Can we compost leaves with mildew?

[Sabz]

I don't think so.

From what I read, spores are really hard to kill, so even with Hot compost, the temperature is not high enough to kill the spores, right?

I didn't find any specific temperature to which the powdery mildew dies..

 

[DawnPatrol]

Powdery mildew is the curse of my backyard garden, and is always causing me headaches with my green beans! I've found spraying diluted milk on the leaves can stop it for a few days, but it keeps coming back.
I've also read that you need to treat the infected dead leaves and plants like toxic waste and get rid of them! Don't keep them around or attempt to compost them. I'll be interested to see if anyone has any advice on fighting powdery mildew...

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Try spraying baking soda and water on the leaves. That usually gets rid of the mildew. I think it would be okay to compost the leaves too.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'd like to ask if those of you who consider powdery mildew to be such a horrid infection in your garden (and I'm not saying it's not... ) a question: If you destroy any infected plants, which some advocate. If you don't compost it, but burn it or haul it off to the dump in garbage bags, which some advocate. If you follow those measures, do you still have powdery mildew in your garden the next year? Perhaps it's b/c I live in the cold north, and maybe it's not such a problem here as it is further south, but IMO, powdery mildew simply infects the leaves, but doesn't greatly affect the harvest. IMO, if ripping out infected plants, or burning them or hauling them off to the dump doesn't affect next year's outcome, why not just compost them, toss down some mulch, and continue on with the gardening?

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

I compost them. I don't know if I should, but I do

 

[BantamFan4Life]

I'd like to ask if those of you who consider powdery mildew to be such a horrid infection in your garden (and I'm not saying it's not... ) a question: If you destroy any infected plants, which some advocate. If you don't compost it, but burn it or haul it off to the dump in garbage bags, which some advocate. If you follow those measures, do you still have powdery mildew in your garden the next year? Perhaps it's b/c I live in the cold north, and maybe it's not such a problem here as it is further south, but IMO, powdery mildew simply infects the leaves, but doesn't greatly affect the harvest. IMO, if ripping out infected plants, or burning them or hauling them off to the dump doesn't affect next year's outcome, why not just compost them, toss down some mulch, and continue on with the gardening?

Powdery Mildew comes back every year, unfortunately. It's probably always in the air waiting for a host (like mold).

 

[Sabz]

I'd like to ask if those of you who consider powdery mildew to be such a horrid infection in your garden (and I'm not saying it's not... ) a question: If you destroy any infected plants, which some advocate. If you don't compost it, but burn it or haul it off to the dump in garbage bags, which some advocate. If you follow those measures, do you still have powdery mildew in your garden the next year? Perhaps it's b/c I live in the cold north, and maybe it's not such a problem here as it is further south, but IMO, powdery mildew simply infects the leaves, but doesn't greatly affect the harvest. IMO, if ripping out infected plants, or burning them or hauling them off to the dump doesn't affect next year's outcome, why not just compost them, toss down some mulch, and continue on with the gardening?

Haha yeah I see you've been on the two thread where I talk about it, I look like I'm obsessed with it

A few reasons I want to get rid of it.

1 - I have a squash plant infected and all the squashes it "makes" go bad. It's like they rot right there on the plant. It stinks and it sickens me to pickup that slimmy, disgusting squash. If I don't, I get a bunch on flies on it.. yuk.
2 - I feel that if the plants react with an infestation or sickness of some sort it's because they are not in optimal conditions. Eliot Coleman, famous gardener that I love, says something like this about mildew: "In nature, have you ever seen a patch of mildew? No. That's because the hummus and natural compost of the soil is giving beneficial "life" and organisms to the plants." So he says that is our soil conditions are optimum, we shouldn't be infested with this much mildew (I have it everywhere this year). I am aiming for the best garden I can have, so knowing my soil is not perfect is something I'd like to work on.
3 - I'm just a dork. I like knowing that X amount of heat will kill this or that, and by doing this action I will trigger that response. Since last year I am doing hot composting, so now I'm actually composting my chicken leftovers after I process them.
4 - I don't know mildew a lot, but I don't want to make it worst. This year it occurred towards the end of summer and I lost only a few squash fruits to it.. but what about next year? What if my compost gets contaminated and then next year mildew start in june and kills all my tomatoes? I just don't know, but I read spores are really hard to kill and most likely won't die in hot compost (I am not sure though).


Thanks BantamFan4Life and DawnPatrol I knew about those "fixes" but now that the plants are dead and it's automn I wonder what to do with them. I usually compost all my garden scraps but it looks like this year I would burn it all?!? Ouch, sounds like such a waste, I work so hard to get plenty of compost lol.

