Heat, humidity, and the accompanying pests

Discussion in 'Fruit and Veg Gardening' started by traditionalmillenial, Apr 28, 2022.

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  1. traditionalmillenial

    traditionalmillenial New Seed

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    Hello all! I'm quite new to the forums but am hoping to gain some wisdom. I live in South FL, zone 10a/b and it's my second year gardening, but I don't feel like I've improved much from last year (yet!).
    So far in my garden, I have cantaloupe (with 2 fruits), a watermelon vine (no fruits), butternut squash (no fruits), and zucchini (tiny and no fruits). I also have two tomato plants that are doing quite well, and some okra that are starting to take off.
    I'll tackle one problem at a time here!

    In reference to the cantaloupe, it is covered in powdery mildew. The fruits themselves seem to be doing fine, and I think they're still growing, but the plant won't set new fruit. I also have a problem with melon-worms laying eggs and hatching in my plants, eating the leaves. I pick them off daily, but they're faster than I am!
    Does anyone have tips for preventing/treating powdery mildew organically and for deterring melonworm moths so they quit laying eggs in my plants?

    I've tried spraying milk on my plants for the mildew and all it did was cover my leaves in a film of dried milk and the mildew lived on. Thanks so much in advance!
     
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  3. Logan

    Logan Strong Ash

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    Hi @traditionalmillenial
    I wouldn't worry about the powdery mildew it doesn't hurt the plants it just looks bad. It might not set any more fruit until you pick the others, it feels like it's done it's job. I've grown marrows and they had mildew on them and the plants weren't bothered at all.

    Don't know about the melon worm moths.
     
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  4. marlingardener

    marlingardener Happy

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    We too are in a warm (hot!) and humid area, and I've found that adding one tablespoon of baking soda to a gallon of water and a teaspoon or so of vegetable oil (to act as a surfactant) cures powdery mildew. Spray early enough in the morning that the spray dries before the sun hits so you don't get sun scald on the leaves.
    For the melon moth eggs, Bacillus thuringiensis is a natural insecticide, but apply it when bees are not pollinating the melon or nearby plants. We have used BT when we have had bug infestations, and it works well. It is available at most big box stores and many nurseries.
    Cantaloupe, in our experience, blooms, gets pollinated, and makes melons. It isn't a long season producing plant. As an aside, I put cantaloupe seeds in our compost pile, and next spring spread the compost on the vegetable gardens. We had cantaloupes coming up everywhere! When ripe, I harvested them and gave them to a local rehab center. The folks there loved them because the center's budget didn't allow for much in the way of "special" food!
     
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  5. FLgarden

    FLgarden New Seed

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    I also battled powdery mildew, but on cucumber plants, and I recently tried the baking soda/oil/water mix and it seems to have helped a lot.
     



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  6. traditionalmillenial

    traditionalmillenial New Seed

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    Thank you @marlingardener and @FLgarden! I'll have to try that baking soda spray.
    Good to know about the cantaloupes setting fruit once and being done. That's what my plant appears to have done. I think if it weren't for the mildew and melon worms early on, I would've gotten a few more cantaloupes but the plant got stressed after a while. Hopefully next cantaloupe season I can preventatively use the baking soda spray and get a few more fruits from the plant!
     
  7. traditionalmillenial

    traditionalmillenial New Seed

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    Hi @Logan ! Unfortunately, I think Florida is just a different animal when it comes to disease. A good portion of my leaves had a few mildew spots and seemed to do fine, but some of them turned yellow/brown and completely died, so I think it depends how much the mildew takes hold (or I had multiple fungi attacking it? That's always a possibility...)
     
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