Powdery Mildew (on Pumpkin vines)

his are leaves from my pumpkin vine. As you can see I have white spots or powdery mildew growing on them. In the past I thought this was just due to me watering the leaves (I don't water the leaves anymore either) but after doing some research I've learned its powdery mildew. This happens on lots of different plants. It's usually due to more than one condition happening. It happens in shady areas, over watered areas, and areas of poor air circulation.

There are many ways to combat powdery mildew. One of which is to use a fungicide. They make both chemical and organic versions. I am currently using an organic Copper fungicide. It's mainly a soapy solution. You spray on the leaves to combat the disease. If left unchecked PM will make your leaves turn yellow and gray and they will eventually die. It does also hinder plant growth. Last year I didn't know much about PM and it basically killed off my pumpkins. The pumpkins themselves survived but the vine wasn't much for PM. I salvaged four decent sized pumpkins somehow. Don't let this happen to your plants. Ask your local garden supply for the right weapon against PM.

I've already noticed a difference to the leaves I've treated with fungicide and they seem to be recovering. If caught early enough they do make a come back. Other plants I've noticed developing PM include squash and zucchini.

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Pest Control. My methods of extermination.(Gophers mainly)

So if you've seen some of my past posts you know that I've had encounters with possums and raccoons in my backyard garden. I've trapped 3 raccoons and eliminated 2 possums but gophers had been a problem in the past I wasn't really willing to tackle. At least until recently. The gophers in my backyard alley were ruining plants and soil everywhere. I'd had enough. So after some serious research I chose my weapon. A Victor Black Box Gopher trap. The amazon reviews were great and it was under $15. Now as you see the trap here it's set and ready to go. You would just point that end (the open end) towards an open tunnel. It works like a reverse mouse trap, instead of pinning a rodent down it pulls them up and pins them to the roof of the trap. The trigger is that coat hanger looking metal piece in the middle. It packs quite a punch when triggered. Now you can't just look for an open hole and stick it in front of it. I watched YouTube for about an ho...

Purple Tomatillo

So I am hoping I see a lot more of these purple balls. This is a purple variety of tomatillo I have growing. I have had success in the past with the green variety but never to many purple ones. All that I had never really produced fruit until this year. Plant still looks healthy too. Here is another tomatillo variety the green type. It's grows very wildly and stretches well beyond its roots. This one is in a pot that you can barely see in this photo. Another angle The fruit grow into what looks like Chinese lanterns hanging on the branches. They start small and eventually outgrow their paper wrapping. They often have a sticky sap on the outside of the fruit as well. It tastes a bit between a cross of pepper and tomato. Great for salsa. I even have some growing from seeds deposited from tiny fruit from last season. Always cool when nature does the work for ya!

Grapevine reaching out for support

So my grapevine is reaching out for support. I've tried to weave this vine into my fence but there are places where its just reached beyond for more. So i think I might try to build somekind of support structure into the alley. Maybe a simple pole or piece of wood to create a natural grapevine arch. My strategy has been to weave each independent vine into others to create a super vine that can still reach out and support itself. Sort of looks like an elephant.

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