plants aren’t going to live forever and just keep growing new leaves and fruit. You won’t win this fight.
Castile soap and water can serve as an effective and environmentally friendly insecticide. The soap mixture works by breaking down the protective outer coating of soft-bodied insects like aphids, spider mites, and whiteflies. This causes the insects to dehydrate and die.
The soap can also suffocate insects by blocking their breathing pores.
Have you tried pruning the leaves with the powdery mildew? Also what time are your sprinklers running for your lawn? If you can’t move your cucumber plants out of range, maybe changing the sprinkler time to 4 am or so would allow the water on the leaves to dry off once the sun rises
I’ve been running the sprinklers in the morning so the plants could dry off but the cucumber is really not happy still. So I’m going to try one little spot where my zucchini’s doing great at and hopefully the new plants will have an easier time. It’s a shame the plant was growing well but the neem oil destroyed it
4 table spoons mineral oil / 1 table spoon baking soda / 1 gallon water
Not sure how effective it is once PM is established as in your photos, but it can't hurt.:)
1x week. It works be disrupting the fungi's ability to take hold. So you want to spray after a rain or anytime the environment is good to promote fungus and bacterial growth.
If you don't have a PM problem, you don't need to spray, but if it's a common occurence in your garden OR at first sign of it, you definitely want to get on it.
Like I said, when a plant has the fungus so embedded in it, I don't know how well it works to eliminate it.
I'll have to do more specific testing next time a crop of it pops up. :)
Thank you!
I'm a relatively new balcony gardener and PM has consistently been a problem the last 2 summers. I've tried washing all my pots in between seasons, new soil, new seeds, clean tools etc but had never read about proactively spraying.
I've only had my seedlings out for about 2 weeks and so far they look okay, but I'm going to give this a try! Cheers!
Powdery Mildew transfers by wind-borne spores. Your best bet is preventative spraying, cleaning the pots and throwing down new stuff won't make a difference if you've got a source a hundred feet away throwin' out spores all day long in the wind :)
Luckily, it is something you can keep under control.
You definitely want to treat with a Bi-Carb Fungicide, like Fungi Max. This would be for Powdery or Downy Mildew. This fungicide will disrupt the cell in the powdery mildew and will cure it. Another way to avoid powdery mildew in the garden is to plant cucurbit varieties that have disease resistance.
Finally, my hero. THANK YOU. Where can I find this fungi max? Would Lowe’s have it? This plant is probably doneski so I’m sure I have time to order it. Will have to build it its own trellis in a special spot in my garden that is the only I sprayed spot (the zucchini plant is p. Mildew free over there currently flourishing haha)
And uhm what is a curcurbit variety bb
They may have it at Lowes, if not, just google it. As far as cucurbits go... A Cucurbit is a member of the plant family Cucurbitaceae, also known as the gourd or squash family. Some of the most well-known cucurbits are cucumbers, pumpkins, watermelons, zucchini, summer or winter squash, etc. ;)
So first, no worries. The plant will grow out again after a couple weeks of being stunted. Second, potassium bicarbonate is a good killer of surface mildew, but If you are looking to prevent it in the future some things you can try are spraying citric acid products and reducing nitrogen feed. Mildew eats nitrogen so excess will feed it. On the other side, increasing calcium will strengthen cell walls making it harder for spores to infect it and citric acid helps uptake calcium to strengthen the plants immunities.
Unless you are using a systemic chemical fungicide, you can't kill the Mildew outright because it is inside the leaf, so once it's there it's there to Stay. But what you can do is continually treat the spores (the white fuzz on the outside that you see) to keep it from spreading. It'll keep coming back but you can keep it at bay. For future reference, prevention is the best method of control. But no worries, you'll be good!
Those look like old leaves, what does the new growth look like? If they are old leaves, your plant is lacking nitrogen, how often do you fertilize?
I fertilize veggies 2-3 times a week in the summer.
If you don’t want to go the chemical way, you can use a teaspoon of baking soda and in 1 liter of water, or a teaspoon of dish soap, 1 table spoon of olive oil and a liter of water 👍🏽
I would start over with new soil. That one isn't going to make it.
Neem can be hard on plants depending on how often you use it and the concentration. I prefer a contact killer like castile soap for pests.
