Got Mildew?

I'm just one little back-yard farmer, plugging along, trying to grow my own food and maybe some to share when the weather permits. Which is, I must admit, pretty much year-round. There are however, some very climate specific issues around organic gardening around the Bay. We get aphids and white flies like no ones business and all my references say "Ladybugs". Then comes powdery mildew and all I hear is "baking soda and water" but the darn stuff just won't go away--unlike the Ladybugs who had decamped after a couple of days, leaving my broccoli and cabbages to the grotty little leaf eating critters!
So, research, pestering other gardeners, trial and error and --voila! I have, if not fool-proof solutions, then best practices for two common garden problems.

First bugs, Ladybugs will indeed happily devour aphids and white fly larvae, but they are migratory insects and must be released at night--otherwise their drive to head to the mountains for some reproductive endeavors outweighs their desire to eat aphids, and, well, you know the rest. I tried it and two weeks later I still have Lovely Ladies crawling around laying waste to unwanted brussel sprout eating nasties!

Second, powdery mildew, bane of zucchini, cucumbers, melons, roses and many other plants. Like I said, I've tried the baking soda and water (2tbs baking soda in a standard spray bottle of water, saturate infected areas during hot weather, repeat as necessary) to mixed results. Sad to say I don't have time for mixed results. On to bigger and better--and no, I don't mean chemicals.
It's milk, yep, milk. Dilute skim milk in water (10-30% milk but not more) and spray --and I mean saturate-- infected leaves, no need to rinse, just wait! The majority of my mildew was dead and gone within two days of treatment. I waited a week to see what else happened and gave a final spritz to any stubborn areas and now have a mildew free garden!!! Added benefits, cats don't seem to particularly like the smell and have been rethinking their "other" use for my raised beds!

Check out more info and scientific benefits at: http://www.appalachianfeet.com/2010/07/02/how-to-spray-milk-to-prevent-powdery-mildew-disease/
and
http://www.thefrugallife.com/mildew.html

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