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Dexter, OR

Hey everyone. Does anyone know of an organic fungicide that will be effective against powdery mildew? I have been told that there are things that are not terribly toxic, like Ortho, but when I research the active ingredients they all look pretty nasty. My concern is that I have a two and a half year old. Spraying something for a hobby that is a potential risk to her health just isn't worth it. Additionally, does anyone have any thoughts on controlling cucumber beatles, spider mites, aphids, etc. organically? Thanks for any info.

5/12/2008 12:04:31 AM

ExtremeVegetables.com

10% milk solution works fairly well for the control of PM. Safers Soap, commercially called M-Pede.
Hot pepper sprays
Neem oil
Garlic Barrier
Pyola
surround
lady bugs
pick them off by hand

5/12/2008 2:12:51 AM

West Sunbury, PA ([email protected])

For a fungicide, Armacarb. Basically a stronger baking soda.

5/12/2008 5:33:06 AM

Waquoit Mass

when i started using fish fertilizer i found the oil coated the leaves and my problem with pm went way down dave

5/12/2008 8:55:56 AM

Sheridan . NY

VIGOR CAL PHOS & VIGCAL----CAJ PRODUCTS

5/12/2008 9:52:39 AM

ordinary,VA

gardensalive.com
has the products soap-shield,neem fungicide,sulfur guard and plant guardian biofungicide.

gardens alive has all-natural products.

5/12/2008 11:00:29 AM

Dummer Twp - Ontario

you can check out the following site www.agriorganics.com they have some neat things that might be what your looking for. Kirk

5/12/2008 12:17:47 PM

Western NY

craig's spraytech oil , fish & seaweed, and milk in rotation really kelped to keep it down for me.

5/12/2008 12:31:18 PM

Dexter, OR

How are those of you who are using oil based stuff keeping from burning your plants?

5/12/2008 12:36:31 PM

[email protected]

10% Milk has worked very well against Powdery Mildew for us at my son's school. Didn't matter which grade of milk nor the time of day. Just focus the spray on the leaf bottoms once a week.

5/12/2008 10:56:49 PM

Colorado Springs, Co ([email protected])

Powdery mildew preventer. 1/4 cup baking soda 1 Tbl spoon veggie oil 2 Qts water Spray early morning every 2 weeks

5/13/2008 11:04:55 AM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

What if the milk, baking soda, and veggie oil were combined....better results? not worth it? synergistic effects?

I think if organic materials are used, a more frequent spraying routine may be good, ie. 1 week rather than 2, since it won't hurt, but could help if things get washed off.

How does the oil affect plant leaves in sun, etc....burning?

5/14/2008 11:25:50 AM

[email protected]

Jordon,

In warm weather a cocktail with oil is just adding stress to the plant for no reason. If milk alone didn't do a decent job then I could see adding oil. But since it works great solo, why tempt fate?

5/14/2008 12:43:13 PM

If you're spraying 10% milk, what's the other 90%? Water?

5/14/2008 7:18:04 PM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Yes, water. Stephen, good point regarding the oil. Keep it simple.

Does baking soda and milk achieve the same end?...changing the pH. so disease can't grow?

5/14/2008 11:30:31 PM

Wallingford,CT

Matt DeBacco presented his data on the use of milk to control powdery mildew in Niagara this year on a poster. The poster and a slide presentation of his research can be reviewed on the Team-Pumpkin website. http://www.team-pumpkin.org I think the summary is on slide number 17. The short answer...you need more than 10% milk.......

5/15/2008 6:30:57 AM

[email protected]

Matt's data is very well collected & presented. For some reason his results were much different than the one season that I relied on milk to control PM.

At the school we alternated Neptune's fish/seaweed & regular (non-powdered) milk more or less Mondays/Thursdays. Other than two late sprays, we stayed on a (mostly) weekly schedule.

I can't find the pictures right now...darn it. LOL

5/15/2008 11:53:57 PM

Wallingford,CT

Did you collect any data or just casual observations?

5/16/2008 7:46:43 AM

[email protected]

Just a casual hand written diary. I thought I had it here on BP but I can't find it now.

Weekly sprays starting the second week of June. First two weeks included Neptune's, the rest didn't until once in mid-July. Missed the second week of August entirely then double the third week. Also missed the first week of September, made one more, then nothing more again all year in wich case PM wiped out all of the leaves in about 2 weeks. No compost teas or fungis of any kind.

My application rate was only 10% but it was always store bought fresh the day of application from the deli around the corner. (This might have helped?) I srarted using whole milk but switched to 2% so that Stephen would drink it rather than just pouring it out on the ground (wasteful).

I was extremely impressed with the milk results but I wish now that I'd kept a complete BP diary of the whole season.

5/16/2008 4:15:30 PM