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I've got 3 pumpkin plants growing and they're pretty huge and producing. The white fungus is pretty bad so I'm using a suggested spray, and I hope it works.

The spray is 1 tablespoon each of baking powder and vegetable oil per gallon of water.

Questions:
Will the spray kill the flowers?
Can I safely spray on the main trunk going into the ground? (The leaves around trunk have got it.)enter image description hereenter image description here It is powdery mildew. Pretty sure its so bad because the plant is growing over grass creating the perfect dark damp environment.

C.Hill
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  • Welcome C. Hill! I put the information from your comments into the question itself. From now on, if you want to add anything, just click on the gray "edit" under your question. It will open up and you can add or change text or pictures. We're glad you're here and would like to invite you to check out our [help]. It explains how we differ from other sites, and the details of how our site works. If you have any questions at all about using the site, just leave a comment and someone will come along and help you out! – Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL Sep 02 '17 at 04:16

2 Answers2

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This is a product of the final days of life for your plants, the season is coming to an end and the fruits are ripening, the damp morning air in autumn tends to spread this powdery mildew upon the leaves and gives you the sign to start clearing away the old plants for the winter, as the amount of daylight now become shorter, thinning the plants leaves and removing them will allow more sunlight to the fruits and harden up their skins for future storage, plus it will improve their colour and start to bring in those typical autumn colours we all enjoy, before you could find a spray to combat this problem, the seasons first frosts will burn the leaves and signal the end is near, best thing to do is to clear away old plants and cut off really bad bits- chuck them on the compost heap and gradually start to clear the site for winter. If however it happens earlier in the season next time use a copper sulphate based solution bought from any nursery, and use as directed- you might have to buy a sprayer too- but I sorry to say its too late now for that. A totally natural sign that the seasons are changing and nothing to worry about. stop the plants and get rid of any flowers and undeveloped fruit as there is not enough time for it to ripen, think less than the size of a small football(depending on variety), chuck them too on the compost heap- not good eating and won't keep. I do this every year with mine.

olantigh
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It is irresponsible for us to advise any treatment at all until a decent ID is established. 'White Mold' could be as bad as Sclerotinia sclerotinorum or as simple as powdery mildew. The former would mean getting rid of all plant material and never planting in that soil again. Powdery mildew a 9:1 solution of milk and water works well.

Please send pictures and far more information such as where you live, your watering methods, are these melons growing out of doors I assume they are, what have to done to prepare beds, what have you added such as compost, fertilizer?

stormy
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