white mold on squash leaves

[applemum]

I was sure this would be a popular question but I did a search but couldn't find anything similar. Since I have taken the picture the leaves are nearly covered in the white stuff.
Any ideas why and what it is? Will it hurt the squash fruit? It seems to happen every year but this year its worse, how can I prevent it?
Thanks

[Lindsaylew82]

Hi! Welcome to the forum! That is powdery mildew. Very common fungal disease. It happens here no matter what I do. I do use new oil, milk and baking soda to help keep it at bay. Yours looks past the point of no return though. You can preventatively treat with the stuff mentioned above. It will take your plants down. Humid rainy conditions are the favorable conditions for fungal issues, and those conditions are the likely cause of your problem here!

Again, welcome to the forum!

[applemum]

Hi Lindsay, thanks for the welcome!
Does the mildew transfer to the fruit, will it hurt to eat the squash? I am wondering if I can leave the plants for a bit so the squash can mature a bit more?

[kayjay]

Hi. It shouldn't affect the squash. I've gotten lots of zucchini off my plants while fighting the powdery mildew. I hack off the outer leaves (which are the worst infected) and spray the heck out of the rest of the plant. I'm using hydrogen peroxide this year; milk probably works about as well but H2O2 leaves me with a clean spray bottle.

I had the same problem last year with butternut squash, and the squash were fine, even after the vine was basically on life-support. I let them ripen on the vine. After harvesting, I even left one on my kitchen table all winter until this past April, and it was fine.