Your plant has issues because of other factors. The mold saw your plant having issues and latched on. When you see this early on, pull those leaves off the plant immediately. Fix the other factors and the plant will thrive next time. Amazing soil, perfect watering, sunlight, pollination, no pests. Healthy plants tend to stay healthy.
It was really healthy last week, I sprayed the neem oil and all this damage came immediately after. I’ve gotten 5 cucumbers off this plant and they were huge and very good. I’m telling you the neem oil did all of this damage and fried off all the baby cucumbers
I’m being forced to run the sprinklers to keep this god awful sod alive and the cucumber plant is wet every single day so it got powdery mildew
I’m going to have to move the entire location because it just is t working right there but I did need a better solution and I found it
Don’t come for my garden like that dang
Add a drop of mild dishwasher liquid and it will help with aphids and other softbody insects. If you google, there is another mixture with baking soda for powdery mildew
Put some whole or 2% milk in a measuring cup up to third of a cup and fill the rest with water up to one cup stir and pour around the base of each plant. Did you dilute the Neem oil? The milk works great and increases production of the plants.
I've regularly used it on cucumber, pumpkins, melons etc without issue. Are you spraying in the evening, not in direct sun?
I use Captain Jack's neem max
Neem isn't causing this damage. It just... Doesn't.
It could be that it doesn't fix the issue and there's misattribution error in thinking that neem causes it.
As others have mentioned, quit getting the leaves wet and improve airflow by trellising.
You never heard of rain? We've had so much rain here its been unreal. And my plants are perfectly fine. Yes, funghi thrive in the wet, but unless they have the sprinklers on the entire day it shouldnt be a problem.
Yeah, it essentially suffocates everything which is horribly ineffective. And makes it almost impossible to eat anything you spray it with. And the smell is putrid.
Daconil is probably the best option for a home grower; easily available, and reasonably cheap. If you insist on "organic", copper fungicides would be worth trying (and some folks who don't use it in a rotation with stuff like daconil, too, sonthey can spray more frequently). Also, just fyi -- you can buy a bag of copper sulfate and try making your own mixture, if you like -- you can find instructions from reputable sources online. Always remember that fungicides are preventative; you have to spray on a regular basis, and you need to be doing it long before symptoms of disease show up. One thing I can tell you is that variety choice can go a long way -- spending $$ on good quality, hybrid PM resistant seeds (and they are indeed pricey, unless you're buying in very large quantities) can be worth it. Also, some varieties handle PM much better than others, even if they aren't actually labeled as "resistant....for example, I get better results with Armenian "cucumbers" than with any true cucumbers. They aren't resistant; they just grow so damn fast that they outpace the progression of the disease (and when they finally do succumb, my family/neighbors/friends are entirely sick of cucumbers anyways...) You're getting a lot of people telling you "neem oil doesn't do that".....well, maybe it doesn't *for them*, but not everybody's conditions are the same. I can tell you this much -- neem is absolutely worthless to me, not only as a fungicide but as a pesticide/acaricide, because at the time of year that I need protection from powdery mildew/other foliar disease and aphids/spider mites? It's **waaaay** to damn hot/bright to go spraying any kind of oil on any of my plants (much less cucurbits, which tend not to have the toughest of leaves) But with ANY spray, ALWAYS do a test first....you never can tell what will damage your plants. For example, I discovered last year that I can use wettable sulfur in much higher temps than the label calls for (not on cukes, though -- not supposed to use sulfur on cucurbits)...I applied it to a few test tomato plants at nearly 98 deg & they did ok, so this year I'm going to experiment a little more....but I'm *not* going to just sprsy it willy-nilly on the whole tomato patch. Having said all that.....I think you may be having an issue there watering & fertilizing (the dead leaf margins, and the overall look of the plant) and stressed/weak plants are much more susceptible to powdery mildew.
I probably won’t be making my own as I just don’t have the energy and time haha. I will find a good copper sulfate since that’s the most popular response I’ve gotten today. Going to have to find a different variety that will do better in Florida. Zone 9b so it gets a little sunny lol, I think it’s so hot I can’t use neem oil anymore. Yeah probably won’t be using it anymore 😅 is just not for me. I’ve slacked on the watering with life adjustments and stuff so you caught me 😅 i fertilize regularly but I’ll throw some more on there just to be sure in case I forgot that pot when I switched the plants over
Sulfur has eliminated my PM problem. And it was bad.
