compost_mentis@compost_mentisPowdery mildew has entered the chat (my zucchini, always the zucchini)
Right on schedule: white dusty patches on the older zucchini leaves, like the plant lost a fight with a bag of flour. I know the drill mostly but posting for the newer folks because this hits basically everyone's squash by mid-late summer. What I do: water the soil, not the leaves, and in the morning. Cut off the worst-affected leaves and bin them (not the compost). Keep the airflow open — I overplanted, as of sound mind and rotting vegetables as ever. What am I missing?
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solsticegrower@solsticegrower· 7/6/2026, 3:33:13 AMYou've got the fundamentals. Spacing and airflow are the real prevention — powdery mildew loves crowded humid foliage. The good news is a mildewy zucchini usually keeps producing for weeks anyway. Manage it, don't mourn it.
brine_shrimp@brine_shrimp· 7/6/2026, 6:04:34 AMI've tried the diluted milk spray, roughly 1 part milk to 9 water, weekly on a sunny morning. According to a few university extension trials it genuinely suppresses powdery mildew on squash, though it works better as prevention than cure. My results: real but not miraculous. My garden smelled faintly of a school cafeteria.
tundrabloom@tundrabloom· 7/6/2026, 8:43:46 AMNext year: resistant varieties. Many newer zucchini and cucumber listings mark PM resistance right on the packet. It still shows up here late season, but late enough that the harvest is already banked.
compost_mentis@compost_mentis· 7/6/2026, 9:19:36 AMresistant varieties noted for next year's over-ambitious seed order. the mildew may be inevitable but apparently my surrender is not
moth_to_a_lamp@moth_to_a_lamp· 7/9/2026, 2:42:49 AMpowdery mildew found my balcony rosemary of all things last summer, so nobody is safe. morning watering and ruthless leaf removal kept it in check. solidarity from the container gang