Hi All,

Two of my numerous zuke plants have very short stems and
small crinkly leaves. They are not growing much either.
There is no sign of squash bug activity.

This happens to at least one of my zuke plants every year.
Usually the one will start out normal, then lose its large
leaves and get these small crinkly ones. This time the two
started out that way.

Is this some kid of mite infection?

Would soapy water help?

Should I pull them out to keep any infestation from spreading?
Or leave them in, so the infectors will stay with the one plant?

Any words of wisdom?


Many thanks,
-T

T wrote:
Hi All,

Two of my numerous zuke plants have very short stems and
small crinkly leaves. They are not growing much either.
There is no sign of squash bug activity.

This happens to at least one of my zuke plants every year.
Usually the one will start out normal, then lose its large
leaves and get these small crinkly ones. This time the two
started out that way.

Is this some kid of mite infection?

Would soapy water help?

Should I pull them out to keep any infestation from spreading?
Or leave them in, so the infectors will stay with the one plant?

Any words of wisdom?

sometimes in seeds there will be a few of a
slightly different strain to help with cross-
pollination.

i don't know if this is the case with yours
or not. this is what comes to mind.


songbird

On 07/18/2016 09:12 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
Hi All,

Two of my numerous zuke plants have very short stems and
small crinkly leaves. They are not growing much either.
There is no sign of squash bug activity.

This happens to at least one of my zuke plants every year.
Usually the one will start out normal, then lose its large
leaves and get these small crinkly ones. This time the two
started out that way.

Is this some kid of mite infection?

Would soapy water help?

Should I pull them out to keep any infestation from spreading?
Or leave them in, so the infectors will stay with the one plant?

Any words of wisdom?

sometimes in seeds there will be a few of a
slightly different strain to help with cross-
pollination.

i don't know if this is the case with yours
or not. this is what comes to mind.


songbird


I have noticed that. I think one turned out to be a black
zucchini last year. Still tasted good.

So maybe it is just a weird hybrid / cross breed.

Hmmm. I still have a few seedlings I haven't planted.
I am thinking of pulling the weird ones out.

How would I rule out mites?

On 07/18/2016 09:12 PM, songbird wrote:
sometimes in seeds there will be a few of a
slightly different strain to help with cross-
pollination.

You know what, the same thing happened to a big healthy
plant last year. All the big leaves fell off and I got a
stunted plant with stunted, shriveled up leaves

T wrote:
On 07/18/2016 09:12 PM, songbird wrote:
sometimes in seeds there will be a few of a
slightly different strain to help with cross-
pollination.

You know what, the same thing happened to a big healthy
plant last year. All the big leaves fell off and I got a
stunted plant with stunted, shriveled up leaves

ok, pull it out and plant something else there
if you have the time.

capilary collapse?

(too hot and not enough water at the roots)
i recall your soil may not be particularly
deep and the weather pretty hot. some kind
of wind break may help moderate evaporative
losses from leaves.

for us we get the plants growing really well
and then some leaves get powdery mildew and
then the plant comes back and puts on new
leaves again.

i don't fight it or spray, what happens is
pretty much ok with me. life, nature, i try
to work with it instead of fighting.

dunno about mites. there are so many different
kinds, most harmless, some predatory on other
mites, etc.


songbird

On 07/19/2016 03:37 AM, songbird wrote:
for us we get the plants growing really well
and then some leaves get powdery mildew and
then the plant comes back and puts on new
leaves again.

Last year, that is what happened to one of my plants.
Big beautiful pant. It got the powdery milden
(I have copper spray for that this year), the leaves
dies off, and new growth came back. The new growth
came back with small shriveled leaves as described.
The plant never did recover.

I will extra water in case the plant is suffering from
too litter water and too much heat.

On 07/19/2016 01:20 PM, T wrote:
On 07/19/2016 03:37 AM, songbird wrote:
for us we get the plants growing really well
and then some leaves get powdery mildew and
then the plant comes back and puts on new
leaves again.

Last year, that is what happened to one of my plants.
Big beautiful pant. It got the powdery milden
(I have copper spray for that this year), the leaves
dies off, and new growth came back. The new growth
came back with small shriveled leaves as described.
The plant never did recover.

I will extra water in case the plant is suffering from
too litter water and too much heat.

Hi Songbird,

I was looking at the leaves real close and they are suffering
from the start of the accursed power mildew. So I soaked
the plant yesterday in copper spray.

Today, it looks like it has 50% more foliage and is responding
to all the tender love and care its been getting. So
things are looking up for the guy. Will know for sure in
a couple of days.

That would make sense. Last year as I recounted, the power milden
nailed one of my pants real bad and the leave did the same,
crinkly thing.

On the other hand, I have one zuke that I transplanted from
the sprouting cups that has two little round leaves on it
the size of a quarter. Hasn't grown in two months.
Then again, it hasn't died either. Maybe I will get some
rice sized zukes off it!

-T

On 07/19/2016 01:20 PM, T wrote:
On 07/19/2016 03:37 AM, songbird wrote:
for us we get the plants growing really well
and then some leaves get powdery mildew and
then the plant comes back and puts on new
leaves again.

Last year, that is what happened to one of my plants.
Big beautiful pant. It got the powdery milden
(I have copper spray for that this year), the leaves
dies off, and new growth came back. The new growth
came back with small shriveled leaves as described.
The plant never did recover.

I will extra water in case the plant is suffering from
too litter water and too much heat.

Hi Songbird,

I was looking at the leaves real close and they are suffering
from the start of the accursed power mildew. So I soaked
the plant yesterday in copper spray.

