Mildew on courgettes and squashes

ed110220

Every time I grow courgettes, squashes or gourds they get spoilt by powdery mildew and it's the same again this year.

Now I notice that none of the fungicides recommended in my old gardening books are available any more and there seems to be no fungicide available for edible plants now.

I tried some organic oil type stuff which seemed to hold it back for a week or two, but the second spray hasn't stopped it coming back. Anyone got any suggestions?

Yorkie1

I don't even try to prevent it, I'm afraid ...

ed110220

Hmm, how frustrating! I must say I'm used to spraying fungicide at the first sign of trouble and curing it there and then on ornamentals in the garden, so doing nothing seems a bad option!

valk_scot

You can use a sour milk spray to reduce the speed it takes over at. Leave half a small carton of milk on a sunny window ledge or greenhouse for a few days then dilute down one part of milk to ten parts water, shake well and spray the plants every three days or so, not forgetting under the leaves.

You don't want to be eating crop plants coated in fungicide residue anyway, you can buy them out the shops ready prepared like that if you want but it seems a shame to do it to home grown ones. Organic solutions don't tend to be of the quick fix variety but more down to careful husbandry and a lot of fiddling around. Mildew is more common if your courgette plants are under some sort of water stress (either too much or too little water) plus this current warm muggy weather is just perfect for mildew. The sour milk spray reduces mildew growth using the same principle as humans use yoghurt to reduce thrush, it changes the pH of the surface and makes it more resistant to fungal growth. So idealy spray at the first sign of mildew and keep spraying. It won't completely eradicate the mildew but it will allow the plant to keep cropping through the entire season.

AnGee

Spray with one part milk to nine parts water. Not only gets rid of the mildew - it feeds the plants as well.

emiff6

I had mildew badly last year on squashes and on pulmonaria. This year I've been spraying everything once or twice a fortnight (using a watering can) with seaweed solution. Not a trace of mildew anywhere. I also composted all the mildewed leaves last year, which every book and expert tell you not to do, and that compost was spread on the ground this spring with no detrimental effects at all.

I do occasionally pour a canful of seaweed solution into the compost dalek too.