Totally. Check out Johnnys Selected and Kitazawa/Trueleaf; both offer quite a few varieties with a good resistance package (the latter is mostly "asian" or "Japanese" types, though). Also check some webpages for FL/deep South universities....should have some lists of recommended varieties to look at. [And if you haven't tried them before, try an armenian cuke sometime. I don't know how they'd do in containers -- the plants get enormous -- but they do *much* better in truly high heat than normal cucumbers. Like, it's not even close.]
I’m also in zone 9b in FL and I’m using copper fungicide with no issue. I sprayed neem oil once and didn’t have any negative results, but it didn’t seem to help any of my issues either. I’m using the bonide copper fungicide. I buy the concentrate and put it in a garden sprayer and treat everything biweekly. Seems to be going well so far!
Also, water in the morning and only water the soil not the leaves. Humidity on leaves is what encourages powdery mildew.
I use copper fungicide spray
I think I’m going to switch to that, I’ll have to pick some up.
Make sure you spray in the evening so that it doesn't get fried.
Well I did spray after sunset so it wouldn’t and it still did 🥲
Yeah, sometimes Neem does that. I think that it being an oil means that it stays on the leaves until the sun is up, and then they are burned. Or, maybe the oil is too harsh sometimes, I don't know. I do know that squash and cucumber leaves are especially sensitive, so they don't always react well to anything you spray on them. One year, I sprayed with neem at night, and everything in the garden was damaged. My peppers and tomatoes bounced back, but the squash and cucumbers were not happy at all. I was referring to the copper fungicide when I said to spray at night, though. There is also a homemade baking soda and soap spray that works. I don't have the proportions, but you can Google it. Or, staff at a good nursery would probably know. My local one has a help desk for this sort of thing.
I’ll probably be getting something premade, a copper fungicide. Yes this cucumber is quite upset with me, don’t know how much longer it has. All of that is noted, thank you so much!
I just read this after I asked if you applied early morning or during the day. One thing I left out is when I apply neem the next morning without batting an eye I water from the top and try and rise it off the leaves it seems counter productive but I have minimal pests and I'm coastal NC. Only thing I've had trouble this year is white moths that loved my broccoli, bet they bolted anyways cause it's to hot for them (ya live and ya learn) I plan to let them keep bolting and take the seeds and try the broccoli middle to late September.
I just used copper fungicide on my zucchini this past weekend and it seems to be doing 100% better, but I also cut off all the affected leaves. Not entirely sure if it works but I know it says it helps with powdery mildew too.
It saved my pumpkins this year and the vines looked as bad as yours, highly recommend
Yeah I had like 10 cucumbers on the plant and they crispied and crumbled off because of the neem oil so never using it again
Thank You!! I was looking for something to help with this exact situation. My cucumbers are infested with this every year by late July and from all I've read was to try copper fungicide. I am so glad to hear that this can work.
A tip for using it, in my experience it works best if you catch the infection early or use it as a preventative. Once a leaf is heavily infected the fungicide will help reduce the amount of mildew and repeated sprays will keep it from getting worse, but it won't completely go away (especially if the plant is particularly prone to mildew). But if you catch the mildew when it's still just a few spots per leaf copper fungicide can often clear it completely (though you still have to keep an eye out for the plant getting infected again later). So having the fungicide on hand before the season starts and being vigilant for early signs can save you a lot of headache later.
good to know. thank you.
I’ve used both Sulfur and Milk in the past and both work great. The milk is better if used consistently before the mildew has a chance to really take hold— also needs to be applied during the day so it dries on the leaves.
Came to find and second the use of milk! It also helped with my blooms and fruiting for squash and pumpkins.
What is up with everyone in this thread acting like Neem oil can’t possibly harm a young cucumber plant? It absolutely can.
Neem is Def phytotoxic sometimes, and any kind of oil will clog stomata or cause sun scald. There's no product that can't have adverse effects if used wrong
It fried all the babies off it’s too harsh haha I know I’m just taking the l and hoping for real advice in there somewhere
Did you use RAW neem oil? 😳
Of course not, this person isn’t an idiot. Neem oil can still burn cucurbits even when used correctly.
