How are you managing the mold on squash etc?

[CherA]

Hello,
I wonder if folks are managing molds on your squash etc well this year? I decidd to just remove some leaves and that is helping immensely from allowing the mold to spread. I also sprayed some fungicide in a blue bottle that is a triple action type. It works so well but I forget the name of it. I spray ever so little and only when absolutely necessary not near the edble parts whether tht matters or not am unsure.. But it seemd to be one of the better ones or safer ones. I tried to keep it all organic.
Anyway removing many of the leaves actually allowed moer sun to get in and let teh veggies grow better and larger and faster I think. It didn;t prove detrimental.
Some years it is such a battle that I give up. I know there aer different kinds of mold, this one is spot mold of teh grey type, not black and some leaves turn yellow. I forget teh technical names. I wonder if moving the veggies from one garden to the other every other year helps or just spreads the mold and if spraying a fungicide on the soil in the late fall would be of detriment in any way to anything in anyones opinion. I am thinkingof trying it. I don't want to kill the beneficial bugaboos etc.
Thanks for any feedback. Cher

[rainbowgardener]

The light colored spots on leaves that eventually turn yellow are most likely powdery mildew. A milk solution works pretty well against powdery mildew, especially if you catch it early. Type milk solution into the search the forum feature and you will find lots more about how to do it.

[garden5]

There is also a baking soda and water solution as well, though I've heard the milk one works better.

Good luck.

[CherA]

Boy, rainbow gardener, you're full of usefull info! Who ever would have thought that? I am very anxious to try it, quite frankly. I've kept it pretty low key since t=some of the leaves were so bad I just had to remove them. It helped but did not do the job entirely. That is the best idea I've ever heard.
I hope it neednot be cows milk or milk with lactose because I only drink rice milk or on occassion soy...but Mom drinks 2% cows. I;ll check that out right away and hopefully can get to spraying that this afternoon too. What a wealth of knowledge, guys, thank you so much, Cher

[garden5]

Also, I'm not sure if you found this in your forum search, but one member here has reported success with adding a tablespoon of yogurt with live/active cultures in it to the milk solution and allowing that to sit for about an hour. Supposedly, this increases the amount of organisms that attack the powdery mildew fungus.

[tedln]

I noticed some powdery mildew on my cucumber plants yesterday. It had appeared suddenly because it wasn't there the day before. We have suddenly experienced moderately high daytime temps. with night time high humidity which seems to be the perfect environment for the powdery mildew to appear. I sprayed the plants heavily with a ten percent milk solution in water on the plants and the mildew seems to be gone today.

Since I had the solution mixed, I also sprayed my squash plants as a preventative measure. This is my first year to use the milk solution and it seems to work well and quickly.

Ted

[SarahSarah]

I tried the milk solution remedy and it destroyed all my plants. Within two days they were all covered in mildew. Every single surface.

[rainbowgardener]

For Cher -- yes, the anti fungal ingredient is lactobacillus, so it does need to be real milk, not rice or soy. The idea of the yoghurt is to increase the lactobacillus culture.

For sarah - very sorry to hear that. We've been recommending the milk solution around here for years and no one to my knowledge has ever said that. Were the plants badly infected with the mildew to start with? Tell us a little more about the conditions when you treated them (ie temps, humidity, etc) What concentration of milk did you use, etc.

I personally have used it on squash with powdery mildew, on bee balm with powdery mildew, and on tomatoes with what may have been late blight and in every case it has been very helpful.

[garden5]

You could have used too high a percentage of milk. Generally, they say not to exceed 1/3 to 1/2 milk to water. Also, as RG said, the plants could have been too far gone to start with. The milk solution is best used as a preventative measure, then as an early cure. Once the plant is loaded with mildew, it may be too late.

I completely forgot about using this on my tomatoes this year . I'm definitely going to do an experiment next year and see if pre-treating some plants with is will prevent the onset of septoria, late-blight, etc.

