Tending Cucumbers: Identifying and Treating White Powdery Mildew with Baking Soda 

Hi Gary - I always have a problem with powdery mildew. Just tried a baking soda spray and will be spraying regularly from now on. Thanks for sharing your gardening knowledge with us!

Its a good treatment. When plants are healthy 1 tablespoon is a good preventative. When the powder arrives, depending on problem, 1-2 tablespoons works. I recommend making a 2 tablespoon batch and testing a leaf or two of your plants when they are HEALTHY. You looking to see if they burn. Different plants act differently and you would notice leaf damage within 48 hours.

I just saw this on my surviving Cucumber plants. I remembered you made a video on this. I did not bother to Google it. Came straight to your channel and searched Mildew. Once more thank you! I used my new Solo 419 for the job.

A good sprayer is essential just for that reason. I am going to build a cucumber plot with very high trellising wire, just to be able to spray the undersides more easily. My next year project.

yes zukes and squash can handle the baking soda. Don't forget to get under the leaves too.

Soapy spray I use about tablespoon in a gallon. However, it wont help powdery mildew. If you have the white powdery looking stuff on leaves... baking soda works. 1 or 2 tables of baking soda per gallon sprayed on tops and bottoms of leaves is very effective. Yes wettable sulfur is another way to treat powdery mildew. Baking soda works by lowering the PH on the leaf. Wettable sulpher works by raising the PH on the leaf. Either way the mildew doesnt like the PH change.

I was thinking about you loss again last night. Even with the right mix, they still burned. I am going to add large text boxes on my spray videos to test spray. I bet the plant variety plays a role in sensitivity. I would plant new seeds right next to the damaged plants. Let them grow. If you dont need them, you dont need them. Most likely new plants will grow quickly... Now downy mildew can also be going on. You get yellow diamondish patterns and the leaf browns out fast.

*@Gary Pilarchik (The Rusted Garden)* I think you can get a better result if you mix the soap & baking soda, because the soap breaks the waters surface tension & both cucumber leaves & powdery mildew is fairly water repelling, but without surface tension the water sticks better to both.

Thank you.....I put one lemon cucumber in the greenhouse...I just found this powdery stuff on the leaves. I'll try the baking soda but if keeps on... I'll move it outside😁. Other veggies in the greenhouse are fine.

you should try mixing the soap and the baking soda into one mix. Soap acts as a wetting agent and will help keep the baking soda on the leaf.

Thank you for this video! It is may 4, 2020 and powdery mildew is on my thriving cucumbers, i will be treating it now i know what to do!

Thank you... I have both the mildew and cucumber beetles. Hoping this will help...

This is the first year I have tried gardening and we are doing a container garden on our balcony (it's basically a jungle, our neighbors probably hate us! haha), so it's a lot of learning I have to do but I gotta start somewhere. I should have tried a lighter solution first and tested it on a couple leaves like you suggested but I was eager to take care of the mildew. Regardless, your videos are great and thanks anyways, next time I will be more careful.

Oh really, thank you for alerting me. Now I'm really glad I spent extra for the Solo cause I can spray the under leaves while holding the sprayer straight/upright. Later!

I hope it helps. Please test spray a bunch of leaves first and wait 24-48 hours. It is a good way to make sure and new sprays dont damage your leaves.

This was a very helpful video! I’m going to give it a try and see if I can save you poor darlings.

I have powdery mildew on my pumpkins, cukes, and lemon cukes. Thus far not my zucchini or my acorn squash. I started with baking soda, went to a rosemary-clove and something else purchased spray and when that didn’t work purchased a copper fungicide. One lemon cuke is very yellow in spite of epsom salt and a feeding of miracle grow. It was the only water soluble fertilizer I had. The mildew was never heavy as yours and it is still producing fruit. I don’t want to lose my pumpkins. I live in Alaska and it is highly unusual to be able to grow them. They are sugar pie pumpkins and I have 11 on vines right now. I just fed them also. It has been extremely hot here due to GeoEngineering. High 70’s to 80’s. Actually went over 90 a week or so ago and this is in Anchorage, not up north where it does get hot in the summer. It has been muggy but with only 1 day of rain since June 1. Is there anything I can do to save my pumpkins and what is up with the really yellow leaves on the one lemon cucumber plant. The other one looks good and responds well to Epsom salts where the other one doesn’t. Is it time to call it quits on the yellow one.

