Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbotomateo
Bill, I'm glad you mentioned the melons, squash and cucumbers. I'm in a wet environment here . I'm growing those this year and won't hesitate to break out your recipe again for everything this time. Jimbo.
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Make sure you start with the weaker concentration when you start on the melons and squash and try to get the underside of the leaves and the soil or mulch under the plants before downy or powdery mildew become visible. Once you determine the solution strength that is working for your plants then use it regularly as preventive spray. If it is a rainy or damp season I try to spray about once every week or 10 days with the bleach spray. The problem with waiting until the problem gets bad especially with squash is that all those new leaves underneath the older growth will get infected and when the badly infected squash plants are sprayed with the bleach spray most of the new growth will be killed along with the old leaves. Another trick that I have found that works is to remove the older leaves of the squash as they start to show signs of fading. I just yank them off. This allows better air flow and also removes one of the main starting locations for downy and powdery mildew.
Bill