Over the past few season , I ’ve been planting melons at the oddment of theraised garden bedswhere I uprise honeyed corn . The long vine and lush foliation of melons , member of theCucurbitaceae family of plants , provide a natural mulch for the corn , which has an exceedingly shallow root scheme and is prostrate to drying out quickly . This twelvemonth , I planted pumpkins at one end of the edible corn bed and melons at the other . I never grew pumpkin before , because , let ’s face it , there is n’t much role for a 12 pumpkin vine in one household unless you’rereallyintoHalloweenor shine decorating .
From drought conditions to downpours to high humidity, it was the perfect setup for powdery mildew
The near - drought arrived in mid - June . With the exception of one massive thunderstorm in mid - July that dropped 1 – 1/4 inch of rain , no other rain fell for six weeks . Thesweet cornstarted getting “ tall-growing ” , that is lean - sounding , and the ears on the stubble await puny – a heroic cry for water . The melons and the pumpkin were exist but not thriving , regardless of how many inches of water I dumped on them . Their ordinarily lush green foliage was start to look frizzly and brown at the bound .
And did I mentionour multiple heatwaves ? With extended bouts of above - normal heat , many plant become dormant in society to conserve energy and stay on alive . novel foliage stops appear , growth stops , no young fruit appear , and the roots dig deeper for piss to keep the crown live . This was the grammatical case as July ended .
Rain finally arrived thefirst week of August – just passing thunderstorms at first , but my neighborhood seemed to catch the bulk of them . Moisture was minimal at safe , but enough to lease me breathe a little easier . Then in the second week of the month , heavy rain , low temperatures ( mid-80 ’s ) and high humidness . A fungous paradise .
Powdery Mildew appeared almost overnight
I ’m in the wont of at least make water a brief review of my vegetable and flower garden every Clarence Day , depending on my agenda . The first week of August , the melons were doing very well : rain had returned the common to the foliage and more fruit buds were appearing on the vine . Same with the pumpkins – the gigantic leaves were spreading places I never thought they ’d go – like out of the garden bed , across the path , and into the noodle mend . The perfumed corn had also resile back – the chaff and ears thickened .
But a calendar week afterward , I noticed a few white , bespeckle spots on the autumn pumpkin leave . Fungus is n’t rare around here by any means , deal the humid summers we endure , but I ’ve never been bother with Powdery Mildew . So , I did n’t give the defect much thought . In eld by , the same blemishes appear but never led to a wide contagion . But within 48 hour , those few spots had turned into weather sheet of white fungus on most of the pumpkin foliage . The melon were less affected due to more flow of air around the plant and more sunlight on that side of the garden layer .
Before treating any plant, do your research on the suspected infection
I did a trivial research and base this information from theUniversity Of Vermont Extension:“Once you’re able to easy see signs of powdery mildew … it is too late to apply any treatments for control … Organically - approved fungicide … work by preventing contagion of healthy tissue paper , so start treatment early is key to their effectuality … established powdery mildew settlement not only do not evaporate when treated , they uphold producing century of spore . These give the spots their powdery appearance . ”Looks like I missed my window of chance .
“ Favorable conditions for the disease admit impenetrable flora development , ( guilty)low short intensity,(guilty – grim light at the bottom of the dense maize patch)and high-pitched relative humidity . ”(I hate this weather condition )
“ Not only can powdery mildew cut yields because of decreased fruit size or numeral , but the premature senescence ( aging ) of infected leaves can also lead in … yield becoming sunburned or ripening prematurely . Pumpkins with powdery mildew infection often have poor rind color and shriveled handles , and stipple or other imperfections on their rind . ”Case closed .
How to treat Powdery Mildew infection
I hit and bagged as many infected leaves and stems of the pumpkin and melon plants as possible . I paid care to how much I take out because deprive them of too much leafage lessen their power to deport photosynthesis and ripen the fruit . I also removed any corn stem that were n’t give rise ears and those from which I ’d already harvested ear . This should increase airflow around the plants , which will aid to keep the foliage dry .
I also mixed a batch ofbaking pulverization resolution to push powdery mold , swarm it into a pump sprayer , and went to work on all of the foliage -pumpkins and melon vine alike . While the baking powder solution wo n’t pop the powdery mildewalready on the plants , it will surface the foliage , stems , and fruit not yet infect and will hopefully keep the infection in check . Much will depend on the weather and humidity level .
Update , August 24 :
Alas , my drive go wrong . I used the baking powder solution above , amilk spray solution , and a dilute hydrogen hydrogen peroxide solution of various strengths over the last two week , but the pumpkin are a loss . Once I discovered the powdery mold , it was too far forward-looking to control with organic answer . It appeared to be checked at first , but when more rainfall fall , the fungus quickly spread to new leafage . I now have two small pumpkin vine in the garden , attached to vines that are wither .
All of the data I researched made clear that the solution I sprayed on the infected plants are to be used for the prevention of fungusbefore symptoms look . I was holding out hope that I could control it and save the pumpkin and melons . Once powdery mildew or any fungus attack your garden to this extent , it ’s very difficult to kill or control condition . The good solution is to polish off and fling of all infect plants to keep it from further infect your garden . Powdery Mildew can also overwinter , so plant - resistant potpourri in that area the following season .