Wow I wish I had watched this video before I chopped all the affected leaves off of my plant. I tried spraying with neem oil and that didn't seem to be working so I just started chopping because I read a forum post advising that. The spots just keep spreading and I was afraid I'd just have to chop everything off....

Thank u

Not for baking soda or soapy spray. Other sprays perhaps. It is also best to spray in the morning or late afternoon.

i have powder like this on my 1 year old apple trees, shall try the baking soda, thanks.

I would. Its a good first round solution.

And a solution to treating the mildew is needed that wont damage your plants. Maybe the milk mixture?

Love this! Super helpful. Thank you!

I'll definitely stay tune for the 2014 project.

They should. IF the growing tip is fine and you juiced it up with fertilizer it should. Im sorry that happened. I could see a fragile variety having issues I suppose but not like your experienced.

What kind if soap do you use for soapy water, Can I use dish washing liquid?

Thanks for the tips, Gary. I had that problem last year. Appreciate you sharing.

I just checked to make sure I said 1 tablespoon per gallon. Im sorry it burned them out. Any less wont be effective. I even use up to 3. I havent had burning issues but when Ive sprayed in full sun. Has anyone else had that happen?

Solid tips!

Great video! Is it uncommon to see spots on leaves this early in the season? My cucumbers are maybe 1 to 2 inches tall and I’m noticing some greyish/brown spots on them already which I’ve never seen in past seasons. Thank you!

Thanks, very helpful!

What is the ratio you use for the soapy pre spray? Both my baby zukes and cukes are suffering from something....i thought it could be powdery mildew, but we live in NM now and gardening here is much different than in VA where I learned to control tons of gardening issues. So, after the soapy mixture is sprayed on them, i can use the baking soda mix? I bought something last year to remedy the mildew issue and it smelled a bit sulfuric. Does that sound familiar with any products you have used?

What was the time from spraying to death of your plant. How many days. Burn should show up in like 2 days.

Thank You. If it is in your area. It probably will show up every year. Its a drag.

(My attempt to make sense of the US volume system) 1 US Liquid Gallon = 3.78541 Liter = 3 L + 7 DL + 8 CL+ 5 ML *Water* 1 US Table Spoon = 0.01478 Liter = 0 L + 0 DL + 1CL + 4 ML *Baking Soda* Same for *Soap*

Thank you. Gonna try it right now.

What can I do for little white tiny bugs are also on my cucumber leaves and they are sticky. I really enjoy your video and thank you for sharing your time. 🙂

Thanks alot! Your vids really are helpful and interesting

Which soap do you use

wow i wish i knew about this treatment before my cucumber died, i live in a tropical environment, so mildew are just everywhere. thank!

What type of soap can I use for the.other mixture to keep bugs away? Thank you for sharing this video. I will try on my cucumber which I started to notice the powdery mildew on.

is it a special kind of soap ???

Great video 😁👍

I have read other mixtures online and most are consistent with what you wrote. I have Golden Zucchini and Korean Cucumber. The cucumber's young cucumbers got decimated but aside from the burnt leaves, they seem to be getting through this alright. The zucchini though got ravaged and not sure if it will come back. Do you think it will grow new stems/leaves to replace the ones I had to cut off do to the burning?

Hello, what time of day is best to apply this? Thanks for the video.

Great video! I was wondering what to do...I've been cutting off leaves instead. Can this be done with zucchini leaves as well?

Thank you so much for the video! Super helpful:)

Really helpful. Thanks!

Do you have any ideas as to why new little cucumbers would turn yellow and fall off the plant? The vine itself looks great.

Gary i know this is an olde video but how much soap to a gallon? What kind of soap? Then when spray with the bak soda it should be done when the soap spray is still wet? By the way bought seeds will give u a full report in time. thanks

Loews or Home Depot. It is better to spend a little more on them versus buying the bottom line. Ivd gone cheap before and they dont last.