I'll try again to find the temperature at which spores die. I'll write to Eliot Coleman, maybe he can help!

 

[shortgrass]

Haha yeah I see you've been on the two thread where I talk about it, I look like I'm obsessed with it


A few reasons I want to get rid of it.


1 - I have a squash plant infected and all the squashes it "makes" go bad. It's like they rot right there on the plant. It stinks and it sickens me to pickup that slimmy, disgusting squash. If I don't, I get a bunch on flies on it.. yuk.

2 - I feel that if the plants react with an infestation or sickness of some sort it's because they are not in optimal conditions. Eliot Coleman, famous gardener that I love, says something like this about mildew: "In nature, have you ever seen a patch of mildew? No. That's because the hummus and natural compost of the soil is giving beneficial "life" and organisms to the plants."  So he says that is our soil conditions are optimum, we shouldn't be infested with this much mildew (I have it everywhere this year). I am aiming for the best garden I can have, so knowing my soil is not perfect is something I'd like to work on.

3 - I'm just a dork. I like knowing that X amount of heat will kill this or that, and by doing this action I will trigger that response. Since last year I am doing hot composting, so now I'm actually composting my chicken leftovers after I process them.

4 - I don't know mildew a lot, but I don't want to make it worst. This year it occurred towards the end of summer and I lost only a few squash fruits to it.. but what about next year? What if my compost gets contaminated and then next year mildew start in june and kills all my tomatoes? I just don't know, but I read spores are really hard to kill and most likely won't die in hot compost (I am not sure though.)

Yep. Yep. And yep.... It's a spore, so it sits in the soil, ready to pop, just like mushrooms, the right conditions and BLAMMO, mildew.

I never really considered it an issue....we are in dry country, hot dry country...mildew hates hot and dry... But oh, 5+ inches of rain, our YEARLY usual, all in a month; May. It wreaked havoc, everything sopping wet, took 3 weeks for it to dry out... In the meantime, the weeds that had drowned were rotting on the ground, and it made a perfect environment for PM. I lost almost half if my garden before I even realized what was going on, and my garden is HUGE, a half an acre ... It moved south from the zucchini to the peas and then tomatoes before I got it stopped. It moves by touch and air, so things that were close to each other got mass infections, and using the same tools without sterilization is a big bad no no....

And YES, it affects harvest; if PM is present, the plants flowers rot before setting fruit, and the plant is so busy trying to fight off the mildew that it has no energy for fruit. What fruit it does produce will be small and tasteless.

I finally put two and two together and started treatingvwith Neem oil, and it stopped it in its tracks.

It favors gourds and squash, curcubits, nightshades, and legumes...pretty much EVERYTHING. Have to pull and BURN plants or I'm just going to end up with spores in the compost with yet another perfect environment for multiplying. I'm hoping to not have this issue next spring...less moisture and pulling dead weeds off the ground etc.

Cleanliness. That's probably the key, that and air movement.

Powdery mildew is the curse of my backyard garden, and is always causing me headaches with my green beans! I've found spraying diluted milk on the leaves can stop it for a few days, but it keeps coming back.
I've also read that you need to treat the infected dead leaves and plants like toxic waste and get rid of them! Don't keep them around or attempt to compost them. I'll be interested to see if anyone has any advice on fighting powdery mildew...

Neem. Keep it clean and dry. Don't touch infected plants without changing gloves before moving on to others. Don't use dead weeds as mulch... Burn the plants, don't compost them.

 

[Sabz]

Well, at least I suppose we can use the ashes in the garden! LOL. Hopefully at that point, spores are dead.

I wrote to Eliot Coleman to know what his opinion was on the subject. I hope he answers If so, I'll let you know.

 

[lazy gardener]

It would be interesting to know. My personal take on it is that Mildew just happens when conditions are right. And I think (Of course... this is just my thought, and I've been wrong plenty of other times!!!) that no matter what you do this year to keep it out of your soil, it will be back next year if conditions are right, and they usually are, as the summer progresses. I enjoy Elliot Coleman and his take on gardening, but I've seen plenty of patches of wild plants infested with PM. Interesting about the neem oil. I also think that if you change the pH of the surface of the plant, you'll eradicate the PM, b/c it is sensitive to specific pH. Of course, the trick would be to keep up with a spray program, and not burn the leaves in the process. Yes, healthy soil is key. Feed it right, and it will ultimately feed you right. You might want to check out: Back to Eden gardening. I'm working on converting some of my garden for next season. Looks like it would ultimately be less work than using 20+ bales of hay for mulch every year.