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Re: Cukes and Squash question

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Sounds like you've got powdery mildew, a very common fungal disease on
squash (and lots of other plants too).  The squash will continue to
produce and look normal for the most part, but without getting rid of
the infected parts, it will continue to spread and weaken your plant,
and will eventually kill it.  Fungal diseases tend to spread slower than
bacterial or viral diseases, over weeks rather than days.  You need to
remove ALL of the infected parts and throw it away.  Do not compost it,
unless you can be sure that your compost remains hot enough to kill
disease.  Safer just to throw them away I think.  
You can also use an organic fungicide to prevent further infection: 
neem oil spray (Green Light's Rose Defense or Veggie and Fruit Spray -
they're both the same thing), Fungicidal Soap Spray by Safer, Sulfur
spray, copper spray (there's a really good one by Gardens Alive called
Soap Shield), garlic spray, baking soda spray or an antitranspirant,
like Wilt-Pruf.  Let me know if you want more info on how to make the
baking soda or garlic spray.  I got all of these remedies from Rodale's
"Landscape Problem Solver."

This book also says that "spraying plants daily with a garden hose
equipped with a spray nozzle provides effective control against powdery
mildew.  Protection was a great as that provided by chemical
fungicides," according to experiments at Laredo Junior College in
Texas.  I always thought that you were supposed to avoid getting the
plant leaves wet, so maybe them mean in the AM so the leaves will dry by
evening.  

Most funguses require moisture to foster (like blackspot), but powdery
mildew needs dry conditions.

I know, more than you ever wanted to know on powdery mildew, but I've
had such problems with this disease that I ended up doing lots of
research.  Wanted to help other people avoid this time drain.  Good
luck.

Kim, zone 9, so cal

Theresa wrote:
> 
> Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
> 
> Hello all, I have a couple questions....
> 
> First, my cucumber plants made it through the hot weather without any
> further loss, but now one of my plants has white powdery looking leaves. It
> isn't the entire leaf, but a portion of it and it seems to not affect the
> production of flowers or baby cukes. Could it possibly be a fungus?
> 
> Second, I have a squash plant that seems to be doing great. It looks
> healthy, the leaves are fine and it is getting flowers, BUT, at the base,
> the stems are split right down the middle about an inch or so. At the site
> of the damage there is no major discoloration or anything.  It's as if
> someone sliced them with something sharp. As I stated, the plant doesn't
> look stressed or anything and I haven't seen  any pesky bugs lurking on
> them. I check them almost daily and last night was the first time I noticed
> the problem. Should I be worried? Any ideas?
> 
> Also, on a side note, I picked and ate my first tidbit from the garden. A
> sweet strawberry. It was great. I'm so excited. This is my first major
> garden project and so far so good. My previous problem with cabbage worms
> has been  battled and I just might get some cabbage out of it after all.
> 
> Thanks again everyone for the great advice. I just love the helpful
> information that is passed around the list.
> 
> Theresa
> newbie in Michigan
> zone5
> 
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