Is this what you would call mildew?

[SmittenGarden]

My zucchini plants in a swc have been putting up with cabbage loopers and what I think are aphids (not sure yet) for a few days now and now I've noticed what look like dry white tide marks on top of the leaves and under at least one leaf a couple of white fuzzy patches.

This is an album of the leaves and white patches.
http://www.tomatoville.com/album.php?albumid=176

Is that what you would call mildew?

And if it is has anyone had any success with spraying dish soap, baking soda and water solution on it? I found that recipe online.

Thanks in advance

[JamesL]

Yes.
What have you been spraying with so far? Nothing?
No to the baking soda - sodium bicarbonate. Unless you have nothing else available.
Yes to potassium bicarbonate. Buy some and make your own solution or check out a ready made product like Greencure.
And what about neem oil for your bug and mildew problem? To prevent not fix. You now need to fix in addition to preventing.

[SmittenGarden]

Originally Posted by JamesL

Yes.
What have you been spraying with so far? Nothing?
No to the baking soda - sodium bicarbonate. Unless you have nothing else available.
Yes to potassium bicarbonate. Buy some and make your own solution or check out a ready made product like Greencure.
And what about neem oil for your bug and mildew problem? To prevent not fix. You now need to fix in addition to preventing.

Not sprayed anything so far. I'm wondering if the sprinklers in the grass are reaching them. I thought I had them further back than that. unless its because of the pests attacking it.

I have dish soap and I have baking soda and powder in the cupboard. I also have something call organocide 3-1 from home depot. Which I haven't used yet because I was wanting bt.

Would that fix it? I wanted to go get some ladybugs for the aphids and loopers and maybe bt. Maybe I should spray the 3 in 1?

[SmittenGarden]

http://www.organiclabs.com/InfoSheets/3in1FAQ.pdf

This is what we accidently bought instead of bt.

[RayR]

Yes you have Powdery Mildew

If you want to deal with it on the cheap, try a 10 percent milk solution. Your infection doesn't look very advanced, so it may be easier to control

[JamesL]

Hmm. Not familiar with the product. It appears to get ok reviews with negative reviews about a heavy fish smell. It would appear to control bugs and mildew.
Milk spray as Ray just mentioned might be better but it won't control the bug problem. And your plants won't smell like fish.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by SmittenGarden

Not sprayed anything so far. I'm wondering if the sprinklers in the grass are reaching them. I thought I had them further back than that. unless its because of the pests attacking it.

I have dish soap and I have baking soda and powder in the cupboard. I also have something call organocide 3-1 from home depot. Which I haven't used yet because I was wanting bt.

Would that fix it? I wanted to go get some ladybugs for the aphids and loopers and maybe bt. Maybe I should spray the 3 in 1?

Since you have Organicide, you can try that. I just bought some last month to try this summer on spider mites, but it is supposed to be effective on Powdery Mildew too

Yes, it has a fish smell since it is mostly fish oil. I don't think it's as fishy smelling as fish emulsion though and the smell will fade rather quickly.

[SmittenGarden]

Originally Posted by JamesL

Hmm. Not familiar with the product. It appears to get ok reviews with negative reviews about a heavy fish smell. It would appear to control bugs and mildew.
Milk spray as Ray just mentioned might be better but it won't control the bug problem. And your plants won't smell like fish.

I'd like something low on chemicals. As part of growing our own is because I wanted to have fresh veggies I knew hadn't been sprayed with pesticide and not looked like it was picked last month and used as a football.

I found this page earlier before I posted this post and the lady said she used the milk solution and the bicarbonate of soda solution (this is where I got that idea about bicarb soda from) in a test and she had bad results from the milk solution.
http://voices.yahoo.com/get-rid-whit...s-8762103.html

Would you use the milk solution or would you use something else you considered better of it were you? what you think was the best solution from experience?

[SmittenGarden]

Originally Posted by RayR

Since you have Organicide, you can try that. I just bought some last month to try this summer on spider mites, but it is supposed to be effective on Powdery Mildew too

Yes, it has a fish smell since it is mostly fish oil. I don't think it's as fishy smelling as fish emulsion though and the smell will fade rather quickly.

Thanks do I need to worry about getting it near the fruit and flowers? Should I spray the tommy plants too near by even though I see no pests or mildew?

[RayR]

I wouldn't spray any kind of oil on flowers, just get up close and spray the bottom of the leaves.

[JamesL]

Milk spray is in my preventative rotation this year. Keep in mind it is really a preventative and not an eradicator. Sodium bicarb is simply not as effective as potassium bicarb. So it may or may not work.
I would take the bad fish smell review with a grain of salt as it it could be attributed to user error.
Lead with the milk and baking soda if it makes you feel more comfortable. Just get something on those plants...
Read the label about spraying fruit and flowers. Probably not an issue though.

Edit - although Ray just said it was so listen to him....

[SmittenGarden]

Thanks