Pure joy in the garden when the first cucumbers can finally be harvested in summer. But be careful! Joy often suddenly turns into anger when white, mealy spots or a gray coating appear on cucumber leaves. Powdery mildew - the dreaded cucumber disease - how do you get rid of it quickly and permanently?

What Causes Powdery Mildew on Cucumber Leaves?

The causative agent is a fungus. Both powdery mildew and downy mildew usually appear at the end of July and attack cucumber plants outdoors and in greenhouses.

Powdery mildew threatens cucumber plants in dry summer weather. It is found on the leaf surfaces as a mealy-white fungus lawn. Within a short time, the leaves will turn brown and dry up, and the cucumber plants will die.
Downy mildew spreads in damp weather, rain and, depending on the type of fungus, at temperatures of 10° to 18° degrees. It covers the underside of the cucumber leaves with a violet-grey lawn of spores. Within a few days, the cucumber leaves will turn yellow and die off from the edge.

It doesn't rain in the greenhouse, but if the humidity is too high, downy mildew will also spread. Therefore, ventilate the greenhouse well both during the day and at night.

Effectively prevent cucumber powdery mildew

The safest measure to prevent cucumber powdery mildew: only grow powdery mildew-resistant F1 hybrid cucumbers such as:

  • Burpless Tasty Green
  • capra
  • Othello
  • professional
  • restina
  • darina
  • jazzer
  • Aksu
  • Bellando

Combat cucumber mildew - the most effective home remedies

Harvesting cucumbers without powdery mildew can be effective both preventively and to save the cucumber plants with these recipes:

  • skim milk
  • nettle manure
  • Sakhalin knotweed infusion
  • baking powder

Dilute skimmed milk 1:6 with rainwater. Spray over the leaves and water the cucumber plants once a week.
Dilute nettle manure 1:10. Spray cucumber plants when infested. Otherwise water it regularly. This strengthens the plants and makes them more resilient. In addition, the manure also acts as a green cucumber fertilizer.
Sakhalin knotweed acts as an infusion against cucumber powdery mildew. To do this, pour one liter of hot water over 10 g of dried leaves and leave to stand for a few hours. Water and spray cucumber plants with it

This baking powder and rapeseed oil recipe is a proven secret recipe for many hobby gardeners against mildew on cucumbers:

  • 50 grams of baking powder
  • 50 milliliters of rapeseed oil
  • a few drops of dish soap
  • 5 liters of lukewarm water

Dissolve baking powder in 5 liters of lukewarm water and then add rapeseed oil and washing-up liquid. Spray cucumber plants every 2 weeks over a period of 3 months as a preventative measure in the evening.

tips and tricks

Do not grow cucumber plants again in the same location for at least 4 years so that they do not become infected with fungi, the mycelium and spores of which overwinter in the soil!

Category:

Vegetable garden