Powdery Mildew and Potatoes

My zucchini squash has been ravaged this last week by powdery mildew. What once was a thriving, weed like plant has been reduced to just a few weak suckers. I hope it pulls threw, as I'm afraid it is too late in the season to replace it. On top of that, all of my beans died :( It's bad luck for me this week.

I tried a heavy spray of diluted milk to the entire garden A, which is supposed to help. I will use another application next week... I'm not sure though, I may just have to go to Armstrong and see if they have anything organic. I would hate for anything else to get infected. It looks as though my yellow little neck squash had a few infect leaves today, which I pruned and disposed of.

In other news, I finally put my sprouted Peruvian purple potato down in some soil.  I am using the bucket method.


Growing Potatoes - The Bucket Method

• Place 4-5 inches good soil in the bottom of a deep pot, or bucket with holes drilled in it. I chose to use a garden center pot that my blueberry bush came in.

•  Place your seeded potato in the ground. I used a potato I bought organically at a local grocery store. Sometimes these potatoes are unreliable or diseased. For both of the reasons I chose to pre-sprout mine, and use the bucket method as opposed to putting them in my garden. 

• Cover the potatoes with a few inches of soil or mulch (I am choosing to use mulch, in the form of bougainvillea flowers, we have tons of the bushes hanging around). When you see little sprouts peeking out, cover it with a few more. 
• When your potato plant appears to be dieing, you are ready to harvest.