How do you avoid powdery mildew? If I plant cukes or melons or squash, one fairly rapidly develops it and infects the others, but my cukes seem to come down with it first.
Cukes are my favorite crop to watch grow, but I’ve never harvested one, no matter how many vines I plant.
Arrowhead can grow them fine, and we have nearly identical climate and soil conditions. I have a little more wind than he does.
Don’t crowd your plants they need to have good air circulation. Plant where they will get the max sunlight. There are powdery mildew (PM) resistant cukes one is called “Diva”.
You can spray your plants with a mixture of milk, water, baking soda and dish washing soap. 1 part milk to 9 parts water a couple of drops of soap and a tablespoon of baking soda. The baking soda raises the pH which makes it difficult for PM to survive. I don’t know what the milk does. The soap is there as a surfactant to help the spray spread and cling to the leaves. It is best to start the spraying before PM sets in. Reapply once a week. Spray the tops and bottoms of the leaves.
If your plants are already infected with PM - apply a fungicide.
I haven't had a problem with powdery mildew (yet)....[knocking on wood]. My biggest problem is the deer.