[kgall]

I have been trying the milk solution as well. I use it 1/3 milk to water. I have saved one squash but the on rest of them the powdery mildew is spreading like wildfire. I'll get a few squash yet bit it is sad. It has been relatively dry here this summer with a hard rain once a week lately. I water with a soaker hose that is partially buried when I need to. Ugh, I lost the first planting to SVB and now this one to powdery mildew.
The good thing is that I certainly got quite a few squash out of them so all was not lost! I am just dissapointed that the milk didn't work for me!

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah once the mildew gets a really good hold the milk doesn't work so much. There's also a baking powder solution (type that into Search the Forum for recipes). I think it helps to alternate them, one one week and one the next...

[garden5]

Yeah once the mildew gets a really good hold the milk doesn't work so much. There's also a baking powder solution (type that into Search the Forum for recipes). I think it helps to alternate them, one one week and one the next...

OK, is it baking powder or baking soda. These are two different things, but I've heard both of them referenced to for fighting the powdery mildew.

I'm pretty sure it's baking soda, but maybe it doesn't even matter .

This would make for a good side by side experiment.

[CherA]

Hi FOlks,
Well my mold is taking hold in some areaas of the squash etc similar plants but not others so it wil lbe interssssting to see what happens...I forgot to tell Steve to make suer it is nto 100% but maybe that;ll work out better. LOL I dond't know but I wil ltell him in the am as he wanted to do that.
I found some moer mealy bugs on tomatoes and mostlsys on eggplants so sprayed a bit of dishwashiing liquid with a tad of canola and alot of water..will see.
Back to milk; I will let you know how it goes. And also will probably do the same and try it as a deterrent or perventative next yera,.. or maybe even over the winter.
Any idea what to spray thieves with who come in and rob you of every single graope (3 varieties) and blueberry etc?? Not the leaset of what they did nevertheless I'd like to smear those grapes next year with seomthing nasty as they got the llast yeasr the day before I was about to harvest them as well!!
Arrgh. Thanks for the help. BTW Baking soda and baking powder. Now I forgot I got so mad, one has moer soi=dium I think? That may be the difference...might have more of a detrimental effect on good bugaboos? Do not know for sure tho. Cher

[garden5]

[quote="CherA"]Hi FOlks,
Well my mold is taking hold in some areaas of the squash etc similar plants but not others so it wil lbe interssssting to see what happens...I forgot to tell Steve to make suer it is nto 100% but maybe that;ll work out better. LOL I dond't know but I wil ltell him in the am as he wanted to do that.
I found some moer mealy bugs on tomatoes and mostlsys on eggplants so sprayed a bit of dishwashiing liquid with a tad of canola and alot of water..will see.
Back to milk; I will let you know how it goes. And also will probably do the same and try it as a deterrent or perventative next yera,.. or maybe even over the winter.
Any idea what to spray thieves with who come in and rob you of every single graope (3 varieties) and blueberry etc?? Not the leaset of what they did nevertheless I'd like to smear those grapes next year with seomthing nasty as they got the llast yeasr the day before I was about to harvest them as well!!
Arrgh. Thanks for the help. BTW Baking soda and baking powder. Now I forgot I got so mad, one has moer soi=dium I think? That may be the difference...might have more of a detrimental effect on good bugaboos? Do not know for sure tho. Cher[/quote

For the grapes and blueberries, you probably have birds, possible deer, and that will take more than a milk spray. One of the best things would be to put netting over them, that should keep out both hungry birds and deer.

[rainbowgardener]

Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate. Baking powder contains baking soda/ sodium bicarbonate + other ingredients (cream of tartar and a drying agent). So either will work, but the baking soda might be a little more effective since it is the sodium bicarbonate you want, not the other stuff.

