Alan Titchmarsh explains how to correctly prune roses
While most people are enjoying the hot weather before autumn arrives, gardeners should be on the lookout for white power on their roses, which can greatly weaken them and prevent them from flowering next year.
The current heatwave can be concerning for many gardeners trying to water their plants at the moment, but overwatering plus high temperatures can also help spread a disease called powdery mildew, a fungal infection. It can cause flowers to turn brown, weaken, dry out as well and not produce any flowers or fruit. Sometimes it can even kill a plant, although this is rare.
Powdery mildew will look like white powder has dusted on your leaves, stems or flowers, and can appear to look like flour or cobwebs. It thrives in hot temperatures (15-27°C or 60-80°F) and requires lots of humidity to spread, as well as affect plants in shady areas during the hot weather.
Roses are very susceptible to powdery mildew but it can also affect other flowers such as lilacs and azaleas. It can also be found in certain fruit trees such as apple and pear trees as well as crops such as pumpkins, cucumbers, melons and squashes.
If left untreated, powdery mildew will affect the taste of fruits and vegetables grown in a garden, make flowers look unsightly plus greatly weaken other plants, leaving them vulnerable to disease and making them unable to survive the upcoming frosty weather in winter.
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How to treat powdery mildew
Petrina is an organic gardening expert in nurturing plants that thrive in warm and sub-tropical climates in Florida. Her garden suffered from powdery mildew for a long time and Petrina tried out many solutions until she discovered the most effective cure was a common house cleaning solution.
In an online video, Petrina said: “I struggled with this for several years until one of my viewers told me about a hydrogen peroxide and water mix. This has been a game-changer, you guys!”
Before this, Petrina said she tried using copper fungicide which has been recommended to treat powdery mildew, but she had concerns about how copper in the soil would affect her local environment, plus she said that “just didn’t work that well.”
Instead, Petrina used hydrogen peroxide mixed in a gallon of water in a bottle. Petrina explained: “When I first started using hydrogen peroxide, I started with just two to three tablespoons mixed with a gallon of water.
“I then added a tablespoon every week until I could see that it was a little too strong for my plants. You’ll know this if you see the leaves starting to show some burn marks of them.”
Petrina said that ten tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water was the “magic number” that helped cure her garden, but warned that the amount needed may differ depending on the garden.
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@homegrownflorida ������������ Powdery mildew taking over your garden? Don’t worry, I got you covered! Check out my tips for dealing with this annoying fungus. ������������ #gardeningtips #powderymildew #gardenhacks #greenthumb ♬ original sound – Homegrown Florida
How to prevent powdery mildew
Petrina said that the hydrogen peroxide and water solution can help stop powdery mildew from spreading its spores in a garden.
She said: “I spray my plants once a week preventative and that usually keeps it in check for quite a while.”
Other ways to prevent powdery mildew are to water plants straight into the ground and soil and avoid getting water on leaves to prevent the chance of mould growing. Making sure plants are not overcrowded in their beds and have access to lots of sunlight and air circulation will also help reduce the chances of infection.
However, if it does begin to show in her garden, Petrina said that pruning a plant can stop it from quickly spreading to the rest of the garden.
Petrina said: “I quickly clip those leaves off and dispose of them, and then I increase my spraying of the mixture to about every three days until it starts to come back under control.”
Any clipped-off leaves, stems or flowers infected with powdery mildew should never be left on the ground or placed in a compost bin. Make sure it has been properly placed in the rubbish bin so it does not risk infecting your entire garden again.
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