How can I safely get rid of mildew and what is causing it. I water from the ground and take care not to splash leaves.
Mildew on Cukes
There are a lot of techniques used by gardeners over the years, many of which have been discussed in the veggies thread. I use baking soda, small box to 2 gallons of water. It is used commercially also . Other fungicides will work. Some folk even used powdered milk. Powdery mildew needs a moist acidic environment, so using a base does wonders. Most of us have acid rain, which encourages mildew.
Farmerdill: would adding dolomite lime to the planting area help cut down on mildew?
Rhonda
No. Hydrated lime ( Ca(OH)2) on the leaves may help. The idea is to alleviate a wet acidic area on the leaves. Ground limestone is too slow reacting to accomplish this. Baking Soda, milk, copper sulphate based fungicides are fast reacting bases.
Thanks, Farmerdill. I'll be trying the baking soda treatment this year.
Rhonda
Remember to remove, badly infested leaves. Fungicides stop the spread, but they will not enable damage leaves to recover.