Seeds and Powdery Mildew

[debrac69]

My zinnia patch was inundated with powdery mildew this year. I used a type of seed mix that I never had used before and the plants are way to close together. They looked great, sort of like a zinnia hedge, but are now covered in so much powdery mildew I'm going to have to pull them out. They are still putting out lots of new buds and flowers and would/should be going strong until late October, but the stems and leaves look just horrid. They are planted in a large street side mailbox bed and I'm embarrassed every time I look at them.

Anyway, my question is should I even bother collecting seeds from them? A good part of all the seed heads has PM on them too. Some of the seed heads aren't ripening correctly either so I don't have the selection of heads that I would normally have to pick from.

[Danaus29]

You can get rid of the mildew and keep the flowers. Mix some milk (about 1/4 cup) with a gallon of water and spray on the zinnias. It will take care of the mildew in a couple days. And some zinnias are prone to mildew anyway, plants from those seeds would be more prone to get mildew. Try the milk though and give them a couple more days.

[debrac69]

I've already tried the milk ~ twice. It came right back.

I was thinking too that since these plants seem to be prone to pm then maybe I don't even want to save the seeds. Why deal with this again right?

I'll go back to my regular seed packs next year.

[petal*pusher]

Hi Deb! That dastardly powdery mildew seems to like zinnias more than other annuals! It might not be the seed, but that they ended up too close together....air circulation is so important with zinnias.

If you've already done the milk bath with no success, I probably would not save the seed. I have some pretty awful-looking gardens this year too........p

2 wet in the spring
+ 2 many skeeters
-----------------
4 gotten gardens!

[debrac69]

I hear that Pam! The skeeters this year are just horrible! We even have over 14 people killed by West Nile (confirmed.) It was too buggy in the morning and evening to be outside and just too damn hot and humid during mid-day. My veggie garden has totally gone to the weeds. I know there is 3 foot rabbit fencing in there somewhere, but damned if I can find it now!

I'm just hoping my back gets better ~ much better ~ very soon. I want ~ no, I need ~ to get the gardens cleaned up this fall. And I'm already thinking about Christmas decorating ~ and the cleaning that comes with it. I'm having Christmas Day here so I'm going to want all of my village pieces and other decorations done to perfection.


Jeez, just thinking about it is making me tired. I just may need a shot of Baileys to get me into the holiday spirit!

[Bird Lover]

He Deb, I find that 2 shots works much better.