[CherA]

Hi,
SOo the bicarab is what does it, then. OK thanks. I have plenty of it or at least I did as I bought a huge box. It is useful fo so many things. I'll tell Steve about mixing it and if he doesn't get to it this week then I will!! Its too wet out today. I don;t spray whe it's so humid ouot l ike today, or very windy as it has been all week.
No we have no deer, just the smaller variety of animals like racoons, skunks, etc the city animals lol. But these weere people...as they got into my garage and my car as well. Was not going to post that topic but what the heck. I reported it yesterday as ther ewas a houses bresk in a few doors down yesterday. Nasty people.
I am afraida birds might get caught up in nets. What has been peoples experiences with that? I don;t ever want to hurt animals and I adorer birds..have got many captive birds here. But the outside birds never seem to bother my grapes because they aer fed theproper outdoor bird seed etc for their species, the method to my madness.. I know it was human varment..last yer too as last year I knew who did it.
It really upsetts me to think that neither our gardens which we depend on heavily for food, nor our homes are as safe as we want them to be. Nothingg is sacred to these people either. They got the home accross the street with a woman at homme(in her 90's). Scary. The police told me to stop going out there and when my dog barks at nite to call them.
ANyway, the sun is strating to come out so we shoudd be able to do teh milk sprays tomorrow..I don't like to use chemicals of any kind espp on the berrriers and grapes so if the nettingn is safe for the outdoor birds then we may try that next yer. For the humans, well, I'll see if it would be ok to harvest the grapees early before they know they are ripe...if they will ripen like that then that may work but I will be thinking about how to deter them from my locked garage (door and side door) and car (Toyta alasoo locked)!
Cher

[rainbowgardener]

The netting is safe for birds. You need some kind of frame/ hoops/ stakes to drape it over/ wrap it around. If you just lay it over your plants, things can reach through the holes.

The holes are too small for birds to get themselves into to get stuck. Well, maybe a hummingbird could, but I never cover any of the things hummingbirds want.

[garden5]

Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate. Baking powder contains baking soda/ sodium bicarbonate + other ingredients (cream of tartar and a drying agent). So either will work, but the baking soda might be a little more effective since it is the sodium bicarbonate you want, not the other stuff.

Thanks for clearing that up, RG. It also may not be a bad idea to alternate between these two methods (milk and baking powder), but not at the same time.

[applestar]

The netting is safe for the most part, but you do want to keep an eye on it since at least once or twice a season, some critter manages to get entangled in mine. Most often fledgling robins, a titmouse once, a chipmunk once, and a baby bunny once. I'm afraid the chipmunk was dead -- happened withoutt my noticing in time, and the wildlife refuge people told me the bunny may not survive the fright even though it was apparently uninjured, but the birds are easier to rescue.

It helps to put something that jingles on the netting.

[CherA]

Well, admittedly I am nervous about the netting; after all it was human hands who stole our grapes and blueberries, and got in to theh garage and car! SO I'm not sure how we're going to work out that one yet. G

But now why alterntae between teh milk and b soda? I thought we were best mixing the two together? Milk and baking soda, not powder...so now I;m confused.
If I use plain milk it sounds as if it wil be ok but not as good as the phosphate wihchis mostly in the baking soda not powder, right? Do I now have it backwards?

At any rate I was going to come on and report thata its been so rainy here I just caan;t wait for a good s=drysunny day in order to spray it. My MOm ran out of millk and I don;t use cows milk so I have to wiat til I go to the stoer. I'll get extra for the spray..or can nyou use dried powedered milk? I will check to see if it contains lactose...that is a really good question regardness. Good to know...It haas no fat, I am certain of that, but fat has nothing to do with lactose so I will see if I have any packaging left or if all is in the glass jars already as that is how I store my powdered milk etc. But boy that would be convenient..would not have to buy the milk at the store and I could stoer it in withh the other garden things. Hmm, I like that. LOL
Hey guys wee have a few melons coming up; those arer the vines where the spraying did help..and still there are egg plants coming up..like mad!! Call me the egg plant lady. Thank you very much, talk to you soon. I'm too ill to work in the yard unfortunately so I will have tot live vicariously. Gurneys sent me some reimbursement plants eg stevia but it broke in half when I tried taking it out of the package..and theother package must be full of sweet peas; I told tehm to hold off til next yeare as am not well...oh boy. Don't know if Ii can even plant them now but I am not able eto as am in great pain. Will keep you posted on that etc. c

[applestar]

CherA. I'm sorry you are dealing with physical/health issues. I know how that can be. Hope things turn around and you feel better soon.