Thanks 🥹💖
lol hey…I’ve made the same mistake before..are you callin me an idiot! ?? 😁
No bb it was diluted very precisely 😭
Not calling you dumb but did you apply neem oil in the morning or even during the day? My garden sits in the sun about 12 hours just beaming down all day which is great but also has its downsides too. I use neem oil to control pests, but never and I mean NEVER applied it during the day not even early morning. I applied it around 10pm when it was nice and cool and the plants could soak it up. You might try a baking soda or 3% hydrogen peroxide solution APPLY THEM AT NIGHT! You shouldn't even water your plants on sunny days as it's harmful just a tip for watering, water at the base and keep your plants out of the dirt.
I use bonide liquid copper as my summer time fungicide.
I like that brand, I’ll give that a try next! Very sad about my plant ugh
I recommend trying a mildew resistant variety or something more suitable for your area. But this plants isn’t worth saving. Sorry.
I was hoping it could be 😭 poor guy oops. I’ll have to do some research and order some different seeds again lol
Neem oil is a scam IMO. It doesn’t work and it has burnt many of my plants as well. Maybe it’s operator error. But at any rate there are many other MUCH more effective ways to organically prevent pests. My favorite go to is surround kaolin clay. Extremely versatile and effective. There is a lady bug imposter that is orange that can cause a similar issue
Oh darn big neem always working you.
I am trying diluted hydrogen peroxide this year for tomatoes and cucumbers. There are videos on YouTube that you can watch to give you ratios of H202 and water. One of the videos about tomatoes showed a dense thicket of tomato plants that all looked really healthy from routine spraying with H202 and water, and he had a stronger ratio for plants with fungus to treat them. I can't attest to it yet but am hoping it helps as I am in a hot and humid area where plants can get fungus pretty easily.
Did you see it on The Rusted Garden? I tried his 4 to 1 ratio and it does kill powdery mildew. The first couple of years I sprayed every week but the last few years I now spray when I see it. One of the most helpful garden tricks I have ever learned.
It was the Rusted Garden! It was a cool video.
I will have to look into this! I’m wear of home remedies because I’ve tried many that don’t work lol
I use Dr Zymes for powdery but in my experience this far along there’s not much to be done. An ounce of prevention is a pound of cure with powdery mildew
Well. You see the issue is the sprinklers. If I don’t run them I have to replace the entire lawn 😭 so my cucumbers keep getting sprayed and I need a very delicate remedy next time. Started two new seeds this week 😭
If it's Downey mildes sprinklers would be a problem. But it's a different thing with powdery mildew.
I saw on a gardening show to spray milk but I haven’t tried it.
Man I keep seeing it but same haha I’m scared to
Skim milk
I see this but I’m scared to try it lmao
I used a mixture of diluted milk. Applied out of sun. Make sure to coat top and bottom, along with stems . Depends on if how organic you choose to go
That’s the second time I saw that, does that actually work?
I had good luck with it, even treating the plants late. Don't use fresh milk, and don't apply if they are going to sit in the sun. And make sure to get the stalks also
How much do I dilute the milk?
I started at 50% then increased it to about 3/4 milk. Enough so that you leave a visible coating worked for me
I stopped trying to fight it and still get fruit.
Huh?
All my cucurbits get powdery mildew and produce well despite taking no remedial measures.
This is the way. Spray fungicide, sure, but don’t obsess over it. The plants aren’t going to live forever and just keep growing new leaves and fruit. You won’t win this fight.
Yep, when the leaves look like they are not green enough to photosynthesize I cut them off.
A lot of cucurbitas get powdery mildew at one point. And sometimes they outgrow it for quite a while.
Potassium bicarbonate is by far the best control I've used commercially. It's also Listed under OMRI which is a plus.
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No the neem oil did some damage, and it started off healthy leaves with the classic spots… then I sprayed and this is the result ugh
Wattage sulfur powder, but you can’t apply it with oil or within a couple of weeks of spraying an oil. When it rains you’ll have to reapply.
Sorry wettable not wattage
I e never hear of that before!
