Powdery mildew solution and pet mantis

SmittenGarden · May 26, 2014

Ok well he (mantis) is not exactly a pet......more like a purposefully placed minion, pest mucher and keeper of my zucchini and for all the trouble and cost it took to raise him in the first place I would rather not kill him.

But my zucchini has what I beleive is lots of powder mildew modeling on the outer edges (top and bottom) of at least three leaves. The insecticide/powdery mildew store bought spray is obviously straight out. Milk and water did nothing last year but 1 thing did although I found it little two late last year.

I mixed two tablespoons potassium bicarbonate with two tablespoons sesame oil and a dash of Castile soap in 1 gallon of water and sprayed...this did kill the spots of mildew on the leaves last year but it had gotten way past the leaves....perhaps if I use it again and cut the mildew ones off I might win this year.....but I am unsure what it would do to the mantis and the aftermath of the oil was disgusting....

Does anyone have a better solution than using the oil? Or could I leave it out? And does anyone know if it will kill the mantis? He was a rather costly pest control investment.

he is one of the last three and I've sort of become attached to him.

JamesL · May 26, 2014

If it is powdery mildew - the potassium bicarb with a little soap will do the trick just fine. You don't need the oil.
No clue really if that would kill the mantis but I wouldn't think so.

dpurdy · May 26, 2014

SmittenGarden,
I've had good results with GreenCure. It's a potassium bicarb based product that can also help with other pesky problems that arise when growing tomatoes or any vegetable. I've been using it for about 5 or 6 growing seasons. To me it's one of the safest fungicides that you can use. It eliminates powdery mildew within seconds and usually doesn't return. It can also help to protect your plants from downy mildew, Fusarium, Septoria leaf spot, and others. GreenCure is very friendly to beneficial insects and I don't believe that it will do any damage to your mantis as long as you don't spray it directly. No need to use an oil if you use this product. It has a surfactant in the formula that helps the potassium bicarb adhere to the leaf surfaces. Yes, it would be a shame to do any harm to your mantis.

dpurdy

May 26, 2014	#1
SmittenGarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: So California Posts: 75	Powdery mildew solution and pet mantis Ok well he (mantis) is not exactly a pet......more like a purposefully placed minion, pest mucher and keeper of my zucchini and for all the trouble and cost it took to raise him in the first place I would rather not kill him. But my zucchini has what I beleive is lots of powder mildew modeling on the outer edges (top and bottom) of at least three leaves. The insecticide/powdery mildew store bought spray is obviously straight out. Milk and water did nothing last year but 1 thing did although I found it little two late last year. I mixed two tablespoons potassium bicarbonate with two tablespoons sesame oil and a dash of Castile soap in 1 gallon of water and sprayed...this did kill the spots of mildew on the leaves last year but it had gotten way past the leaves....perhaps if I use it again and cut the mildew ones off I might win this year.....but I am unsure what it would do to the mantis and the aftermath of the oil was disgusting.... Does anyone have a better solution than using the oil? Or could I leave it out? And does anyone know if it will kill the mantis? He was a rather costly pest control investment. he is one of the last three and I've sort of become attached to him.

May 26, 2014	#2
JamesL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 1,992	If it is powdery mildew - the potassium bicarb with a little soap will do the trick just fine. You don't need the oil. No clue really if that would kill the mantis but I wouldn't think so.

May 26, 2014	#3
dpurdy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Norwich, New York Posts: 255	SmittenGarden, I've had good results with GreenCure. It's a potassium bicarb based product that can also help with other pesky problems that arise when growing tomatoes or any vegetable. I've been using it for about 5 or 6 growing seasons. To me it's one of the safest fungicides that you can use. It eliminates powdery mildew within seconds and usually doesn't return. It can also help to protect your plants from downy mildew, Fusarium, Septoria leaf spot, and others. GreenCure is very friendly to beneficial insects and I don't believe that it will do any damage to your mantis as long as you don't spray it directly. No need to use an oil if you use this product. It has a surfactant in the formula that helps the potassium bicarb adhere to the leaf surfaces. Yes, it would be a shame to do any harm to your mantis. dpurdy