How to Prevent Powdery Mildew on Your Squash Plants
When this super-common plant disease appears, it's important to act quickly. Use these tips to keep powdery mildew from ruining your squash harvest. When your squash leaves look like they're dusted with flour, they're more likely to be carrying mildew, one of the most common vegetable garden diseases. Disease-causing fungi are somewhat specific to the plants they target. Powdery mildew on squash (summer squash varieties such as zucchini and winter squash varieties such as butternut) can also affect melons, cucumbers, and pumpkins. Symptoms range from mild, slightly reducing yield, to severe, killing the entire plant. How to prevent powdery mildew on your squash plants, and tips to minimize damage to infected plants.
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What is powdery mildew?
Many edible and ornamental plants can get powdery mildew. Unlike many fungal plant diseases, the fungi that cause powdery mildew thrive in hot, dry weather, which is usually mid to late summer. When these fungi grow on the surface of the leaves, they clog the leaf pores and block the sunlight the plant needs to grow. The disease can be introduced into the garden from plants purchased from a nursery or from spores in the soil. It is spread by wind, insects, and hands and equipment touching infected plants.
Powdery mildew symptoms
Powdery mildew is very easy to identify. The first thing you notice is the faint patches of white-gray powdery spots that dry to the touch on the surface of the leaves. They spread rapidly and cover much of the leaf and stem. The leaves turn yellow, then brown, brittle, and finally curl up. Diseased plants usually produce fewer and smaller fruits. Losing the leaves can expose the fruit to too much sunlight, and they can scorch. If powdery mildew spreads, the entire plant will turn brown and die.
Some types of squash leave naturally have white markings. It's easy to distinguish natural, healthy markings from powdery mildew by rubbing them with your fingers. If the signs don't budge, you're fine. If you get white powder from the leaves on your fingers, your plants have mildew.
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Tips for Preventing Powdery Mildew on Squash Plants
The best way to protect your plants from powdery mildew damage is to prevent the disease from affecting the plants in the first place. There are several good strategies you can follow to avoid infection, including:
Types of plant resistance. Many resistant varieties of summer and winter squashes; are often marked "PMR" to indicate powdery mildew resistance (see list below).
Use recommended seed spacing. Powdery mildew spreads very easily from leaf to leaf and plant to plant. Spacing plants to allow good ventilation will reduce leaf spread and increase light.
Plant pumpkins in full sun. Shady conditions increase spore germination.
Do not over-fertilize plants. It overgrows tender new growth and becomes easily infected.
Spray the plants with water. Unlike most fungal diseases, powdery mildew spreads very quickly in hot, dry climates. Overhead irrigation or spraying plants with a hose can reduce disease development. Be sure to water in the morning so that the leaves dry overnight to prevent other plant diseases.
Rotate crops. Since powdery mildew spores can survive in the soil over winter, plant squash in different locations on a three- to four-year rotation schedule.
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How to get rid of powdery mildew
Powdery mildew is a prevalent disease and one that spreads quickly, be ready to act as soon as you notice the symptoms. First, remove the affected leaves as soon as you spot white powdery spots. If any plants show severe symptoms, remove them entirely. Place infected plant parts in the trash (not your compost pile) so the disease doesn't spread to healthy plants. Avoid handling healthy plants after touching diseased plants. This is a surefire way to spread disease. This also applies to tools used on diseased plants. First, wash your hands and disinfect your tools with a 10% bleach solution.
Many organic sprays can help reduce disease. They are most effective early in the infection; If powdery mildew is severe, they won't cure it. One of the most effective sprays is neem oil, which is an extract from the tropical neem tree. It is a good control for mild to moderate powdery mildew infections. Spray the upper and lower surface of the leaves. Apply weekly until symptoms are detected, then every two weeks to prevent mildew from returning. Sulfur sprays and styloid oil fungicides can also reduce the spread of powdery mildew. Spray only when temperatures are below 90°F to avoid burns and do not spray when bees are active.
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