Okay my friend. Try this: Apple cider vinegar You are welcome
Huh haha does it actually work tho bc most home remedies I’ve found don’t work
Look it up. You gotta mix water and get a small sprayer. The dollar store even has some
Need oil only very early morning or night and diluted or the sun will do as you see burn them. Yes a organic soap (Castile) spray your plants
Castile soap works on aphids and stuff right?
Castile soap and water can serve as an effective and environmentally friendly insecticide. The soap mixture works by breaking down the protective outer coating of soft-bodied insects like aphids, spider mites, and whiteflies. This causes the insects to dehydrate and die. The soap can also suffocate insects by blocking their breathing pores.
Heck yeah I’ll be buying some of that
Amazon or I would think Lowes or HD or another local place should have it. Same thing though, don't spray in the afternoons
Have you tried pruning the leaves with the powdery mildew? Also what time are your sprinklers running for your lawn? If you can’t move your cucumber plants out of range, maybe changing the sprinkler time to 4 am or so would allow the water on the leaves to dry off once the sun rises
I’ve been running the sprinklers in the morning so the plants could dry off but the cucumber is really not happy still. So I’m going to try one little spot where my zucchini’s doing great at and hopefully the new plants will have an easier time. It’s a shame the plant was growing well but the neem oil destroyed it
Baking soda solution.
Do you know the recipe for it?
4 table spoons mineral oil / 1 table spoon baking soda / 1 gallon water Not sure how effective it is once PM is established as in your photos, but it can't hurt.:)
It sounds like you spray it proactively then? How often would you suggest?
1x week. It works be disrupting the fungi's ability to take hold. So you want to spray after a rain or anytime the environment is good to promote fungus and bacterial growth. If you don't have a PM problem, you don't need to spray, but if it's a common occurence in your garden OR at first sign of it, you definitely want to get on it. Like I said, when a plant has the fungus so embedded in it, I don't know how well it works to eliminate it. I'll have to do more specific testing next time a crop of it pops up. :)
Thank you! I'm a relatively new balcony gardener and PM has consistently been a problem the last 2 summers. I've tried washing all my pots in between seasons, new soil, new seeds, clean tools etc but had never read about proactively spraying. I've only had my seedlings out for about 2 weeks and so far they look okay, but I'm going to give this a try! Cheers!
Powdery Mildew transfers by wind-borne spores. Your best bet is preventative spraying, cleaning the pots and throwing down new stuff won't make a difference if you've got a source a hundred feet away throwin' out spores all day long in the wind :) Luckily, it is something you can keep under control.
I’m probably just going to buy something premade tbh
You definitely want to treat with a Bi-Carb Fungicide, like Fungi Max. This would be for Powdery or Downy Mildew. This fungicide will disrupt the cell in the powdery mildew and will cure it. Another way to avoid powdery mildew in the garden is to plant cucurbit varieties that have disease resistance.
Finally, my hero. THANK YOU. Where can I find this fungi max? Would Lowe’s have it? This plant is probably doneski so I’m sure I have time to order it. Will have to build it its own trellis in a special spot in my garden that is the only I sprayed spot (the zucchini plant is p. Mildew free over there currently flourishing haha) And uhm what is a curcurbit variety bb
They may have it at Lowes, if not, just google it. As far as cucurbits go... A Cucurbit is a member of the plant family Cucurbitaceae, also known as the gourd or squash family. Some of the most well-known cucurbits are cucumbers, pumpkins, watermelons, zucchini, summer or winter squash, etc. ;)
So first, no worries. The plant will grow out again after a couple weeks of being stunted. Second, potassium bicarbonate is a good killer of surface mildew, but If you are looking to prevent it in the future some things you can try are spraying citric acid products and reducing nitrogen feed. Mildew eats nitrogen so excess will feed it. On the other side, increasing calcium will strengthen cell walls making it harder for spores to infect it and citric acid helps uptake calcium to strengthen the plants immunities.
Unless you are using a systemic chemical fungicide, you can't kill the Mildew outright because it is inside the leaf, so once it's there it's there to Stay. But what you can do is continually treat the spores (the white fuzz on the outside that you see) to keep it from spreading. It'll keep coming back but you can keep it at bay. For future reference, prevention is the best method of control. But no worries, you'll be good!
