Sunday, August 17, 2014

Powdery Mildew



It was only 5 days ago that I was thanking the gardening gods that powdery mildew still hadn't reared its ugly head in my squash patch. Apparently I didn't thank them hard enough. It only took one humid, 100 degree day on Monday, followed by two overcast days with .17" of rain, for powdery mildew to take hold in the squash patch. So far, it is limited to 1/3 of the "Delicata" leaves. Because of where the two "Delicata" plants are situated, they are the last two squash to receive the sun each morning. So, their leaves  stay cool and moist a bit longer than the other two varieties. At this point I am not too concerned. One of the "Delicata" plants was the first squash to set fruit. I think in one more week I can harvest all of its squash and pull out the plant. The other "Delicata" is a replacement plant, so it is two weeks or more behind the first. I will keep a close eye on it and its fruits. I am most concerned that the powdery mildew doesn't attack the "Butternut" plants. Those squash have many more weeks of maturing before I can even think about harvesting them.

1 comment:

Mindy said...

It's at my house, too. I've already whacked perennials with it and I yanked a couple cucumber plants the other day 'cause I couldn't stand looking at them anymore. So frustrating.