All of the above that I mentioned are organic. I've tried the baking soda and milk before and didn't have too much luck but that was before I knew that proactive treatments were necessary for keeping PM at bay. Neem works good, but in the summer when it's over 80F or the sum of the temps AND humidity is >140, then you shouldn't use pesticides et al. If you do use, wait until at dusk. Potassium bicarbonate works well also. And for the money, is economical. I still lost my cantaloupes to PM last year but that was because summer came early here and I didn't practice what I preach by treating from day 1. It won't happen again! You can buy it online but wine and brewer's shops have it also. The brew shops wanted too much but I found a wine shop that sells it for $6/lb. So, shop around. Use at a rate of 4 tsp/gallon of water. Yep. treat any cucurbit(cukes, squashes, melons) since they tend to be the most susceptible. I did see some on my maters last year, but not bad enough to inhibit production. Peas can also have a problem with PM, but it usually doesn't affect it until they're about done for the season anyway. As far as the milk treatment, I've heard some rave about it. I also have heard some wide ranging ratios. From 10:1 to 4:1, from fat free to whole. Dunno. Regarding toxicity, the harshness you mention may have been too much baking soda mixed with water. Try it about the same ratio as the potassium bicarbonate. It may have also been the whole temp thing I mentioned. With any treatment, do at dusk, and if it's going to be a scorcher and/or very bright(sun) the next day, rinse off in the morning. Good idea for any pesticide et al in the dead of summer.. Good luck. Kevin This post was edited by woohooman on Sun, Feb 16, 14 at 21:13

I used Serenade and the Cornell formula this year on my zucchini and cucumbers and melons. Last year I fought SVB, PM, and some kind of bacterial thing. I did get a decent harvest, and my plants were troopers, but this year I am going to fight differently: 1) Row covers, row covers, row covers (for bugs which hurt the plant, making it susceptible to bacterial diseases and PM) 2) I will spray Serenade as a preventative instead of only as a treatment 3) I will have seedlings waiting in the wings 4) Last but certainly not least, I will continue to build soil health and mulch so that my plants are strong I found Serenade to be fairly effective, but once you have PM it is an uphill battle. Last year was my first year using it, and I was reluctant to use it unless I needed it, which may have been a big mistake. I am also considering kaolin clay.

Last year I had a major SVB outbreak. They didn't touch the Cocozelle zucchini or the Wood's Profilic bush scallop. (Nor the C. moschata butternut.) I had a lot of squash plants, though, so it could merely be a matter of preference that they went after the acorn and buttercup squashes. The buttercups (Bon Bon, C. pepo) had rooted along the vines so they survived me cutting the main stem and removing it, but it didn't live up to it's potential and only produced one fruit per plant.

I remember something about using Milk to treat for PM and I found the link for it here on GW. See link below.. Bryan Here is a link that might be useful: Powdery Milldew and Milk