Powdery Mildew: A deeper look

Many of people have had problems with White Powdery Mildew. I see many posts from people asking what is it, and how to get rid of it. I have touched on the subject before in my post, white powdery mildew. In this post about the powdery mildew, I will go in depth. So what exactly is that odd White Powdery stuff on your plants? Will it kill them? Is it harmful you or your family? How can you prevent it? These are some of the questions that I will be going over.

What is White Powdery Mildew?
White Powdery Mildew is actually a fungal disease. Powdery Mildew is part of the Erysipelas family. This means that this type of fungus that attaches onto plants and penetrates the epidermal cells. This is where the fungus gathers the nutrients that it needs. The fungus is able to spread and grow at this point. Erysipelas produce sexually, and asexually. There are many different species of White Powdery Mildew, and generally the species affect different plants. So, if you have powdery mildew on one plant, it probably won't spread to a different plant.
White Powdery Mildew also robs your plants of light. The fungus usually starts on the leafs. If you notice your leafs starting to become droopy, check for a white film, or dust on them, look into treating your plants. As the White Powdery Mildew grows, your plant will be getting less light. The fungus if left untreated will kill your plants. So do the right thing and get rid of the fungus.

How to kill White Powdery Mildew.
To get rid of White Powdery Mildew there are a few things that you can do. These are also preventive measures to help you keep the risk of White Powdery Mildew down. First thing, improve air circulation around your plants. The fungus will be less likely to attach to your plants with bit of a breeze. Be careful some plants need high humidity, and if your conditions are not right improving air circulation can be detrimental.
If the fungus is bad on your plants, I would suggest pruning off these leafs. This will help protect the entire plant. The fungus can spread rather quickly if left unchallenged. This may not always cure your plant.
I recommend a fungicide or a home brew method of baking soda and liquid dish soap and water.  As for Fungicides, I prefer to go with an organic method. There are many products on the market. I prefer to use the product by Growers Trust. I have applied this to all of my plants that I suspected that had powdery mildew, and to the plants that I knew had it. My bamboo was the worst. After applying their Powdery Mildew Killer, I left the plants be for about a week. After a week, the bamboo sprung back to life.

Is Powdery Mildew harmful to you?
In a short answer, No. Not directly. White Powdery Mildew can cause damage to plants that produce food. As long as you stay on top of White Powdery Mildew, you should not have any problems.

All in all, Powdery mildew is more of a nuisance then anything. If left untreated you will have problems. A few minutes of prevention will go a long way when it comes to this fungus. A few tips to take away from this are increase air circulation, check plants regularly, and when you notice White Powdery Mildew, take care of it.