Home Remedy to Eliminate Powdery Mildew From Herbaceous Ornamentals

If you spot just a few patches of powdery mildew in your garden, act quickly. Over time, the mildew will spread until your herbaceous ornamentals look like they have been coated in talcum powder.

Homemade Fungicides

Combine 1 part milk with 9 parts water to create a natural spray that kills powdery mildew without hurting your herbaceous ornamentals. You can also use 5 tsp. each of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda added to 1 gallon of water.

Application

Both the milk and the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda mixture can be sprayed onto your herbaceous ornamentals. Concentrate the application on the infected portions of the plants but also spray nearby healthy leaves and branches to prevent the powdery mildew from spreading.

Considerations

Reapply your homemade mixtures to your infected plants every seven days or so. For stubborn infections, increase the strength of the milk mixture to 1 part milk to 2 parts water. Any stronger solution will start to attract insects to your plants and will not be more effective at killing powdery mildew.

References

• "Homesteading: A Backyard Guide"; Abigail R. Gehring; 2009