Downy mildew, techniques and organic treatments to avoid it
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Famous for being vineyard owners’ #1 enemy, downy mildew is a constant threat to grape harvests. This blight also threatens certain other vegetables from the vegetable patch such as tomato and potato, too.
Regular preventive treatment should help you produce a beautiful harvest without any trace of downy mildew.
Symptoms of downy mildew start with the appearance of several spots on the leaves that encroach on neighboring leaves.
This is a fungal disease that mainly impacts grape, tomato and potato.
Yellow spots appear on and under the leaves.
They turn brown and spread to cover the entire leaf which then falls off.
On the underside, whitish patches appear that match topside spots. These white spots look a lot like powdery mildew.
Conditions in which downy mildew appears and spreads
Downy mildew particularly likes warm and moist settings, as well as dense foliage that keeps air and light away.
Moisture is the main factor that triggers its spread, especially on leaves.
Like most fungal attacks, downy mildew will spread fastest after rain showers.
Mildew is hindered when plants are spread far apart and air circulates well.
Preventing downy mildew means ensuring the opposite of these factors:
Water from below, with a long hose nozzle, long-spout watering can, drip irrigation or ollas.
Avoid performing any other tasks during this phase: brushing against sick plants will spread the fungus fast when wet.
Water early morning so plants only get one “wet time” in the day (synchronize with dew).
Space plants well and thin them so that air circulates well.
Layering mulch helps keep fungus trapped underneath: it won’t splash up to leaves as easily.
Dispose of plants infected with downy mildew:
Handle sick plants carefully: spores fly around easily.
Place trimmings near immune plants instead of vulnerable ones.
Or burn or compost them in a hot compost.
Organic downy mildew treatments
It’s possible to use very effective organic downy mildew treatments.
Bordeaux mixture is the only effective preventive treatment against downy mildew.
Apply regularly at the beginning of spring and in fall.
Treat during the entire vegetative phase.
Treat regularly, on average every two weeks and after every rainfall.
In the case that downy mildew appears, only a curative treatment will have any effect.
Bordeaux mixture contains copper. Though it’s relatively safe and organic, you shouldn’t apply it too often. Indeed, if used for years, copper builds up and kills bacterial and insect life. Different countries have regulations to follow if you’re a professional grower.
Downy mildew and baking soda
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is an excellent solution to treat downy mildew, though a similar product is more effective: potassium bicarbonate.
Dissolve 1 table spoon baking soda in 1 quart (1 liter) water (ideally rainwater or mineral water, for the water to be softer).
In dry weather, spray this mix on all the leaves, spraying both on top and on the underside of leaves.
Bordeaux mixture is some kind of spray that you coat on plants. It’s made from a blue powder that you add water to. The blue powder contains copper (that makes it blue). Copper kills fungus and interferes with their spread, that’s why it works well to eliminate mildew. There’s more on what bordeaux mixture is here. The page also includes how to use it.
Adefila Tunde wrote on 23 March 2023 at 7 h 07 min
Pls what can i use to cure Downey mildew on my cucumber, urgent pls.
Gaspard wrote on 23 March 2023 at 8 h 09 min
Hi Adefila, you can use bordeaux mixture, it works really well. It’s a blue powder you can add to water and spray. All garden stores should have in one form or another. I added a picture to show how to spray it, make sure to spray topside and underside of leaves.
In any case, you should also try to change how you water your plants: don’t get the leaves wet when you water, water in the morning for a while until the mildew subsides, thin leaves and plants so air can circulate better.
Moisture is the main factor that triggers its spread, especially on leaves.
Bordeaux mixture is the only effective preventive treatment against downy mildew.
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is an excellent solution to treat downy mildew, though a similar product is more effective: potassium bicarbonate.
Pls what is bordeaux mixture
Bordeaux mixture is some kind of spray that you coat on plants. It’s made from a blue powder that you add water to. The blue powder contains copper (that makes it blue). Copper kills fungus and interferes with their spread, that’s why it works well to eliminate mildew. There’s more on what bordeaux mixture is here. The page also includes how to use it.
Pls what can i use to cure Downey mildew on my cucumber, urgent pls.
Hi Adefila, you can use bordeaux mixture, it works really well. It’s a blue powder you can add to water and spray. All garden stores should have in one form or another. I added a picture to show how to spray it, make sure to spray topside and underside of leaves.
In any case, you should also try to change how you water your plants: don’t get the leaves wet when you water, water in the morning for a while until the mildew subsides, thin leaves and plants so air can circulate better.