South Carolina, zone 8a/8b
So I planted these two last year to add some natives to my yard and attract some more pollinators. Unfortunately, they almost immediately got powdery mildew and I had to cut them back to the ground. With that said, I haven’t changed this mulch or treated the soil any since the powdery mildew incident. Should I get some copper spray on these bad boys, or just watch and see if it comes back?
by Theres_A_Thing
3 Comments
Powdery mildew is so common on plants it’s not even funny. I wouldn’t cut it back or spray fungicide as it will disrupt *all* fungus nearby.
Just let nature carry on with itself.
From what I’ve read – [for instance](https://extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/powdery-mildew-flower-garden) – powdery mildew won’t cause any damage to the plants it’ll just make them look kind of ugly. I would recommend not using fungicides (or insecticides) as they generally don’t discriminate when killing the intended target (meaning they will hurt any beneficial fungus or insect). I know there are uses for them sometimes (arborists will recommend them for certain tree issues), but I’d definitely not use them for powdery mildew.
Powdery mildew looked funny to me at one time. Now I think it looks normal. It comes, it goes, it doesn’t hurt anything.