My Zukes are sick. They always get sick. They always end up getting powdery mildew and I could say they get it no matter what I do but really I know that every year we will end up with this on them but I don't do anything to prevent it. I used to spray them with milk but didn't do it often enough to help so really that was just a waste of milk.
I now have a different method to fix this problem.
I just cut off the infected leaves and give the plant a feed of something. A couple of weeks after I notice more leaves are covered I cut them off too and give them another feed. If the plant is too ratty looking and has no flowers or fruit on it then it comes out but by cutting and feeding I usually get a few more zukes, enough to make it worthwhile for me anyway.
This time they were fed with Molasses, next time it might be manure tea. Something different each time.
Sometimes there are only a few leaves left after their *treatment* but they seem to recover and do OK. Until those leaves get covered too. I removed leaves and fed the 4 remaining plants out there a couple of days ago and already the fruit that was there is looking a lot better and there are a few new flowers.
This one was found after I cut the plant back and I will blend it with some capsicum and chillies to add to Winter soups.
Below is a picture of Choko leaves that I have put down next to a couple of the plants. It is to lure the Slaters and to help keep them away from the good stuff. I either pour boiling water on them or scoop them up to give to the chooks, depending on how close to the plant roots they are.
What do you do when your plants get Powdery Mildew? Tell me the *proper* thing to do.
I thought maybe the location in your garden might be the problem, so I looked it up.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/powdery-mildew
Maybe not.
Slaters sound vicious, so I looked them up. We call them roly polys here. At least I do. I did not know they ate things. I don't know what I thought they did other than roll up. My younger daughter loved these and played with them, turning over things to find them. She even had a few in a shoebox under her bed. She furnished the shoebox with a lid of water, dirt, leaves, and sticks. I was freaked out, so they had to go. If I could lean so far, I would get some for my hens like I did in the past.
I'm even worse and just leave the powdery mildew on them, but I don't have any growing this year. We put in the weeping hose a few months ago through our little veg/herb gardens, but I don't think it is working as well as we'd hoped, so not much point in adding anything until we appear to have got it sorted. ALthough I don't like chemicals, I don't have time to gather the slaters (or chooks yet), so I use the Iron snail pellets, which kill the slaters too.
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