Today, it looks like it has 50% more foliage and is responding
to all the tender love and care its been getting. So
things are looking up for the guy. Will know for sure in
a couple of days.

That would make sense. Last year as I recounted, the power milden
nailed one of my pants real bad and the leave did the same,
crinkly thing.

On the other hand, I have one zuke that I transplanted from
the sprouting cups that has two little round leaves on it
the size of a quarter. Hasn't grown in two months.
Then again, it hasn't died either. Maybe I will get some
rice sized zukes off it!

-T

T wrote:
....
I was looking at the leaves real close and they are suffering
from the start of the accursed power mildew. So I soaked
the plant yesterday in copper spray.

have you looked up the milk spray. i would
not use copper regularly. people may say it is
organic, but i think it poisons other creatures
too much and is accumulative.


songbird

On 07/23/2016 05:38 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
I was looking at the leaves real close and they are suffering
from the start of the accursed power mildew. So I soaked
the plant yesterday in copper spray.

have you looked up the milk spray. i would
not use copper regularly. people may say it is
organic, but i think it poisons other creatures
too much and is accumulative.


songbird


Got a link to it?

The size of the plant is now about 50% larger.

T wrote:
On 07/23/2016 05:38 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
I was looking at the leaves real close and they are suffering
from the start of the accursed power mildew. So I soaked
the plant yesterday in copper spray.

have you looked up the milk spray. i would
not use copper regularly. people may say it is
organic, but i think it poisons other creatures
too much and is accumulative.

Got a link to it?

google them and read away. i would always try
the least toxic options first.

i did try a bordeau mix on my grape vine to
control black rot, but decided that it wasn't
worth the bother and took the vine out instead.
sometimes you just pick wiser battles.


songbird

On 07/24/2016 12:48 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
On 07/23/2016 05:38 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
I was looking at the leaves real close and they are suffering
from the start of the accursed power mildew. So I soaked
the plant yesterday in copper spray.

have you looked up the milk spray. i would
not use copper regularly. people may say it is
organic, but i think it poisons other creatures
too much and is accumulative.

Got a link to it?

google them and read away. i would always try
the least toxic options first.

i did try a bordeau mix on my grape vine to
control black rot, but decided that it wasn't
worth the bother and took the vine out instead.
sometimes you just pick wiser battles.


songbird


Hi Songbird,

I tried Neem oil on them two years in a row. Completely
worthless.

-T

T wrote:
....
I tried Neem oil on them two years in a row. Completely
worthless.

Neem oil i've only recall being used as
an insecticide, i've never used it myself
nor read up on it to know...

we have too many surrounding host plants
for powdery mildew that it makes no sense
at all for me to spray for it or care much.
we have some plants which get some damage
from it, but not enough that i care to fight.

the weak milk solution is one that i've
heard can help, but only indirectly.

instead of fighting with chemicals and
single solutions if i were going to do any
sort of spraying it would look into brewing
my own microbial teas and use those instead.
i think a broad mix of bacterial species
would be much more effective at giving a
plant protection.

i've done a fair bit of reading on how
various fungi attack plants. certain leaf
surface shapes seem to make it easier and
that shape can be changed by the presence
of bacteria.

the only problem is that such things can
also backfire and you get a separate infection
to deal with which can be just as bad or
worse than the powdery mildew.

ah, well, good luck, i just keep it simple
here.


songbird

On 07/24/2016 05:34 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
I tried Neem oil on them two years in a row. Completely
worthless.

Neem oil i've only recall being used as
an insecticide, i've never used it myself
nor read up on it to know...

we have too many surrounding host plants
for powdery mildew that it makes no sense
at all for me to spray for it or care much.
we have some plants which get some damage
from it, but not enough that i care to fight.

the weak milk solution is one that i've
heard can help, but only indirectly.

instead of fighting with chemicals and
single solutions if i were going to do any
sort of spraying it would look into brewing
my own microbial teas and use those instead.
i think a broad mix of bacterial species
would be much more effective at giving a
plant protection.


That is probably a tremendous idea. Problem: sometimes
you forget just what order of magnitude your skills are
above mine. Maybe 1000 to 1. This idea is so, so
WAY OVER MY HEAD! Maybe in 30 years, if I should live
that long, I will catch up to where you are today (not where you
will be in 30 years).

:-)


i've done a fair bit of reading on how
various fungi attack plants. certain leaf
surface shapes seem to make it easier and
that shape can be changed by the presence
of bacteria.

the only problem is that such things can
also backfire and you get a separate infection
to deal with which can be just as bad or
worse than the powdery mildew.

ah, well, good luck, i just keep it simple
here.


songbird


This is the guy I am using:

http://www.bonide.com/products/disea...-fungicide-rtu

http://www.bonide.com/assets/Products/Labels/l775.pdf

The part that got my attention, besides someone on this
group recommending it, was:

"for organic production"

-T

T wrote:
....
That is probably a tremendous idea. Problem: sometimes
you forget just what order of magnitude your skills are
above mine. Maybe 1000 to 1. This idea is so, so
WAY OVER MY HEAD! Maybe in 30 years, if I should live
that long, I will catch up to where you are today (not where you
will be in 30 years).

ok, here it is, simple, you have your special
fertilizer you've been using which is from an
organic supplier.

equipment: bucket, aquarium air pump, hose, air stone,
cheese cloth.

ingredients: water, compost.

method: turn on air pump, add compost to water, let
it brew for a while, strain through cheese cloth, use
on a few plants, see if it works. brew time a few days
to a week. some people add other stuff to the mix like
a little molasses, grass or alfalfa, etc.

as air pumps are very inexpensive along with the rest
of the stuff this is something that can be tried without
risking major expense even if it doesn't work.


songbird