Outdoor cucumbers or greenhouse cucumbers: this is how you can easily identify and eliminate downy and powdery mildew with home remedies and without chemicals.

Powdery mildew is a fungal infection

Unfortunately, cucumber plants are among the most popular mildew hosts, regardless of whether they are salad or pickling cucumbers. Both powdery mildew and downy mildew can kill our beloved cucumber. So that you can still enjoy a long and productive cucumber harvest, we have summarized the most important tips for prevention and biological control for you.

Protect cucumber plants against powdery mildew

Greenhouse cucumbers are usually only attacked by powdery mildew, as the fungus also thrives in dry and warm weather. The outbreak of the disease, which can be recognized by white flour-like spots, can usually be prevented with a few tips. This means that the plants must not be too close together so that the air can circulate better. Furthermore, the greenhouse should be ventilated regularly. In any case, care must always be taken to ensure that the humidity is as low as possible. In contrast to the greenhouse cucumber, the outdoor cucumber is attacked almost exclusively by downy mildew. Especially wet years sometimes cause considerable damage to cucumbers, caused by downy mildew. You can recognize the pathogen by initially yellowish spots that are sharply delimited by the leaf veins. As the disease progresses, the leaves die off quickly and after a while there is no living part left of the plant. As a preventative measure, an airy and sunny location should therefore be chosen, as this means that the plant dries off quickly and the dangerous fungal spores of downy mildew cannot germinate. Whether greenhouse cucumbers or outdoor cucumbers: When buying young plants, look for resistant plants or seeds. Examples of resistant varieties are: Amber, Bella, Charlotte, Hayat and Schubert.

Downy mildew can be recognized by yellow spots

Powdery mildew: what really helps?

Once the plants are infested, quick action is required. Downy mildew in particular quickly kills all the leaves on a plant. Control is only possible if the fungal disease is identified earlypromising. Sprays against fungal diseases help best here. But it doesn't have to be the chemical club right away! A very effective remedy is the preparation Fungisan Rose and Vegetable Mushroom Free. The biological spray that is not harmful to bees works on both downy and powdery mildew. In order to combat it successfully, you don't even need to know which of the two pathogens it really is. If you would like to know more about powdery mildew, then we recommend our powdery mildew main article. There you will also find out which home remedies really help against powdery mildew.

The following products have proven themselves in our garden:

  • NEUDORFF Fungisan Roses and Vegetables Fungus-free: Reliably combats powdery mildew; gentle on beneficial insects and not harmful to bees
  • NEUDORFF Compo Ortiva Spezial-fungusfrei: Environmentally friendly and non-toxic spray against many fungal diseases
  • Gherkin “Claudine”: F1 hybrid with natural resistance to powdery mildew
Rose and Vegetable Fungus Free Fungisan€13.96Details →- 19%COMPO Ortiva® special fungus-free, part-systemic concentrate, including against… 15.99€ 12.89€Details →Pickling cucumber 'Claudine' F1 very early pickling cucumber resistant to… Details →

Here's some advice on how to avoid mildew on cucumbers and more tips on making the best cucumbers to grow in your own garden.

Category:

Vegetables