Best ways of treating and controlling powdery mildew

Powdery mildew

As name suggests it is a fungus (mildew) caused plant disease in which plant parts like leaves, stems, flowers and buds are covered with a powder like substance. The powdery substance is nothing but numerous spores of fungus produced in high humidity and moderate temperature environment.

Powdery mildew is common problem of plants like rose, zinnia, and lilacs. It also affects some vegetables – sweet peas, gourds, melon, and onion and grapes plant.

Symptoms

Powdery mildew attacks lower plant parts (bottom leaves) first which are just above the ground, then it move upwards affecting upper leaves, stem, buds and flowers. White spots start developing on affected leaves which keep enlarging with time. Leaves become colorless and fall off ultimately.

However, plant doesn’t die on attack of powdery mildew but it weakens and produces less number of blooms and fruits. In ornamental plants, it could affect look of the plant by destroying foliage. 

Reasons of infection

On favorable conditions of high humidity and moderate temperature fungus reproduces quickly and generates large number of spores.  Spores spread with wind and affect nearby plants. 

Control and Treatment

Powdery mildew can’t be cured but it can be prevented and treated in following ways.

- Take out infected leaves or plant in case of small level infection and put them separately in a plastic bag. It would help in stopping infection to nearby growing plants and vegetables. Compost bag material if you want.

- Make sure that plants are having proper aeration and getting enough direct sun light as it inhibits spore germination.

- Spray milk diluted with water (1: 10) on susceptible plants. Repeat the application to eliminate the disease.

Mix 1 tablespoon baking soda with normal water and spray on affected parts. Add few drops of liquid soap in it.

- Garlic extract is a good and cost effective way of controlling powdery mildew. It can be made by blending two garlic in 1 liter water with few drops of liquid soaps. Strain the mixture through a cloth to remove the solid part and spray the liquid on the plant.  

- Spray plant with neem oil made by seeds. Neem oil has fungicidal properties. It disrupts fungus metabolism, forms a barrier between the plant and the fungus and inhibit spore germination. On application it is absorbed by the leaf and circulated around to maximize area of coverage. Neem oil mixed in water, absorbed by the roots and circulated all over the plant.

- Use sulfur sprays available in market to control powdery mildew as sulfur creates low pH environment which is detrimental for the fungus.

Read ways of controlling mealy bugs and aphid attack on the plants.

Best Tips For Taking Cuttings of Rose Plant

Growing Rose from stem cuttings is not a much hard task. Below are the tips which can be useful in the process.

Season

Best timing of rooting cuttings is spring or starting of the summer, when the weather is warm but not too much hot. You can root cuttings at other times of the year too, but it may take longer.  A few types such as Rosa gallicas may root more successfully in autumn. 

Timing

If potted in May or early June, some varieties will have roots in as little as two weeks. Nearly any variety can be rooted in three to four weeks at that time of year. At other times the process takes longer- up to seven or eight weeks. There are many ways to tell whether a cutting is rooted or not. You can tug lightly on it, and if it resists being pulled out of the pot, it likely has roots. Also, roots growing out the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot are another indication of successful rooting. A more simple way is to watch for new leaves on the cuttings. Rooted cuttings have new leaves growing on them whereas un rooted cuttings do not.

Age

Make sure you take cuttings from firm but young stems. On a repeat- flowering variety, that would be stems on which the flowers are fading or from which the petals have just fallen. On a once- flowering plant, you can use stems from which the flowers are fading in the spring, or similar-age wood from subsequent growth flushes throughout the summer or fall.

Leaves

Rose can be rooted from leaf less cuttings or cuttings having 2-3 leaves on it. However leafy cuttings has more chances as leaves provide food prepared from photosynthesis as well as root- promoting hormones. Keep a spray bottle of water handy to mist over the cuttings while working on them, to keep them crisp, since wilted cuttings often fail to root.

Making cuts and Wounding

While taking cuttings, make cut just above a leaf node. Clip off all leaves leaving 2-3 on top. Dip the cutting in rooting hormone. You can use honey too as a natural rooting agent. You can “wound” the base of the cutting, either by making ½ - to 1-inch vertical slits through the bark, or by slicing a strip of bark off one or two sides of the base of the cutting with the clipper blade. Difficult varieties often benefit from such wounding, sending out roots all along the wound.

