You\u2019ve seemingly done everything right in your garden. You\u2019ve chosen good soil, fertilized and provided plenty of water \u2013 and yet you notice yellow splotches or gray speckles on some plants. It could be downy mildew. We\u2019ll tell you how to spot downy mildew and how to get rid of it.<\/p>
Downy mildew is a microscopic fungus that attacks flowers, fruit, stems, and the leaves of plants. It generally emerges in rainy seasons when leaves stay wet, or from too much irrigation.<\/p>
There are thousands of different kinds of water molds that are referred to as downy mildew, but almost all have this in common: Left unchecked, they destroy plants. <\/p>
Some of the different kinds are:<\/p>
Cucurbit downy mildew:<\/strong> Infects<\/a> melons, gourds, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkin <\/p> Brassicas downy mildew:<\/strong> Infects crops like cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, turnip, radish, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, and mustard<\/p> Grapes downy mildew: <\/strong>Common in viney plants; attacks the flowers, fruit, leaves, and stems, killing the plant.<\/p> Impatiens<\/a> downy mildew:<\/strong> Affects roses, blackberry, and boysenberry.<\/p> The key cause of downy mildew is moisture. Major outbreaks occur when leaves stay wet for extended periods of time, particularly in humid conditions during spring and fall when the sun may not be intense enough to dry out plants.<\/p> Downy mildew is spread by spores that latch onto the undersides of leaves. These spores often live in the soil but then are splashed onto leaves by rain or blown onto plants by wind.<\/p> Some of the factors that contribute to the development of downy mildew are:<\/p> Downy mildew disease can easily be confused with other diseases such as powdery mildew and gray mold. Close inspection is key because, left untreated, the plant may die. <\/p> Look for these signs:<\/p> It\u2019s important to know how severe your case of downy mildew is. A mild case may not require as much intervention and will probably go away on its own when the warmer weather sets in because downy mildew hates heat. You will certainly need to take action if the case is more severe.<\/p> A word of caution: While some fungicides may help<\/a> the fungus, some strains of downy mildew have proven resistant to fungicides.<\/p> Having said that, here are some things you can do to get rid of downy mildew:<\/p> Preventing downy mildew is much easier than eradicating it once it gets a foothold. Here are some steps you can take to prevent downy mildew:<\/p> Yes, downy mildew more commonly harms plants but it can affect lawns as well. Inspect your grass blades for signs of the disease.<\/p> <\/div> Downy mildew spores live in the soil but can be splattered on leaves by heavy rain or carried to plants by wind.\u00a0<\/p> <\/div> <\/div> The best offense against downy mildew is a good defense. Take steps to ensure your plants get adequate air, that they live in well-drained soil and that the leaves of the plants don\u2019t get any more water than is necessary.<\/p> Need help with your garden? Contact a Lawn Love<\/em> lawn care<\/em><\/a> professional.<\/em><\/p> Main photo credit: NY State IPM Program<\/a> | Flickr<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You\u2019ve seemingly done everything right in your garden. You\u2019ve chosen good soil, fertilized and provided plenty of water \u2013 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":11017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[297],"tags":[132],"class_list":["post-11016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gardening","tag-gardening"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/downy_mildew.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Millicent Onchari","author_link":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/author\/millicent-onchari\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Causes of downy mildew<\/span><\/h2>
Symptoms of downy mildew<\/span><\/h2>
Getting rid of downy mildew<\/span><\/h2>
<\/li><\/ul> Preventing downy mildew<\/span><\/h2>
FAQ<\/span><\/h2>
Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>