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How to Prevent and Control Powdery Mildew

powdery mildew plant disease on a yellow summer squash plant and leaves
Image Credit:
AJCespedes/Shutterstock
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Wondering about white spots and splotches on your plants? The fungal plant disease called powdery mildew is a common problem in gardens, infecting a wide variety of plants and reducing the quality and quantity of flowers and fruit. Learn how to identify, prevent, and treat powdery mildew.

What is Powdery Mildew?

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects a wide variety of plants. There are many different species of powdery mildew, and each species attacks a range of different plants. In the garden, commonly affected plants include:

When the fungus begins to take over one of your plants, a layer of mildew made up of many spores forms across the top of the leaves. These spores are then carried to other plants by the wind. Powdery mildew can slow down the growth of your plant and, if the infection is severe enough, will reduce fruit yield and quality.  According to Gary W. Moorman, Ph.D., of Pennsylvania State University, “All the powdery mildew fungi are obligate parasites, requiring live tissue to grow and reproduce.”

How Does Powdery Mildew Spread?

Powdery mildew spores typically drift into your garden with the wind. Still, if you’ve had powdery mildew occur in the past, new outbreaks may also arise from dormant spores in old vegetative material or nearby weeds.

Unlike many other fungal diseases, powdery mildew thrives in warm (60°–80°F / 15°–27°C) and dry climates, though it requires fairly high relative humidity (i.e., humidity around the plant) to spread. In cooler, rainy areas, it does not spread as well, and its growth is also slowed by temperatures higher than 90°F (32°C). It tends to affect plants in shady areas more than those in direct sun.

Identification

How to Identify Powdery Mildew

  • Plants infected with powdery mildew look as if they have been dusted with flour.
  • Powdery mildew usually starts as circular, powdery white spots, which can appear on leaves, stems, and sometimes fruit.
  • Powdery mildew usually covers the upper part of the leaves but may grow on the undersides as well.
  • Young foliage is most susceptible to damage. Leaves turn yellow and dry out.
  • The fungus might cause some leaves to twist, break, or become disfigured.
  • The white spots of powdery mildew will spread to cover most of the leaves or affected areas.
  • The leaves, buds, and growing tips will also become disfigured. These symptoms usually appear late in the growing season. 

Not certain yet? Use the Almanac’s Plant Problem ID tool to understand out what’s wrong with your plant.

Control and Prevention

How to Prevent Powdery Mildew

As with all pests and diseases, the best means of controlling powdery mildew is proactive prevention. 

  • Choose plants for your garden that are resistant to powdery mildew. Many mildew-resistant varieties of cucurbits (melons, cucumbers, squash, etc.) have been developed and are available from major seed suppliers.
  • Plant in sunnier spots, as powdery mildew tends to develop more often in shady areas.
  • Selectively prune overcrowded areas to increase air circulation around your plants; this helps to reduce relative humidity.
  • Watering from overhead can help to wash spores off leaves. However, wet foliage can often contribute to developing other common diseases, so it’s best not to rely on this as a prevention tactic.

Homemade Powdery Mildew Prevention

Effective organic fungicides for treating powdery mildew include sulfur, lime-sulfur, neem oil, and potassium bicarbonate. These are most effective when used before infection or when you first see signs of the disease.

  • Baking soda has been proven by many gardeners to be effective in treating powdery mildew. Mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda in 1 quart of water. Spray plants thoroughly, as the solution will only kill the fungus that it comes into contact with.
  • Milk spray is another effective home remedy. Dilute the milk with water (typically 1:10) and spray on roses at the first sign of infection or as a preventative measure.

Fungicides

There are many fungicides, especially for rose bushes, that are highly effective with low toxicity, no residue, and long duration. One example is Triadimefon. It can be sprayed with 1000–1200 WP of 15% wettable powder, 1 time intervals of 10 days, and 2–3 times. But check with your local nursery for fungicides approved in your area.

How to Control Powdery Mildew 

Once plants are heavily infected, it’s very difficult to get rid of the disease, so focus on preventing it from spreading to other plants. Remove all infected foliage, stems, and fruit and destroy them, either by throwing them in the trash or by burning them. Do not compost any infected plant, as the wind can still spread the disease and persist in the composted materials.

After pruning off infected parts, do not allow pruning shears to touch healthy leaves. First, sterilize your pruners with rubbing alcohol.

Plant Disease

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann is the Executive Digital Editor of Almanac.com and a Purdue University Extension Master Gardener. She loves helping readers find practical, trustworthy answers—whether they’re figu...

