Yellow spots on pumpkin leaves?

[Jessiebean]

I have yellow spots on one of my pumpkin vines. I have taken photos of the underside and top of one leaf- the spots on the underside are sort of fuzzy and white and match up with the yellow on top. The vine is growing through a couple of courgette which have powdery mildew after the rain.
Should I worry?
If yes, what should I do (apart from worry?)

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[Millymollymandy]

I get a bit confused between all the different mildewy things you get on that family of veg, isn't what you've got powdery mildew? (or is it downy mildew?) Anyway it is common (least round here) and I tend to not worry cos I can't do much about it. I 'think' it was the subject of a discussion last summer and possibly spraying with milk was one thing people did to combat it (that's if I've got the right kind of mildew) but it didn't help me. My roses get covered in it too. I just leave it and hope for the best as we get so many diseases here I'd give up if I worried about them all!

[theabsinthefairy]

Same here MMM - the plants are usually so prolific I don't tend to worry overly on the things they can get, they still produce masses of fruit.

[grahamhobbs]

Powdery mildew is usually because the plants are too dry. So make sure they are well watered but water the soil not on the leaves.

Just keep an eye on the plant, the other possiblility is red spider mite, which you will only be able to see with a magnifying glass. These need the opposite treatment, water on the leaves, top and bottom, very regularly.

[Jessiebean]

is there a difference between downy and powdery mildew?- I know about the milk thing- I might try it- once I get some milk(grocery shopping day dontcha know!).

[MKG]

Interesting. I'm fairly convinced by now that the milk thing is just an old countryman's (carefully avoiding old wives) tale. Let us know if it's any good for you.

Mike

[Jessiebean]

weeeell, I am a procrastinator and rather lazy so I don't know if I want to risk wasting precious milk (I have two small children who think that milk is second only to air!) so I would be interested to read if anyone has used it with success.... Will google spider mites to see if that could be the problem....
(have just looked at spider mite damage and despite the fact that it is hard to compare dope leaves to pumpkin I think the mildew one is what is happening! downy or powdery?)

[Millymollymandy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powdery_mildew

I think I get a mixture of both including brown crispy edges and yellowing of leaves. My cucumbers die from whatever it is every year but thankfully usually after having had a good harvest. I don't know of anything to stop these diseases as there are so many fungal and bacterial diseases about. Last year I spent ages googling diseases because I had rust on many things, all sorts of kinds of blight and mildews and anthracnoses and sweetcorn smut and it was the worst I'd ever seen as practically every fruit, nut and veg was affected by something in some way. That's not to say we didn't get a good harvest on most things so it isn't worth getting het up about it.

Just look at this list alone for curcurbits

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cucurbit_diseases

[Jessiebean]

I have both kinds of mildew,(hopefully that is all arrghhh! what a list!) probably due to the fact that they are in a tight sheltered area so I have removed all the affected foliage which will allow better air flow too so that should help.I checked the other vines in the next garden and there were a handful of downy mildew affected leaves, only the ones that were under others so I have removed those, no more hose watering and I will try not to worry. I really am exactly like a new mother with my garden- I promise I will be much more laid back and dismissive in a year!:)
Thanks for the advice!

[Millymollymandy]

I promise I will be much more laid back and dismissive in a year!:)
Thanks for the advice!

No you won't, you'll be panicking over your melons (then blaming me!)