Topic: powdery mildew???

[GRACELAND]

Talking about peas the leaves all have a kind of mildew on them and so do the marrows but it hasn’t affected the veg themselves.  I noticed a sort of powdery mildew on the hedge this year and my next door neighbour has the same – any idea what it is and how do we get rid of it.

[Toadspawn]

It is powdery mildew which is caused by a number of different  fungus species. It is very common on many plants towards the end of the growing season especially where the weather has been dry. There is little you can do about it, and because it rarely affects the crop there has been no commercial incentive for chemical companies to develop any fungicides to control it.

[GRACELAND]

 :D

ok ta

[Kepouros]

Actually there were at one time commercial fungicides which controlled powdery mildew, but the powers-that-be decided that we would be better off without them, and they have never been replaced.  However, there are several organic remedies which the Brussels Mafia are unable to effectively ban, and these do provide some control over the disease - at least in its earlier stages.

It can, in fact, completely ravage some crops, and I`ve had late peas so badly crippled that the stems died before the pods were mature enough to pick, so if you`ve got crops that are not yet mature it`s a good idea to consider preventative or controlling organic sprays