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caffie7

will powdery mildew kill butternut squash on the vine

Caffie7
12 years ago

I was a little slow taking care of the powdery mildew on my butternut vines-- underestimated how bad a problem it was. Now I have vines filled with yellow-spotted and dead leaves, which I cut off every day. Yesterday I sprayed with a dilute milk solution and saw for the first time the dark spores covering the underside of the leaves. Ack! Today all the dark spores are gone, so the milk did the trick. Now just waiting for the rest of the infected leaves to die off.

My question, what are the chances for the squash on the vines already? There are about 10-12 of them and they look healthy. About 2/3 of the mature leaves are gone. There is healthy new growth at the ends of the vines. Will the squash develop any further or should I just harvest it now? I am not sure how much the growing fruit depends on leaves, or if just being attached to the vine is all it needs. Can the new leaf growth help the growing squash further back on the vine? Thanks for any advice.

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