powdery mildew on courgettes

It looks like I have powdery mildew on one of my courgettes already.... :-(
I did have a problem right at the end of the season last year but just pulled the plants up. I'm just a little bit unsure of the best course of action. The affected plant is quite well developed with the first flowers just starting to appear, but I only have 5 growing so it's loss would be felt. On the other hand, if the mildew is likely to spread from it to the others I should probably sacrifice it...
If I do pull it up, should I treat the ground with anything ? The "now legendary" Jeyes fluid for example ?
The plant looks in fine health despite the white covering and, I must confess, I planted several different curcubits and didn't label them so it is possible the white colouring is a natural feature although not one with which I am familiar.

 

I have one surviving courgette plant and it's looking fantastic (apart from a similar mould or mildew on the larger, older leaves) so I'm very interested in the replies you get. The flowers are nearly there and the first courgettes are forming, so I can't imagine it's a massive problem?
(Mine is in a container by the way)
I've thought about just brushing the mildew off, will that be okay?
Thanks for asking the question mchumph.

 

Canucks72

sorry to hear you only have one left, there's probably time to start some more off I'd have thought. What was the problem, pests? Or drought? It's been so dry recently which is why I thought "mildew".
the colouration seems to be evenly spread over all leaves on my plant, and I did have a wipe with a damp bit of kitchen paper and it had no effect. I remember last year wiping it off really didn't do much in the long term, but the plants still seemed to produce OK. Although it didn't hit until the plants were enormous of course.

 

JWK

I think that sounds good advice John, thanks.

They are in a new patch this year and the soil is a bit thin and does drain quickly. I'll try to be a bit more conscientious about watering.

Jon

 

Mchumph: I only started with 2 to be fair, one died after frost damage I think... I did plant it too early probably. The second one was planted out 2 weeks later. (I can only do container gardening at the moment).
Drought shouldn't have been a problem for me, I water it twice a day on dry hot days, once a day on wet days, and as I say it's in rude health apart from the mould on the big old leaves. Ah well, I'm not overly concerned, I just wondered really as I am new to vegetables, but the budding fruits and flowers look great.
Good luck with yours. :thmb:

 

Courgettes and marrows are magnets for mildew. This early in the season, I'd try and wash it off and, as others have said, increase the frequency of watering. Perhaps nip off a few of the worst leaves.

In "the good old days", I used many gallons of Jeyes Fluid to combat diseases and certain insects. I still have my "Gardening with Jeyes Fluid" leaflet. I believe its use on plants is prohibited now. But even in those long distant times, you couldn't use Jeyes on the cucurbit family, celery or lettuce under glass.

 

"It looks like I have powdery mildew on one of my courgettes already...."

What variety are they?

 

Why is that Flinty?

 

Hi Claire

In the days when you could use Jeyes Fluid on plants, the cucurbit family and a few others were particularly sensitive to it for some reason but I'm not sure why myself. I used it on most other plants to good effect except one year when I used it on my sweetcorn plants. The next day, they looked like they'd been attacked with a blowtorch!

Now a Jeyes Fluid tin carries the words "Avoid contact of product with plantlife". I assume that's the result of the big reclassification of insectides and fungicides that's been going on in recent years.

All this talk of Jeyes Fluid has made me feel quite nostalgic for that wonderful smell drifting across my plot! And those were the days when Jeyes had a really strong smell, not the watered down whiff it has now....

 

I think it's the yellow courgette "goldrush" with the problem.

I grew it last year very successfully.