The Scourge of Powdery Mildew

Prevention Is Best

Close-up of a green leaf covered in tiny, white, thread-like structures and droplets of moisture.

Once powdery mildew develops, there’s always a chance that traces of it will remain in your harvest — even if you treat and try to eliminate it. Because of that, it’s best to prevent it altogether.

HOW To PREVENT POWDERY MILDEW ALTOGETHER?

CONTROL YOUR GROW ROOM CONDITIONS

Keep your grow room “dry”

Powdery mildew thrives in damp, cool environments. To prevent it, keep your grow room’s relative humidity levels under 60%. Ventilate very well until the plants are in the last fortnight of flowering; then drop them below 50%.

Be aware that already established spores can spread even when leaves are dry

Once established, powdery mildew does NOT need extremely moist conditions to spread. This is one of the reasons why it’s so important to prevent the development of spores in the first place.

Opt for high temperatures, high light levels and relatively low RH

Warm temperatures and low light levels encourage fungi to grow and spread. High light levels and warm, relatively dry conditions (with RH below 50% after flowering) work best to stop infection before it starts.

Keep temps at 70 to 80°F without CO2 and 80 to 90°F with CO2 during the daytime. Nighttime temps should be no lower than 60°F, to avoid stressing plants.

Use a high level air filtration system

A high level air filtration system with a MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) of at least 16 will remove most spores from the air. A HEPA filter will remove 99+% of spores, but at greater cost.

MANAGE PLANTS CAREFULLY

Don’t crowd plants

Place plants well apart from each other so that there’s plenty of ventilation and air flow. This will keep plants dry and help prevent infection from starting.

Water the roots, not the leaves and stems

Since powdery mildew prefers moist plant leaves, keep them dry to inhibit growth.

Try this natural powdery mildew preventative

Milk contains “good” bacteria that make it a very effective preventative for powdery mildew. Spray plants weekly with a mixture of one part milk to nine parts water. But be careful – other molds can develop if your mixture has more than 30% milk in it. Keep it to suggested levels to ensure protection.

2 responses to “The Scourge of Powdery Mildew: Prevention Is Best”

Brad

January 2, 2017

I recently had a PM problem in my garden but we caught it early, removed what we could see, and treated with alkaline water and H2O2.

My question is: How easily does PM spread from from garden to garden? Should I avoid going in to my friends grow room even tho I haven’t been in mine?

Reply
1. Keith Reagan
  
  January 5, 2017
  
  Sorry for the late response. Though we aren’t plant people, what we can tell you is the mold/mildew is present everywhere. Unlike bugs which could be taken from on grow to another, in theory mold is already present in your room at the microscopic level. I doubt that it would spread from one room to a room another unless both rooms are not environmentally controlled or unless you directly touched or contacted PM and then directly touched an uninfected plant.
  
  This leads to the next point, mold/mildew need three things in order to proliferate.
  
  – It must be present (unless you are in a cleanroom, mold is present)
  – It requires a food source (your plants are a food source that you cannot remove)
  – High humidity (a controlled environment is the trick)
  
  My advice is to keep your room clean and control the environment. Just walking in your friends room is probably not enough to transmit PM. If you touched the plants, wash your hands and clothes before entering another grow room. Clean is always inexpensive and easy to do.
  
  If you have any further questions, please do reach out.
  
  Reply

For Robust Plant Growth Maintain Proper Humidity Levels

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