Mildew

I have 5 rex begonias and I brought them inside 2 weeks ago. A few seem to have mildew on the leaves. What do you do for mildew? I have removed some leaves to start.

You can try Tinactin on the leaves. I had one begonia with powdery mildew on one of the stems. Used the Tinactin and I haven't seen a ny traces of it recurring. I'm sure I'll have to use it at least one more time to get rid of the fungus, though. I actually learned about this from Butch(I think!) Hopefully he'll come along and chime in on this thread.

GH

GrowHappy,
What form of Tinactin do you use?

Shirley

GH,

I don't remember ever advocating Tinactin on plants. If it works then that is great, but I think it can be costly compared to other fungicides. I passed along something I read somewhere else and that was Lysol aerosol spray which can have various effects. Creating air movement is one of the recommended methods but once mildew is on the plant, it is best to remove infected leaves (you can't undo the damage to the leaves in other words so why save it?) so it won't spread and spray the stems to control it.

Another method I've read about but haven't tested is a solution of milk and water (don't know what the concentration is) but the idea is to change the pH of the surfaces where mildew and mold collect, making it less hospitable for rapid growth. Apparently, in colonial days the cutting and culinary garden was right outside the kitchen and the cook would throw out leftover milk and water onto the plants. They observed that the plants that had been splashed with this concoction did not have mildew whereas other neighboring plants did. Interesting?

Ahhhh, it was LYSOL! Getting foggy in my old age, so please forgive me.:) Perhaps it was one of the Hoya growers who use Tinactin!?

GH

Very interesting about the milk!!

Milk is like using deodorant in a way. Bacteria, mold, mildew, etc. are always present and just looking for the right conditions to grow. By altering the conditions that they like to grow in, you keep the nasties at bay but can never eliminate. Supposedly (things I picked up out of National Geographic) you never really want to eliminate all the bad bugs because they serve some kind of purpose (what that purpose is, I'd like to know).

Happy Birthday Boojum!

Thanks, pirl!!!!!

I was going to say the same thing about the milk, whole milk is best to use. and I use to have a fresh supply of goatsmilk and that worked fantastic sometimes with one spraying. it worked alot better than the store bought milk does, but that works too, but using whole milk works best.

Thanks. I've tried the milk (store bought) and it definitely seemed to help.