You don't want to mix the milk and baking soda because baking soda will kill the bacteria you want culturing in your milk. Good news is you CAN use powdered milk since you can use powdered milk to make yogurt -- same principle.

Personally, I just go with milk and not use baking soda, but that might be just me. My dad uses baking soda as herbicide and mildew/algae-cide on and around his patio, so it's potent stuff if not properly diluted.

[rainbowgardener]

No, no one was suggesting mixing them. Applestar is right, they would counteract each other because milk has lactic acid and is acidic. Baking soda is a weak base, ie. somewhat alkaline. The reason the milk solution works is the lactobacillus is anti-fungal. But the lactobacillus is adapted to live in an acidic environment, so the baking soda kills it.

If you are going to use the baking soda:

1 tablespoon of baking soda
½ teaspoon of liquid soap
1 gallon of water

soap, not detergent. Most dishwashing liquid is detergent, which can burn your plants. Or you could leave the soap out...

[garden5]

Yeah, I didn't mean to mix them together, I just meant that you could try using the milk for a week and then perhaps switch over the baking soda, and then perhaps switch back.

At the very least, it may help prevent the mildew from building up a resistance to one of the treatments.....if that's even possible .

[CherA]

OK guys, I had it all mixed up..eassy to do around here. I used plain milk..It seems that the melon leaves are not as affectted with the mod spots so that is really good as they aer waht is groing there now...mostly.
But man, I still have egg plants like crazy, all kinds and shapes and colors..I always had black ones and once tried the white ones. This yeasr aer purples, and minis etc. I love it as do not eat meat.
Anyway it seems the milk worked better on some than other areas just like soemone elses garden who had moer mold spots in one area than another. I am suer multiple sprayings will help this first of all but I need to clean some leaves out..I find once they start to get awful it is best to just take them out...hate the prickly devils. But it also allos moer sunlight to get underneat which is not a bad thing at this tiem of year when much veggies can be wasted.
I love this forum. I'll write down the formulas in case we want to mix next year. Also I won't have to come and ask the same questions or look in teh archives.
The last of the tomatoes got plucked today I guess..may be a few moer out there, plenty of cherry to, but they have been all cracked for ages, Next year I will cover them. The old timers used to do that with old tee shirts! LOL They knew what they were doing...fertilizer and all...
I might have a fewmoer areas to test the milk spray on yet. It rained again so it is hard. Will let you know. Gonna move to the rose forum if ther eis one as those are full of black mold again as usual. Uck. Talk to yo soon, and happy gardening when the rain clears up. Enjoy the foliage. Cher

[applestar]

The good thing about the 10% Milk Solution is that because bacteria make their own "glue" to stick to things, you don't have to worry about the rain so much. The rain will actually help keep them from drying out while the nutrients in the rainwater will feed them so they can flourish. (Another point on the + side for natural/organic/biological solutions )

[garden5]

The good thing about the 10% Milk Solution is that because bacteria make their own "glue" to stick to things, you don't have to worry about the rain so much. The rain will actually help keep them from drying out while the nutrients in the rainwater will feed them so they can flourish. (Another point on the + side for natural/organic/biological solutions )

This brings up an important point: don't add detergent to the milk solution.

I often see detergent added to some spraying solutions to either act as an organism-killer or and adhesive.

Since milk has both of these, an addition of detergent would be both detrimental and unnecessary.

Now, if you were using a baking soda solution, it may be permissible to add some, though I would play it save and just use a few drops of vegetable oil to act as a light adhesive (I'm using the term "adhesive" loosely here ).