Sigh... yet another problem - powdery mildew... please help!

14 years ago

Just when all was going ok, my largest tomato plant is displaying some serious powdery mildew. This is only my second season gardening, so I'm new to this dilemma, but from what I found on the web it's not usually fatal. However, my plant is leading me to think otherwise. Two weeks ago it was a very lush, green 5 foot tall plant and now it's a skeleton with dead brown branches in some areas and gray leaves everywhere else. UGH! The thing is there are at least 20 green tomatoes on the plant and I'm wondering if I can pluck them off and let them ripen on the windowsill? Or is that a huge no-no? I'm pretty sure the entire plant will die within a week or so and at the very least I'm sure it's not going to produce or further ripen anymore tomatoes. I just want to get something out of this gardening thing! It's been quite a battle! It's literally been one thing after another in just this season alone - aphids, fungus flies, caterpillars, slugs, blossom end rot, some other unknown disease that has caused my cucumber plant's leaves to turn almost white... oh and a lot of hungry birds who like to peck away at my seedlings. I've replanted and replanted and replanted and I have to be honest, I'm growing weary (and broke!) from gardening.

Thanks for letting me vent and as always, I sincerely appreciate the help from all you wise gardening folk.

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Comments (6)

rnewste
14 years ago
ctn,

Every year here in N. California, I do battle with Powdery Leaf Mildew:

{{gwi:32057}}

I have found a commercial product called Serenade to be very effective in combating it:

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If it is not available in your Country, I have heard of other home remedies made from powdered milk, as I recall. You can do a search on GW for the disease, and it will show you posts.

Raybo
buzzsaw8
14 years ago
I usually get PM every year. The Serenade didn't work too well for me in years past so I'm trying a 30% milk foliar spray applied weekly, and so far so good. The real test will be in July though when the plants get huge (less air circulation) and there's some humidity.

If you think your plant is going to bit the dust though, pick the tomatoes and put them in a brown paper bag where they can ripen.
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He said the squash was definitely powdery mildew. I got yet another organic product, Serendade, which I have heard good things about. Haven't seen as much research or anecdotal evidence on it, so I'd be interested in hearing your results with it. Hopefully this will help. I couldn't find any empirical info about baking soda and milk Do you want peer-reviewed or anecdotal? As mentioned, I've run into ample peer-reviewed, and can give you links for that if you want. I can also attest to it myself. I used to get it every year, horrible infection, until I started using the baking soda spray. btw to the other poster, the label on Safer 3 in 1 says it's organic, controls powdery mildew and insect pests such as aphids, whiteflies, etc., all of which I had. 1) "Organic" does not mean good, and "Synthetic" does not mean bad. Rotenone is produced from the roots and stems of lancepods, and not only will kill your ladybugs and bees, like most broad-spectrums, but it's also suspected of contributing to Parkinsons. By contrast, acetamiprid -- a synthetic -- is by all standards far safer to people (although is still broad-spectrum). 2) There are actually two completely different types of Safer 3-in-1. There's the bottle version and the concentrate version. The bottle version is sulfur and soap. The concentrate is sulfur and neem. Neem is a broad-spectrum; it *will* kill your beneficials. Soap varies; it'll kill ladybug larvae but not adults, and won't hurt parasitic wasps and lacewings.
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There are about five plants, and I think two are the originals. Those two have a large rootbase. The other three I believe spread from the original and are smaller. There were more plants but I removed some when I took them over since there seemed to be too many too close together. The majority of the long canes are still thinner-- my parents used to just hack them back to keep them from sprawling out into our gangway, so these are growth since I took them over. They're quite long though, some have probably reached 10 feet. I'm not sure what you mean by repeat-- do you mean do they rebloom? If so, no. At least not at any point that I can remember. They were always prolific bloomers though, even back when they were growing wild and mangled yearly by my parents cutting them back. When I took the bed over (it's a small strip bed between the gangway and garage), I dug it out and weeded it (it was a mess of nightshade tangled with a knot of rose canes), detangled the canes and pruned out dead canes, then I made a trellis with wire and nails on the side of the garage, and wove the canes onto the wire. I also mulched the bed and fertilized in the spring with a 10-10-10 time released fertilizer. They grew like mad after that. Since then I added more levels to the trellis. They go up to the top of the garage now. Lots of new growth, and other than the mildew next to no troubles. Last year was the first year I remember them ever having mildew, but it's possible that they did and we just didn't notice the way they were kept before.
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Guh, I have one violet that seems to be a magnet for PM - all the ones around it can be fine, and this one still has it, and BLOOMS! Oif. In any case, I've tried the milk/water method, but it left nasty spots on the leaves - like, uh, crusty dried spilled milk? I use neem to control it, which it does, for a few months. I don't know if it comes back because I haven't killed it, or because it's just latent in the room/carpet/etc, or brought in on my clothes - probably some of all of the above. I like the neem anyway - gives me a chance to spritz the leaves clean, and I actually kinda like the smell (especially after experiencing fish emulsion! ugh!) I spray with neem about once a month or so, now, so I don't see it much anymore. Many people swear by something called fungaway, which I've never found. Others (many others) use Lysol spray, though I've never bothered to look for the cans of it. I also found the faq here on GW helpful, I'll link it. Here is a link that might be useful: PM on AVs
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justaguy2
14 years ago
To directly answer your question on whether you can pick the green fruits from the plant the answer is yes, you can.

It comes at a cost though. If the fruits are completely green, they won't ripen off the plant. If there is even a little blushing to them they likely will. There are a number of chemicals that contribute to the overall flavor of the ripe fruit though and removed from the plant, they don't make it to the fruit so there is often some flavor loss when ripening off vine.

I am really sorry to hear about your experience, but I would recommend the same thing as Raybo, find a fungicide that is food safe and seems likely to be effective against common foliage pathogens like PM and use them as needed. There are organic and synthetic options, but I don't know what is available to you where you live.

It sounds like your one plant is too far gone to be saved, but you might wish to use a fungicide you are comfortable with as a preventative on the ones remaining so they don't suffer the same fate.
ctnewbie08
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you so much for all your advice! I will see what I can find here in Bermuda and I'll pick the tomatoes that are showing sign of blushing.
brwnthumbgreen
14 years ago
See link below for "Cornell Formula"
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesorg/msg05130436893.html

New to gardening I was also sadddened when my GREAT looking Tomato Plants grown upside down in containers were overtaken by powdery mildew. Almost overnight 2 of my 4 plants looked like they were about to croak. PM is apparently not fatal; but I'm not sure my plants got that memo!!
I sprayed them one week ago and removed all of the effected leaves ... leaving mostly bare branches on one of my plants.
They seem to be doing well.. no new mildew and lots of new growth.
Good Luck!!
P.S.... It seems the mildew occurred due to lack of circulation in my soil.. I had a bright idea to cover the top of my containers to conserve water loss and to reduce watering... DO NOT DO THIS.. the idea was not so bright!! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Formula
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
14 years ago
PM is not caused by lack of circulation in the soil, but in the atmosphere surrounding the foliage. PM prone plants should be pruned lightly in order to increase the circulation and sunlight penetration.

Early stages of PM can be rinsed off the foliage. Spraying with a hose will also prevent new lesions from forming. This is one of the few fungal disorders that does NOT thrive in water.

Neem oil is also very effective in preventing PM.

Sigh... yet another problem - powdery mildew... please help!

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rnewste

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Sigh... yet another problem - powdery mildew... please help!

Comments (6)

rnewste

buzzsaw8

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