Spots on Zucchini

cuttingedge · Tue Aug 06, 2013 6:45 pm

Is this downy mildew or something else? What can I do to get it under control?

Thanks

Cola82 · Tue Aug 06, 2013 11:15 pm

It looks like powdery mildew to me.

Here's a couple of links:
https://www.greenhousecanada.com/content/view/1594/
https://www.ugaurbanag.com/content/mildew-0

The second one has this photo for comparison:

I would start spraying with a milk spray either way. It can control the mildew, but it works best as preventative measure.

cuttingedge · Wed Aug 07, 2013 7:25 am

Thank You very much, I sprayed with the milk solution last night.

sunflower13 · Thu Aug 15, 2013 4:36 am

Have your plants bounced back? I have a few pm on the leaves on my pumpkin. So frustrating! I sprayed them on Tues. evening. They looked ok tonight but who knows. Nothing worse than seeing a beautiful green pumpkin leaf with PM or DM on it

.

rainbowgardener · Thu Aug 15, 2013 7:30 am

Well, really nothing much worse than seeing a pumpkin or anything leaf with downy mildew, because that is so likely to be a death knell. Powdery mildew is a much less lethal disease. With treatment and staying on top of it, your pumpkin plant can probably survive with the powdery mildew long enough to produce pumpkins.

sunflower13 · Thu Aug 15, 2013 1:27 pm

rainbowgardener wrote:Well, really nothing much worse than seeing a pumpkin or anything leaf with downy mildew, because that is so likely to be a death knell. Powdery mildew is a much less lethal disease. With treatment and staying on top of it, your pumpkin plant can probably survive with the powdery mildew long enough to produce pumpkins.

This is my first time growing pumpkins. Just makes me sad to see such green leaves with that pm. And I worry that DM is there too if I see a yellow spot on the same leaf that has PM. I just keep spraying. I am happy to hear that I should be able to grow pumpkins

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rainbowgardener · Thu Aug 15, 2013 1:56 pm

You can worry too much about every little spot... nature is never perfect.

what are you spraying with ?

sunflower13 · Thu Aug 15, 2013 11:08 pm

rainbowgardener wrote:You can worry too much about every little spot... nature is never perfect.

what are you spraying with ?

Lol, as a newbie every spot brings stress

. I am trying to roll with it more and not get so scared if I see a pest or a disease. My garden community is extremely picky and will only let me spray Bi-Carb Old Fashioned. They frown on any homemade sprays etc. because the city owns the land and we are near a water head. But I will say the potassium bicarbonate seemed to work really well for my tomatoes that had some kind of blight so keeping my fingers crossed for the pumpkins. But between the two pumpkin plants there are 6 pie pumpkins, and one of them is a very nice-sized pie pumpkin so it is really healthy up until the PM. I don't want it to spread to my cukes, zukes and melon plants. I may spray again. Did it Tues. night.

rainbowgardener · Fri Aug 16, 2013 8:12 am

The potassium bicarbonate is good stuff. It works even better than sodium bicarb (baking soda) which is what I tend to use, since I have it on hand all the time.

But no point in spraying it all the time. Weekly should be plenty, or after it rains.

sunflower13 · Fri Aug 16, 2013 2:15 pm

rainbowgardener wrote:The potassium bicarbonate is good stuff. It works even better than sodium bicarb (baking soda) which is what I tend to use, since I have it on hand all the time.

But no point in spraying it all the time. Weekly should be plenty, or after it rains.

Good to know! I will wait to spray till next week. Less work for me lol. I was surprised how well it works. Also, love that I don't have to worry about getting on my hands etc. like chemicals. Amazing what works naturally for the garden.