Mildew?

[Chantal]

Having lost the tomatoes and potatoes to blight, the beans have magnesium deficiency (treated) and already had three leeks run to seed, now I have white patches on the leaves of the gherkins.

Is this mildew? With what can I treat it?
Do I need to treat it?

Help again please...

[Jenny Green]

I thought you were offering us some, Chantal.
I was going to say, no thanks, I have plenty of my own.
Yes, it sounds like mildew. I just cut off the leaves and make sure the plant's well fed and watered. In my experience it's something all cucumbers, melons and courgettes get as the season goes on and the plants get older.

[Chantal]

Thanks again Jenny. If I cut off the leaves I doubt there'll be many left so I'll just leave it for now. The plants are certainly cropping well.

I'm just wondering what to expect next; a plague of locusts perhaps?

[Jenny Green]

I'd rather have the plague of frogs.

[Primrose]

My outdoor cucumbers are similarly affected but as the nights are getting colder now I've decided to just let them be and take their chance. There a still lots of 1 inch cucumbers on them but I doubt whether they'll develop now. I'm just keeping the soil moist and hoping for the best.

[Primrose]

My outdoor cucumbers are similarly affected but as the nights are getting colder now I've decided to just let them be and take their chance. There a still lots of 1 inch cucumbers on them but I doubt whether they'll develop now. I'm just keeping the soil moist and hoping for the best. Yes, and I'm starting to develop rust on my leeks too. Ugh !

[CradleyMike]

We have had the problem on our Cucumber plant in the polytunnel, the plant has seemed to struggle all year and are not surprised that it has been hit. Poor crop from the cucumber this year. Outdoor the courgettes were hit with mildew on the leaves a few weeks ago but have continued to crop well. Cannot do much when these plants get hit except remove leaves but if a large number of leaves are hit we leave them and try to maximise the crop.