Powdery Mildew Strikes Again!!

[sandiegodish]

Where do I begin?! Ok, first garden here in San Diego which I planted in a medium sized planter box. My first mistake was trying to cram too many plants in a small area (16x32)...One tomato plant, one red pepper plant, three crookneck squash and three burpless cucumbers. My red pepper plant was first to succumb being eaten to the stalk by some pest. Then BAM! Powdery mildew attacked my cucumbers and squash.

I treated both with a sulfur spray fit for organic gardening which seemed to work pretty well for a while, however my squash plants never recovered....the flowers all shrivled up and died and never produced.

Here lies my dilemna: My tomato plant is doing fantastic, and the cucumber plants have had mild success (3 in all), and I would like to plant something to take the place of my squash which I begrudgingly pulled out and tossed today. How do I kill the mildew in the soil without killing my other plants? There are a lot of roots left in the soil after pulling out the squash plants; do I need to do anything besides turn the soil over well?
Also, which fall/winter plants would do the best in a small space with full afternoon sun?

Thank you in advance for ANY advice as I am at a loss for what to do!!

 

[calypso985]

Advice is free, so take this for what it's worth, but I suggest that you choose plants that aren't susceptible to powdery mildew. You ought to be able to figure out what those are by spending a few minutes on google. There are even squash varieties that are resistant, but probably not for a fall garden. You also didn't specify the size of your garden box. That will also influence your choices. I'm not sure it is possible to eliminate powdery mildew. At least, I've never heard of a sure-fire way to get rid of it. Turn the soil MIGHT help, but it also might just spread it more. I imagine there are others on this forum that might have something say on that score. It's been an absolutely HORRIBLE year for powdery mildew here (zone 8a, NW Oregon). My squashes AND cucumbers have been ravaged, in spite of spraying. *sigh* Good luck and happy planting.

 

[calypso985]

Oops -- I reread your original post and I see that you DID specify the size of your planter box. So sorry! You probably should specify whether that size is in INCHES or FEET, since that makes a HUGE difference.

 

[sandiegodish]

Sorry, the size of my planter box is in inches....very small I know

 

[momofdrew]

Is it possible to put something [copper sulfate?] on the soil and work it in now to help prevent powdery mildew next year

 

[journey11]

We had such a wet summer here, the powdery mildew was terrible. I will usually pull affected plants as soon as they show signs, so they don't spread it to the others so quickly, but that only helps a little. I do have to agree with Calypso on the resistant varieties though. I wrote down all the ones in my garden that withstood it. Like I had two types of cukes--county fair pickling cuke and Poinsett 76(sp?). The picking cukes were obliterated by it, but the Poinsetts on the same trellis are completely healthy.