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Pumpkins, Squash & Gourds Vegetable Gardening Edible Garden

Is this powdery mildew on Squash Fruit ? Will it damage the fruit?

4 months ago

last modified: 4 months ago

It has been a very rainy summer here near Toronto, Canada. Some of my squash fruit have now a thin dusty kind of layer on them. I assume because I have seen some mildew on leaves, it may also be the same ? At this point I am not so much concerned about the leaves ( I have removed most mildewy ones), but mainly the maturing fruit. I don't need any more flowers nor tiny fruit as there won't be enough time for maturation, as it is now the last week of August.

My question is: will the fruit inside still be O.K. to leave in the field as they are, in spite of this layer of mildew? Is there something I should do now ?

I understand in future I should not grow them on the ground, nor let them trail into the grass, they need more air circulation.

My question is manly about how to best deal with the present situation as it is.

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Comments (4)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 months ago
Powdery mildew on squash (and almost all other affected plants) is a foliar disease. It doesn't affect the fruit, which looks very clean to me.

It is also not caused by wet weather - water on the foliage actually prevents the spores from germinating. It can occur in late season even in very dry weather as long as humidity is high. Removing any affected foliage and thinning the rest to improve air circulation and reduce immediate humidity is advised.
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doriswk
Original Author
4 months ago
I took the picture in the morning when there was still dew on everything, hiding the white coating visible otherwise. ... ... We are experiencing high humidity in the air, not much I can do about. Would putting cardboard under the fruit help? Or will it just soak up more moisture whenever it rains ar gets watered?
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Yes I think it is downy mildew. It was confusing at first because the leaves all looked covered in white. So it looked like powdery mildew. Then the white completely disappeared and there were yellow spots, so I thought maybe this was stage 2. But looking online it says that the dark spores under the leaves is a sign of downy, not powdery. Anyway, it just shrivels the leaves to brown crackly paper, which is worse than what I was reading about powdery mildew. And the cucumbers have had it for the past several days, with heavy foliage death and cucumbers stuck at half size. But I was out there with more dilute milk solution this afternoon spraying the cukes, pruning like crazy, taking off all the half-size cukes, and it seems to have worked, at least tonight the leaves look like their normal after-dark selves, perked up again. Will have to wait and see how the butternut and cukes do now.
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carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
4 months ago
FWIW, winter squashes can get a waxy bloom that looks white.

Putting something under the fruits might help keep off soil pests that like to nibble, but not sure it would do anything to deter mildew.

I do believe mulching can help prevent diseases like mildew by covering the soil and all the stuff in it, keeping it off plants, among other things.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 months ago
PM does not affect fruit! Putting down cardboard may help deter soil borne pests but it won't help with the PM. You can reduce the ambient humidity surrounding the plant by doing as I suggested. Also, a deep, slow watering of the root zone can help to equalize humidity in the immediate area and make it less hospitable to the fungus.

Mulching well does help as it deters the soil from drying out too quickly.
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