I'm seeing it on mine also. The mold count was so high this year due to the mountains of snow sitting so long this winter (I got pretty sick from it). I'm sure this has a lot to do with it.

I do believe the treatments you speak of are for preventative only.

I normally just remove leaves at first sight of any. Seems to help. But sounds like yours are too far gone?

Yes, quite far gone! If I were to remove affected leaves, I'd have to remove the whole plant! Normally I don't bother when the plants get a bit of PM, but this is crazy. I've never seen it so bad, and so bad so quickly. I'm just wondering if the plants will make it.

Dee

Are you talking about creeping phlox? Mine one patch (20 years old) has never had a problem, and we have high humidity and Summer droughts here and I never give them any help.

Dee

I tried the baking soda spray a few years ago on cucumbers, but I started spraying before the mildew appeared. As I remember, it seemed to work for a while, but eventually the cucumbers got it anyway. It did delay the onset for quite a while however which I considered a victory.

Then I discovered growing cucumbers on a trellis instead of on the ground prevented it entirely, so that's what I do now. The squirrels don't bother the cukes as much either.

Kevin

aachenelf - The squirrels here went crazy the past two years, pulling up everything less than 6" high. After that, they just seemed to ignore them.

For what it's worth.

Urk, I have also tried these methods only to abandon them when noting that the top-ups and continual spraying actually brought my attention to these defects (and depressed me) more than simply ignoring them....and nothing really worked either. Of course, the fault is my own since I think these methods are only preventatives rather than cures and probably, had my attention been more focused BEFORE the outbreaks, I might have had more success. So, all-in all, I only succeeded in annoying myself and quickly went back to my usual head in sand tactics.

yarden - The squirrels don't bother the cuke plants, only the fruit. If the plants are allowed to sprawl on the ground, the squirrels just go from cuke to cuke taking a few bites out of each. On a trellis, they don't do that (or very rarely). Maybe it's too much work for them.

Kevin

Ah, campanula, you are enticing me back to my old habits, lol! I too usually employ the "head-in-the-sand" tactic, (usually because I too get too overwhelmed/depressed by a certain situation, combined with my lack of time to do much about it!) but this year I am trying to be good! Partly because the amount of mildew is so alarming that I am worried for the long-term health of the plants. Otherwise I'd be very happy to stick my head back in the sand like most years, lol.

This is garden phlox, not creeping phlox, and my trellised cukes are good, so far, so it's only the phlox I'm worried about. So, since the experience here seems to back up what I'm reading - that the milk and baking soda applications are really more of a preventative - does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Dee

ah well, I find deep and careful watering (2gallons per square metre, watered in slowly) to be more effective to get that all-important moisture to the roots....but mostly, try to clear away as much vegetation around the phlox as they definitely respond to good air ventilation. Failing that, bite the bullet and buy a systemic fungicide (dunno the proprietary names in US - we have dithane or systhane) - but just get a fungicide, not all in one pesticide/ fungicide like Bayer 3-in-1.

I hope you figure out what to use....please report back, if you do.

This post was edited by carolinaflowerlover on Wed, Jul 2, 14 at 11:15