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Powdery Mildew on Zucchini?

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daisy

Guest
We've had an unusually hot, dry summer this year, and I think it's affecting my vegetable patch.
The zucchini has this weird, powdery white mildew on it, and now they're all shriveling up :(
It's so disappointing and besides the weather I don't know what could be causing it, have you ever seen this?
I had a bunch of flowers on my eggplant too but they're all drying up and not turning into eggplants. I'm pretty sure that's due to the heat though.
 
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ErnieCopp

Guest
It spreads from leaf to leaf, easy to control with Sprayinig, but if you do not want to spray while harvesting, you can prune off the leavves that show it. Those are mostly on the bottom, but as you remove them it will help the air circulation.

Powdery mildew thrives in warm humid weather, but it is the humidity not the heat, that seems to make it worse here.

I have a four foot extension pruner that i use that lifts out the cut off leaves.

Ernie
 
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daisy

Guest
Great, thank you so much for the advice! I'm definitely going to give pruning a try, and if that doesn't work I might try spraying too otherwise I won't end up with anything to harvest from my poor little plant.
 
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Mr_Yan

Guest
Powdery Mildew is common on squash and cucurbit plants but is generally not going to hurt the plant. It really only hurts the plant when it is bad enough to cut off the light hitting the leaves.

Several fungal sprays will knock it back but it is also very hard to get rid of.
 
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