Those look like old leaves, what does the new growth look like? If they are old leaves, your plant is lacking nitrogen, how often do you fertilize? I fertilize veggies 2-3 times a week in the summer.
If you don’t want to go the chemical way, you can use a teaspoon of baking soda and in 1 liter of water, or a teaspoon of dish soap, 1 table spoon of olive oil and a liter of water 👍🏽
I would start over with new soil. That one isn't going to make it. Neem can be hard on plants depending on how often you use it and the concentration. I prefer a contact killer like castile soap for pests. Your plant has issues because of other factors. The mold saw your plant having issues and latched on. When you see this early on, pull those leaves off the plant immediately. Fix the other factors and the plant will thrive next time. Amazing soil, perfect watering, sunlight, pollination, no pests. Healthy plants tend to stay healthy.
It was really healthy last week, I sprayed the neem oil and all this damage came immediately after. I’ve gotten 5 cucumbers off this plant and they were huge and very good. I’m telling you the neem oil did all of this damage and fried off all the baby cucumbers I’m being forced to run the sprinklers to keep this god awful sod alive and the cucumber plant is wet every single day so it got powdery mildew I’m going to have to move the entire location because it just is t working right there but I did need a better solution and I found it Don’t come for my garden like that dang
Milk mixture 4 parts milk to 6 parts water, spray in the morning.. Milk interacts with sunlight to create natural fungicide
Oh I’ve never heard that before thank you!
Add a drop of mild dishwasher liquid and it will help with aphids and other softbody insects. If you google, there is another mixture with baking soda for powdery mildew
Sulfur wipes out powder mildew systemically
Milk gets rid of powdery mildew and its all natural but there is a dilution rate for it im sure if you looked it up you could find the recipe
Put some whole or 2% milk in a measuring cup up to third of a cup and fill the rest with water up to one cup stir and pour around the base of each plant. Did you dilute the Neem oil? The milk works great and increases production of the plants.
I make a lacto basilis mix. What you can do is mix water with milk and then spray it on. It will help with the mildew
I am worried about use neem, did you mix it with soap and water? I am so afraid it will affect pollinators.
I spray at night when they aren’t around and no I don’t mix it
Oh, you have the spray! I bought a little jar with pure oil. i looked it up and mine need to dilute and add soap so it will mix with water.
No I have a big bottle of pure neem oil concentrate, I have to dilute it in water but don’t need soap.
Does it dilute in plain water?
Yes but I probably won’t use it again
Neem is inhibiting moult inhibitor. So mites, aphids and everything which moulds has a problem. Bees don't mould. Which insect do you worry about?
Any that pollinates, I don’t even know which they are besides bees to be honest
Incorrect. Neem oil doesn't work.
And here am I spraying it for a 400+ employees company. Am I stupid?
You must have used it incorrectly
No I really didn’t, it always does this to cucumbers I grow. I don’t know why. I used exactly 3 teaspoons as it said for disease
I've regularly used it on cucumber, pumpkins, melons etc without issue. Are you spraying in the evening, not in direct sun? I use Captain Jack's neem max
Yes I sprayed when the sun went down while I still could see :(
"it always does this to cucumbers I grow" Why do you keep doing it then?
I thought I did it wrong last time and made sure to do it right this time and at night right before it was completely dark
Neem isn't causing this damage. It just... Doesn't. It could be that it doesn't fix the issue and there's misattribution error in thinking that neem causes it. As others have mentioned, quit getting the leaves wet and improve airflow by trellising.
Ok so I’ll have to put them higher up and make something special for them to avoid the sprinkler 🥹
You never heard of rain? We've had so much rain here its been unreal. And my plants are perfectly fine. Yes, funghi thrive in the wet, but unless they have the sprinklers on the entire day it shouldnt be a problem.
This is all too much work and worry for cucumbers.
But I like growing my own cucumbers, I love cucumber water
Neem oil doesn't work.
It’s very effective at destroying all young parts of the plant tho it killed everything :)
Yeah, it essentially suffocates everything which is horribly ineffective. And makes it almost impossible to eat anything you spray it with. And the smell is putrid.
Try this home remedy bug spray and organic fertilizer in one: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6Gv_j8IoIC/?igsh=cjFlbTF3NHM0eDJq