From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Forest Hill,md.

I was wondering if it is normal to have the oldest section of leaves on all my melon plants to appear grayish,hard, rough and then wither to the point that I snip them off.Other areas of plants look good and unaffected.Germinated on 4/10/15.Have been spraying companion and clove/garlic bug spray every other week.kins in patch next to them same germ time and show same like condition with holes in leaves and hard dry rough feel.Could post pics in diary if needed.Have alot of nice melons set and growing,hate to loose them to ignorance and inexperiance...Any help ?

7/3/2015 9:30:56 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

Post pics in your diary.
I'm rather curious to see if they look like mine.
Mine are just around the stump.
We had a lot of foggy mornings this spring before the sun would rise and burn it off.
Mine started with a few yellow spots on leaves along with a few brown dead spots here and there.
I assumed downy mildew, and have rotated Daconil and a little neem oil about every 10 days,with a little shot of Agri- Fos once a month.
Seems to have contained it to the 5-6 leaves at stump.
I remove them when they gray and wither and the new growth is nice and green.

7/4/2015 12:45:57 PM

Forest Hill,md.

Will do it now.Will do melons and kins.Thanks.

7/4/2015 2:05:19 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

Looks like downy mildew to me, but I could be wrong.
See if this helps:
http://www.clemson.edu/psapublishing/PAGES/PLNTPATH/IL90.pdf
Google images of downy mildew in watermelon.
Might see something similar.

7/4/2015 4:17:55 PM

Forest Hill,md.

Thanks,I guess organic methods not strong enough.will treat as you described in your patch.

7/4/2015 8:19:14 PM

Forest Hill,md.

Wondering if due to the very frequent rainfall received week after week.

7/4/2015 8:23:39 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

I'm not far from you,and I know the amount of rainfall we have recieved.
Couple that with the high heat the last few weeks,
Perfect for mildew.
University of Delaware released a report on July 2nd(sorry,can't find link) that found downy mildew in Maryland and Delaware recently.
Neem oil can help with downy mildew if being organic is your concern .
You should look back through this forum in the older posts.
Lots of info on various fungicides.

7/5/2015 12:02:52 AM

Forest Hill,md.

When is best to apply the treatment?Mid day?

7/5/2015 7:31:38 AM

sevierville, Tn

evening spraying in prefered, but early morning is ok.

7/5/2015 8:49:27 AM

Forest Hill,md.

Thanks for the tip on evening spray.Many thanks to all.

7/5/2015 11:13:13 AM