Yeah it was within 48 hrs. By the 2nd day though the leaves on most of the zucchini plants were fried so I removed the stems because they were starting to wilt as well. The cucumber fought it off a little better but all the flowers and young cuc's got disintegrated. Will the zucchini plants send up new shoots to replace the leaves lost?

So I made your mixture up to treat my cucumbers and zucchini's for the powdery mildew and the mixture BURNED THE HELL OUT OF MY PLANTS!!!! All my zucchini plants are dying now, the leaves are burnt to a crisp and the stems are sagging. All the baby cuc's and zuc's withered away and now my garden is dead. Sure this mixture gets rid of the mildew... but it also kills the entire leaf in the process, I think the mildew would have done less damage. I think this mix should be cut in half.

Why couldn’t you put the soap with the baking soda to accomplish both steps at the same time ? I see on RU-vid some people add vegetable oil to the mixture. Is there a down side to that? Thank you for all your advice and suggestions, I’ve been watching your channel a long time.

thanks for the video. I wonder if you can add the soap to the baking soda mix so the baking soda will stick better to the leaves and also save the time doing it twice

Should I adjust the ph at all? Guessing not, bust wondering if there was a recommended ph range to spray?

When you spray with baking soda or soapy water do you have to worry about in going on your veges or the flowers?

In my case, the leaves are white like yours but the little cucumbers are drying too right after they leave the flowers , you think the baking soda will help too?

I live in Canada and our growing season is coming to an end so I can't plant new ones this year but I am hoping the plants will bounce back a bit :/ After I treated them with the mixture the cucumbers growth was stunted as well, is this normal?

Hi Gary, I was hoping that you can help me to identify what’s wrong with my cucumber plant. I am seeing orange mildewy residue on the leaves and then is turning the leaves brown. could you help me to identify and figure out a way to get rid of it?

what is the frequency of applications needed? once a week? Thank you for the advise, in advance..

We had a week of rain and then a week of high temps and now I'm seeing yellowish white spots all over my young cucumber plant leaves. Recently those spots have become holes and some leaves look almost dead. I don't think this is powdery mildew as there is no white powder, but I'm guessing it's a fungus of some kind. Do you know what this could be? I was going to try using a neem oil mixture on them.

Yes you can and the soap will also killed soft bodied insect pests.

I don’t get lots of cucumbers is it because my soil or give them more fertilizer

By the way, I sprayed them at night and the temp here has been mild are summer.

Gary,what is the name brand of the smaller hand held sprayer,and where was it purchased?thanks

Can I use the soapy water on my pepper plant leaves to stop bugs from eating them?

I am new to garden. Planted cucumbers and I see lot of small red ants on vines. Are ants harmful? Do I need to take care of it?

Why you didn’t use peroxide for yellow spots on the leaves?

this didn't work for me. It actually ended up killing my relatively healthy (except for mildew) plants. I was devastated. all the leaves dried up and went brown. I suggest before following, you try a sample patch of just a leaf or 2 and wait 1 week. I found previously i had tried milk and water and that worked a treat, but smelled a bit. Will go back to that method for next year.

My cucumber leaves and stems are white, but it doesnt look like mildew.. Any ideas??

I would imagine an old windex spray bottle would work just fine to spray this

Where did you bought those spray bottles.

Does it matter what time of day I spray?

Is there any reason I can't put the soap in with the baking soda water and apply it all with one spraying?

i mixed them both togeather is that the wrong way to do it

Can I spray everyday?

Some of my cucumbers are turning yellow. Would you know why this is going on?

hey i tried milk and baking soda and i dont think its working. would you provide a before and after? could i have dwony midlew?

bee's aren't pest

How much baking soda/water

What is the soap mixture?

White powder!

Baking soda is alkaline and by treating the plant with it you are disrupting the pH of the fungus's ideal environment it needs to grow. Also, this disrupts the fungus at a cellular level which completely kills it. I'm always hesitant about homeopathic garden remedies because they just never seem to work for me, but this one does.

Cucumber

you said bees are pests :(

I hate powdery mildew.

I stopped watching the second you said "miracle grow". There's no miracle there brother!

I stopped watching the second you said "mı

Lost my attention when he said miracle grow

yes zukes and squash can handle the baking soda. Don't forget to get under the leaves too.