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Tx

have been covering my cantaloupe size pumpkins with a cardboard box open at 2 ends, cause I don't think I should invest in some kind or tent rigup yet, don't know it they will make it, cause of the powdery spots and the yellowing leaves............ and can't spray cause it's been raining everyday. is there any hope????????????

7/27/2007 1:22:39 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

PM starts below the leaves. I sprayed a 10% MILK/WATER solution UNDER the leave at my son's school last year during the rain on two occasions. The once weekly sprays worked fine despite the rain.

Make the sprays regardless of the rain. It's more effective than not spraying.

If wasting a chemical fungicide concerns you (it should) use milk instead.

Remember that PM starts on the leaf bottoms so that's where we need to spray. Rain will have little impact on properly applied material.

7/27/2007 7:56:55 AM

ordinary,VA

you can just use a old sheet to cover the pumpkins if the cardboard doesnt hold up with all the rain you been having.

still having trouble finding a fungicide?

7/27/2007 9:02:01 PM

Tx

no, I went to the feed store and the guy told me to go home and make a garlic tea and mix in some baking soda, and that is what hubby sprayed it with this morning. will spray again in a week,unless you think I should do it sooner?

7/27/2007 11:06:34 PM

Midwest

Don't bother with the garlic/baking soda. Yeah, it might work but, listen to the experience on this board. Use the milk for now. If you really want to use baking soda, look up potassium bicarbonate for control of fungal diseases. There's another bicarbonate out there - I forgot it's chemical name? Tremor?

7/28/2007 1:34:38 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Armicarb 100 from Helena Chemical. Works best when used with a highly refined spray oil like JMS Stylet Oil. But either works pretty well alone so....

I liked the milk so much because there is a great deli just around the corner from the school where we grew last year. LOL That & the fact that it worked. Since milk is NOT a registered pesticide, I was not jeopardizing my professional licenses. It is now illegal to apply any registered ornamental pesticide on the grounds of an elementary school. Our garden is actually hidden in a courtyard that is *WITHIN* the walls of the school. YIKES! I can hear the State DEP reps now!

7/28/2007 10:28:10 AM