The sprayer bottle is filled with milk diluted in water at a ratio of 1 to 10. You can see the characteristic white spots and yellowed edges of powdery mildew on the leaves.

I loved watering the crops in my hoophouse last spring, daydreaming about summer. Little did I know that sprinkling the plants would cause problems with powdery mildew, a fungus that starts killing the leaves on various curcubits. (Better to water early in the morning and focus the stream on the roots or use soaker hoses.)

Is there a cure? There are various fungicides and biofungicides that can be used to treat powdery mildew on commercial crops, but the typical organic treatments for organic gardeners are limited to sulfur or copper-based treatments. But there is talk that these options might soon be removed from organic certification.

Looking for a safe alternative, I discovered this recent article in Science Daily about research in Australia where milk or leftover whey from cheese was used as a fungicide for powdery mildew in grapes. According to the study, the milk treatment at least equaled any other treatments that were tried.

I bought a plastic bottle to dedicate to this purpose, along with a quart of milk. I mixed 1 part milk to 10 parts water and doused the leaves quite thoroughly. My plan is to repeat the treatment every few days.

The leaves on squash planted weeks ago are severely compromised, while the squash planted about a month ago is just beginning to show some signs. So I will be able to report on the effectiveness of this treatment within a week or two. Stay posted.

My only concern is that, since I have no sense of smell, I may not realize there’s a problem if my hoophouse starts smelling like babies spit up inside.