the issue with mildew.. is going into darkness ... with wet leaves ... on hot humid nights when i used to do phlox in suburbia.. i would get home and in the evening.. wet down the whole garden.. it was a stress reliever.. unbelievable mildew on monarda.. phlox.. roses .... once i stopped wetting things down.. i reduced the PM 50% ... the bane of such is also air movement at night.. so the next step was cutting away some of the jungle around them.. to get the best air movement.. at night that i could ... finally.. i found out that it is prevented with early application of baking soda and water.. in a spray tank ... no chemicals necessary ... [might want to verify that .. coffee buzz warning.. lol] it took me a long time to learn all that without the worldwideweb ... then i moved out to the country... former horse pasture.. much wind .. pure sand .. and full sun ... and have never had a PM issue ... frankly it is just too dry ... and i dont water them at all once established ... whether a given plant will resist or not.. is irrelevant .... if the plants are placed in a situation where it is impossible to resist ... sooo.. i would suggest you plant them in full sun... and once they get established.. insure they never have wet leaves in darkness ... and if its a lawn sprinkler issue.. figure out how to avoid such ... they are not a 'stuff them in a crowed corner' type plant ... and if you cant do that.. NOTHING.. repeat NOTHING .. will stop PM completely ... what all that means.. is that the plants 'CULTURAL REQUIREMENTS' will outweigh any claim of resistant.. IMHO ... 'culture' meaning how and where its planted ... all that said.. the fragrance is unique .. and one of my childhood memories.. i think grandma had some back in the polish ghetto of detroit in the 60's ... i will never be without them ... good luck ken BTW ... mine get 4 to 5 feet tall with total abject neglect.. and seed themselves somewhat... i started with the pink eyed one.. and the seed has given a pink.. and a white ... i never knew they seeded until i neglected them. lol .. so now i have 3 varieties ....

Somewhere on this forum is a thread where I asked about just cutting back my phlox and spraying them with this new bacterial stuff I found. It worked, but of course I lost the earlier blossoms. This was last year, of course. This year, I have been spraying them since the first sprouts started to show. It occurred to me, however, that I left the stuff out in the cold. Nevermind, I will be picking up some more of this in the next week or so. Given the perfectly BIZARRE weather most of us have been having, keeping on top of this will tell the tale.

I've tried a few concoctions for powdery mildew (PM) on perennials in the past. Do they work? Not really, in my opinion. I've had some slight results where I thought it might slow the overall infestation...but nothing where I could make it go away or keep it away. If the conditions are right for PM, and especially if the plant is naturally susceptible to PM, I don't think the recipes do much good. As for Murphy's...I know of many people who use it for various reasons in the garden...I don't. I'm of the opinion that Murphy's just coats the plants and leaves with a residue. Stops the plant's ability to breathe, in a sense. That's my opinion.

It IS safe for use on edible crops, with anywhere from 3-21 days between application and harvest, with the longer duration being for legumes and cruciferous vegetables. While my kids and pets can NOT reach the plants when I bring them, either because of high shelves, hanging, or baby gating, if anything were to go wrong, I think it would be safe for them to ingest the chemical. Please don't think I'm not concerned. .. this is why I haven't applied it yet. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to go about this with all 3 factors considered: indoor environmental safety, outdoor environmental safety, and best interest of house plants transitioning. The thing I'm most unclear about is if/when I can rinse off the external residue without minimizing the effect on the plant. Do I have the whole systemic idea right as outlined in my original post? (or, do I evenneed to, or is it safe when dry, and can i skip this step?)