Rooting hormones

You can root rose varieties without the use of hormone preparations. This is because rose cuttings contain auxin ( indoleacitic acid – “IAA” ), a natural root-promoting hormone. It is produced by the leaves and growing buds or shoot tips and accumulates at the bottom of a cutting, where the roots will form. But some roses apparently don’t produce adequate supplies of auxin and are difficult to root. If they produce any roots at all, they are few and weak. So, many growers apply a commercial hormone preparation to stimulate the production of strong roots. These products contain synthetic auxin, usually indolebutyric acid (IBA) and / or naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA).

 Moisture

One of the most important factors in successfully rooting cuttings is maintaining adequate moisture, both in the soil and in the form of humidity in the air. Place the cuttings in pots of moist sand or potting soil, then cover them with a plastic bag, mayonnaise jar or inverted two-liter soft drink bottle with the top cut off, creating a small tent or “greenhouse” to maintain high humidity around the cuttings. 

Light

Roses root best in bright light. But when using the mini-greenhouse method, it’s important to avoid overheating by giving some shade from hot, midday sun. Put the cuttings in bright shade, such as against the north wall of a building or under a tree, to allow rooting without too much heat build-up.

Once the cuttings are rooted and have been removed from the rooting area, harden them off for a few days by putting the pots in a cool, shady area. Moving them immediately into hot sunshine may damage or even kill the plants. Once they have a goof, large root system and putting out new growth, they can be moved into brighter light.

Best Tips For Growing Rose plant at Home

Everybody knows as well as loves to have this plant in their home gardens. It is a perennial bush plant which comes over the years. It is one of best addition to any home garden. Rose is available in all possible colors. You can grow rose at your home easily. Follow the below tips for successful growing.

Propagation

The best way of propagating rose is taking cuttings. Take semi softwood cutting in current growing season.  Make a cut just above a leaf node. Clip off all leaves but 1-2 at top. Dip the cutting in rooting gel or powder. You can use honey too for the same purpose. Make a 2-3 inches deep hole in potting mix with help of a pencil. Place the cutting in the hole and cover it with a plastic bag. Plastic bag saves the cuttings moisture over the time.  Check the soil for moisture whenever it gets dry, water it slightly. Keep the container in partial shade or out of direct sunlight.

Best time for starting bare root rose (rose plant without any leaves, brown roots and dormant stem ) is late winter.  Container rose can be started in spring (March- May).

Container

Rose generally grows as a bush so choose the container accordingly. If you do not want to have trouble of re potting again and again then go for a large sized container. Apart from size of container, ensure that your container has adequate number of holes. Rose doesn’t like standing in water. Put small pieces of bricks or stones on drainage holes to ensure this.

Soil

Rose will grow in any type of well drained soil enriched with organic matter.  Use compost, cow manure, dried leaves to enrich soil. Vermiculite will also increase fertility of the soil. 

Sun / Temperature

Rose loves light. It needs at least 6 hrs of direct sunlight. Morning sun is best but light afternoon shade can be beneficial in hotter areas. 

Watering

Rose like humidity, so mist the plant in morning alternate days or twice a week. Do not do this in afternoon as it will invite diseases. Water regularly and keep the soil moist always. Avoid shallow sprinkling as water doesn’t reach too roots and will invite fungus.  But do not over water it  as it will induce root rot.

Use mulch to conserve water and reduce stress.  Apply 2 – 4 inch layer of chopped, dried  leaves or shredded bark around the base of your plant , it act as mulch and maintain humidity around the plant.

Fertilizer

Feed your rose plant with slow releasing granular fertilizer or liquid fertilizer twice a month when it is blooming.  You can use special rose fertilizers or rose food available in markets too.House plant food like Epsom salt will encourage new growth on rose bush.

Pruning

Prune rose plant in spring. Take out all old or unhealthy looking leaves and twigs. Wear gloves while doing the pruning.  Generous pruning creates more flowers on the plant.

Overwintering

Overwintering is process of saving plant in winter for next season. Colder areas where temperature goes down in negative it is a must process. For this , do not prune rose in fall (Sept – Nov). Just cut off any dead or diseased twigs or branch.  Stop fertilizing in winter. Cover the rose base ground with straw, compost, dry wood chips etc. 

Caring

Rose is prone to white flies and mealy bug attack. Use soapy water to control it.

Below are real time pictures of growing rose at Design Green India.