Powdery mildew - An easily exterminated parasite

I had a lilac tree in my yard a few days ago, and that thing is covered in pm. Not sure if it’s the same type of powdery mildew but it affects that plant very badly. I just pulled out the chainsaw and cut the damn thing down.

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The colony will regrow when the plant does. Those lilacs really produce lots of offshoots! If you want to try and kill off the mildew, I suggest spraying it when it’s dormant in the spring or fall.

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Thanks to @JoeCrowe for pointing me in the CORRECT direction for PM eradication. 1 pass thru the swamp with the fogger and sulphur this spring, and it hasn’t been seen.
Now, on the other hand, I’ve got Septoria running rampant this year, it’s stupid crazy. Not only on my plants, it’s all over the trees this year. It’s hit my apple tree hard, it’s on the poplar trees, my maple trees, and I went for a walk thru the back 2 acres, and it’s all over the place.
Have no clue why all of a sudden it’s decided to show up, but trudging threw and will still have a good crop this year.

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36 hours between the rains, liking the prospects of the leaves actually being clean when spraying this time.

disease took everything around here, it looked like fall in some places in early august. all kinds of crazy leaf variegation and just all the trees fading and dropping months early.

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The shift in the ecology and infestation of never-before-seen bugs is quite startling. These days I just laugh and roll with the punches. The craziest thing I saw was this wave of forester moths from California. Dumb bugs, this is Canada! I think 50% of the mildew colonies showed up in the last decade. Probable infestations due to human activity. Humans are everywhere now too! Planting diseased plants. Bringing in new colonies I bet.

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i find pretty much all of it along the road/paths where people walk their dogs. theres one road a few blocks away where virtually every plant between the road and the sidewalk has it. theres not really anything the city can do, im not sure if they maintain that area or not. the septoria (or just clear disease) is everywhere, they had the aborists out at the park all summer looking at them and taking the really sick ones down… of course everyone was blocking their path with their cars and it was nearly impossible for them to work lol. people everywhere causing problems for sure.

side note: dont spray sulfur the day before labor day weekend. was perfect time weather wise but one lady threw a fit at me and the ensuing shit flinging seemed to be antagonized by it being a holiday. woopsies, garden is looking clean though - wiped out a ton of it on the maples and wildflowers.

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Wonder if this has anything to do with how rapidly the PM spreads around here :sweat_smile: plant showed 2 days later and that makes 2/12 outdoors this year that didn’t show mildew.

Oregon Diesel I can say now is a very PM resistant strain at least in expression. That same squirrel was rubbing his face in her buds and she never showed a thing.

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How often do you have to fill the rez on that octo? 3 or 6 gallon? Fuck PM. I sprayed my ivy and new-growth blackberry vines along my cyclone fence with

I also hit my east row Tuesday with a preventative shot.

PM can suck a big green donkey dick. Kill it (before) it rears its ugly head. :skull_and_crossbones:

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i sprayed the entire fence line with a double dose of 99% elemental sulfur and pyrethrin, since theres no more bud plants outside a few days before the first real rains im going to spray everything outside on my property with that, till/seed/feed the lawns and sow the wildflowers for bloom next spring/early summer.

but im working quicker than i thought to just forgetting outdoors, creates more contamination risk for indoors. like joe says you have to break the cycle and thats what im gonna do. not just for me but for others around me growing, when my plant shows PM i bag it, kill it, soak it in something heavy and dispose of it. indoors or out.

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after last season’s encouter with PM, however mild it was, everything got sprayed with sulphur in and around my greenhouse. Sprayed the pots and greenhouse walls before moving everything outside too.
It’s harvest time and no powdery mildew in sight. No other molds present either so I’ll take the win.
Thanks again @JoeCrowe !!

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Thanks for validating the process. Down at UCDavis the phds in agriculture told me it wasn’t possible to get rid of mildew outside. That’ll teach 'em!

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ya over on icmag they are having a discussion about citric acid and powdery mildew during the flowering cycle.
the usual suspects showed up recommending need or milk.
Ya know… I tried to tell them , sulphur spray eradicates … kills dead… powdery mildew. I got laughed and insulted off the stage LOL
I did get a compliment though… the one idiot called me a “millenial” LOL I was growing weed before most of the Millenials were born or out of diapers :rofl:

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lol! Yah exactly… Insulted and laughed at. Ahhh I remember when there was a campaign against me on these very forums, because I insisted sulfur would eradicate it. I mean, a campaign by useless turds with no evidence. LOL! Man… it was only a matter of time before they were the ones looking like dipshits. Oh, the irony. They don’t fuck with me any more.

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I have said it before and I will again. Powdery Mildew in my grow is what lead me to this very thread and OG. After trying all the other fixes I find out about sulfur. 1.5 years pm free indoor and outdoor. 15$ and a couple hours work and bye bye pm.
It’s been a real treat to be here. First forum ever. Wasn’t something I was interested in before. But thanks to @JoeCrowe dedication and research here I am loving it.


No mildew on these ladies. But have seen some bud rot developing. Not sure if they ever will find a cure all for that. Hypochlorous acid seems to slow it down though. But not eradicated like sulfur does to pm.

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@JoeCrowe I kind of doubt I’ll be able to convince my mmj caregivers to work with the sulfur,

but could you give me some tips on how to treat an outdoor garden during the off season?

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Sure, you have to make sure you spray the entire area where the plants grew that had mildew. Give it two good sprays to make sure you’ve coated everything. The mildew won’t spread over 6 meters, but will definitely spread over half a meter. Gives you a ballpark. The thing is the mildew comes in on infested plant material, so if you’re mmj caregivers are infested, it’ll never end, unless they are willing to finish off the mildew as well. 1 tablespoon of elemental sulfur per liter of water, or even half that works.

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Thanks Joe, those are helpful guidelines.

Fortunately this has rarely been a problem. They wear clean clothes to my place and tend to the indoor grow first. One doesn’t grow aside from helping with my garden, the other grows outdoor but tends my plants in the morning and his in the afternoon. We have a pretty good arrangement.

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It’s transferred by plant material. Someone won’t come in with mildew all over their body, that’s for sure. It’s not like bugs.

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haha yeah. That’s good to know that ambient environmental spores aren’t much of a threat, though.

I just meant that we have a precautionary approach to any cross contamination between the gardens in general.

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That’s like the number one broscience/oldwivestale I hear all the time, is that like powdery mildew is blowing in the wind. or it’s “ubiquitous” meaning it’s everywhere. or it’s on buddies shoes! The real world data shows it’s way more localized, only able to live on a piece of the host plant itself.
I think that’s the number one reason people were offended by my research. It came to conclusions far too radical for some to comprehend. hah hah that’s just some sarcasm.

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