SAN ANTONIO – Don’t get me wrong, I love the more than three inches of rain we had in April. However, with the rain comes high humidity and lots of cloud coverage, which can also mean fungal diseases on our plants.
We are talking about powdery mildew, and I am seeing it in the KSAT garden and my garden at home.
Don’t freak out! Once the sun consistently comes back, it should cure it naturally.
Most of the time, it’s an aesthetic issue and won’t majorly harm your plants, but sometimes it can be severely damaging.
You can tackle it with a homemade organic spray if caught early. You’ll need:
- 1 tablespoon of baking soda
- Half a teaspoon of liquid non-detergent soap
- 1 gallon of water
Spray a liberal amount on the front and back of leaves. One or two treatments should do the trick, especially when the sun comes back out.
This treatment works well if caught early, but if not the powdery mildew can do some intense damage like it did to my potatoes.
When it gets bad, you want to cut the foliage all the way back. The potatoes may or may not sprout leaves again, but the good news is that the potatoes under the soil are probably just fine.
Make sure to clean your trimmers with alcohol after using them so as not to spread the disease.
If you have any more questions about potential diseases on your plants my friends at Rainbow Gardens may be able to help.