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Sat, 09/07/2013 - 15:39

First, prune off the damaged parts of the plant and dispose of the diseased material in bags or burn it. Do not add to the composter.
One home remedy is a solution made with baking soda: dissolve 1 teaspoon baking soda in a quart of water, add a few drops of liquid soap to the mix to help it cling better to the foliage, spray infected plants thoroughly. Another unusual remedy for fighting fungal diseases is manure tea. This formulation fights blackspot, as well as mildew and rust, while providing foliar nutrition. Place one gallon of well-composted manure in a 5-gallon bucket and fill with water. Stir the mixture well and let sit in a warm place for three days. Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth or mesh and use the resulting tea to spray disease affected plants.
Remember to water your rose plants at soil level and avoid getting the leaves wet. Water in the morning. Space the plants well to ensure good air circulation. Smaller rose bushes be spaced 3 feet apart and larger rose bushes be spaced 4 feet apart from one another.

 <span>Love To Garden</span> Fri, 08/16/2013 - 19:17
I spend hours everyday in my garden caring for plants I have raised from seeds. My plants are over-ran with powdery mildew. Especialy my peonies and ALL vines, watermelon, gourds, cantalope ect. Then there's the aphids. Every plant in the yard is covered with a disease and bugs. Also have a big problem with atleast 4 ant species. I'm really dissapointed this year. I'm happy everything grew but honestly the plants look terrible. I grow hibiscus, roses, spider plants, coneflowers, morning glorys, clematis, hot poker, iris and many more plants that attract birds and butterflys. My daylillies and grasses look terrible too... ANY suggestion?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 08/19/2013 - 12:26

See the tips above and comments from our reader for help with mildew. We have also heard that spraying a milk/water solution on the leaves will help. Use about 30% milk and 70% water. It doesn't matter what kind of milk you use.

For the aphids see our pests page at www.almanac.com/content/aphids

For ants you can sprinkling cinnemon or corn meal or spraying a little bit of vinegar between the plants.

 

 <span>Mick Dunlop</span> Sun, 08/11/2013 - 13:47
I have two sun flowers one about 6 feet the other about 4and a half the small one all the leafs started to wilt couple of days ago now the tall one is doing the same the smaller one large flower three buds and the tall one has a very large flower what could be causing this any help would be appreciated thank you
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 08/12/2013 - 16:55

Usually, sunflowers wilt because they need more water. Water every day to every other day and see if they perk up.  Sunflowers also naturally drop as their seed heads get heavy and they protect the seeds from the sun; this is a natural part of the cycle.

 <span>June Wroblewski</span> Tue, 07/30/2013 - 14:13
I just got my phlox in July.Planted it now all the leaves have brown spots. Asked nursery told me it has that mildew.How can I tell if the whole plant is dead? I trimmed it as much as possible. Thank you for ur time.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 08/05/2013 - 07:40

Yes, powdery mildew is a well-known nuisance on phlox. Usually, this is not a serious enough problem to kill the plant in its first season, but cut back all the disease and remove the stems this fall (after frost) s the fungus does not survive the winter. In the spring, watch for new development and spray the foliage with a fungicide or dust with sulfur. Also, make sure the plants are well spaced to allow good air movement throughout the foliage. Water plants early in the day so leaves dry quickly.
Do not over fertilize (especially with nitrogen).

 <span>Michael.trudgeon</span> Tue, 07/16/2013 - 06:47
Please help.--My home is in Turkey, (ex pat).Earlyier this year i returned from the uk bringing with me two 5ft conference pear trees (my favorite). Reading all the info about pear trees, i purchased another euoropean tree to cross polonate.--well i waited ,and in the begining of June the buds started to open NO flowers, It seemed happy with the position i planted it in,leaves and shoots started to appear . Now they have stopped growing the leaves a little curlled but still very green. Q. We have another 8 weeks of hot sunshine 35c untill it starts to cool down, could that be the case of it being to hot. All my other fruit trees do not seem to be affected --Apple,Peaches, lemon, & orange. ----PS, It would be an good idea to include the temptures that most plants can endure in artcles writen . Regards Michael. Trudgeon.
<span>Ncrobby</span> Sat, 06/29/2013 - 08:30
Rose Red77-I live by the seaside and have finally given up on having roses because of blackspot.The best treatment is to spray very frequently (weekly),rake under the roses getting all the infected stuff away from the plant,and buying roses that are blackspot resistant. There are websites that teach about blackspot.You have to do a little searching for them though. Hope This Helps!
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 06/12/2013 - 11:38
Oh, dear. Black spot is common to roses the world over and there may be as many opinions on this as there are rose varieties. Some say that cleaning the ground of leaf debris at the end of season and then again in spring is the solution, as well as pruning the infected canes, avoiding wetting canes on gray (cloudy) days, and avoiding planting roses too close together. Others suggest that in combination with control agents such as the fungicide chlorothalonil (Daconil), reapplying it after rain and applying it to all new leaves (applications in 7 to 10 day intervals have been proposed). Another suggests Funginex. Some say fertilizing roses with Epsom salts helps. And then there is choosing plants that are resistant to black spot. Finally, you might also consult your local agricultural extension service for local advice and/or notice where roses thrive in your vicinity and ask the property owner how they handle or avoid this plague. Best wishes!