Powder Mildew, Skim Milk, and Me

So i picked up a couple young ladies from the local clone shop. i was hoping the quality would be better than the local dispensary because after all, its a shop specializing in clones (they don't sell anything else.)

THEY WERE DIRTY!

it was awful. powder mildew showing up on a bunch of spots in my super well ventilated 'never had a problem before...' grow closet. powder milder.. eww.. throwup.

i'm trying to be very fungicide and pesticide free with my grow and i've heard of diluted milk as a foliar spray working well so i decided to give it a shot.

i used skim milk, techincally it was 'reduced fat' and ended up diluting it with r.o. water to about 1 part milk / 20 part water. i was actually shooting for 1 part milk/10 part water but i screwed up.

i sprayed the plants once every 2 days for a week - 3 applications. this was about 6 weeks ago and no powder mildew has returned. i'm very happy with the results so just wanted to share my experience. also in case anyone was interested, theres lots of awesome stuff in milk - this is the composition of milk (snaked from www.raw-milk-facts.com):

Water 87.3%

Milk Fats 3.9%

Non-fat Solids (Protein, Milk Sugar, Immune Factors, etc.) 8.8%

1. A. Casein Proteins (~80% of Total Milk Protein-TMP)
   1. Alpha s1 [30.6%]
   2. Alpha s2 [8.0%]
   3. Beta [28.4%]
   4. Kappa [10.1%]
   B. Whey Proteins (~20% of TMP)
   1. Alpha lactalbumin [3.7%]
   2. Beta lactoglobulin [9.8%]
   3. Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) [1.2%]
   4. Immuoglobulins [2.1%]
   5. Proteose peptone [2.4%]
   
   Milk Sugar (Lactose) 4.6%
   
   Minerals 0.65%
   Calcium
   Phosphorus
   Magnesium
   Potassium
   Sodium
   Zinc
   Chlorine
   Iron
   Copper
   Sulfates
   Bicarbonates
   Trace Elements
   
   Acids 0.18%
   Citric
   Formic
   Acetic
   Lactic
   Oxalic
   
   Vitamins/Enzymes 0.12%

Butyric Acid 4 (# of Carbon atoms)
Caproic Acid 6
Caprylic Acid 8
Capric Acid 10
Lauric Acid 12
Myristic Acid 14
Palmitic Acid 16
Stearic Acid 18
Oleic Acid 18:1 (one double bond)
CLA 18:2 (two double bonds)

Sodium__330-850mg
Potassium__1040-1600mg
Chloride__850-1040mg
Calcium__1040-1225mg
Magnesium__85-130mg
Phosphorus__850-940mg
Iron__280-570ug
Zinc__1880-5660ug
Copper__95-570ug
Manganese__19-47ug
Iodine __~245ug
Fluoride__28-207ug
Selenium__4.7-63ug
Cobalt__0.47-1.23ug
Chromium__7.5-12.3ug
Molybdenum__17-113ug
Nickel__0-47ug
Silicon__700-6600ug
Vanadium__trace-290ug
Tin__38-470ug
Arsenic__19-57ug

Vitamin Content per quart (Approximate):

A__375ug
C__19mg
D__38IU
E__940ug
K__47ug
B1__425ug
B2__1650ug
Niacin__850ug
B6__470ug
Pantothenic acid__3300ug
Biotin__33ug
Folic acid__52ug
B12__4.25ug

Here's a list of the more important enzymes in raw milk:

Amylase
Catalase
Lactase-(through bacterial synthesis)
Lactoperoxidase
Lipase
Phosphatase




Kinda like the best foliar spray ever, no?

milk is not a fungicide.

anything is a fungicide if it prevents fungus from growing. pm and other fungi rely on a certain ph to thrive. if you alter the ph the conditions change which prevents growth. this isn't exactly rocket science logic here. but anyway if you disagree, you'll have to change wikipedias 'fungicide' entry also.

"Natural fungicides
Plants and other organisms have chemical defenses that give them an advantage against microorganisms such as fungi. Some of these compounds can be used as fungicides:

Tea tree oil
Cinnamaldehyde[5]
Cinnamon essential oil[6]
Jojoba oil[7]
Neem oil
Rosemary oil
Milk[8][9]
Ampelomyces quisqualis AQ10, CNCM I-807[10][11]
Whole live or dead organisms that are efficient at killing or inhibiting fungi can sometimes be used as fungicides:

The bacterium Bacillus subtilis
Kelp (powdered dried kelp is fed to cattle to protect them from fungi in grass)"

thanks for your input

it WILL be back! milk does nadda except put a bandaid on an open wound

krunchbubble said:

it WILL be back! milk does nadda except put a bandaid on an open wound

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and it wouldn't come back if people turned off their sulphur burners?

Milk against PM is a losing battle b4 it even starts

It does your body good though right

i don't think you people watched enough of the propaganda milk commercials when you were kids...

Use something like Eagle20, which will kill the PM, before you put them in flower or the first few weeks of flower, and sanitize your room. Problem solved.

OsWiZzLe said:

It does your body good though right

Click to expand...

thats better.

Milky Way ?

bobblehead said:

Use something like Eagle20, which will kill the PM, before you put them in flower or the first few weeks of flower, and sanitize your room. Problem solved.

Click to expand...

don't want to put anything on the plants that has a MSDS.

y dont u spray the plant with eagle and then take fresh cuts of a pm free mom that was treated then toss the mom out once cuts root u will be pm free and not have it on ya new stock. milk works to a point the point of its it to late to use other shit if i was in flower i would use milk but in veg i dont think it matters at all. neem is good to theres alot of organic shit out there to i think i got some shit called safer milder cure google it its 100%organic but i aint gonna say if it works just been a decoration since eagle. best of luck pm sux maybe if ya that worried chuck the cuts and get new clean ones.

stoney917 said:

y dont u spray the plant with eagle and then take fresh cuts of a pm free mom that was treated then toss the mom out once cuts root u will be pm free and not have it on ya new stock. milk works to a point the point of its it to late to use other shit if i was in flower i would use milk but in veg i dont think it matters at all. neem is good to theres alot of organic shit out there to i think i got some shit called safer milder cure google it its 100%organic but i aint gonna say if it works just been a decoration since eagle. best of luck pm sux maybe if ya that worried chuck the cuts and get new clean ones.

Click to expand...

This is incorrect. If the mom was treated, the clones will also have the residuals. My feelings are that after several more months of growing, the residuals will be gone or in such minute amounts that though won't matter. Props for not wanting to use harsh chems though. I hear ya there... sometimes you just have to go with modern technology though.

I only suggested this because I recently had a PM explosion, first time ever... The spores are everywhere, no doubt. I want that shit gone for good, so I ordered some Eagle20 b/c I'm in veg and early flower... I wouldn't dare use it on a mid-late blooming plant... so anyway, gonna have to spray the plants and bleach the room and surrounding areas...

I went on vacation last year and my brother managed the shop while I was gone. Came back to powdery mildew, fungus gnats, and spider mites.

Green Cure (safe hours prior to harvest) - Eliminated all the mildew and use it now as a preventive. Cheap, outstanding product.

Fungus Gnats were not fazed by bombs, or Azamax, or the other half dozen products that I tried. After a week, maybe a week and half using sm-90 as a drench, gone.

Mites, are difficult since you need to slow down their population. Low temps and high humidity is what I tried to get, but with constant spraying of neem once a week, and a new product for me call Mite-Rid has worked the mites to barely existing.

I am on the southern oregon coast. It has rained a few nights now and dryed out in the daytime. I have used milk and water 60/40 mix and last time I was told to spray after rain not before because it will wash off. Now I noticed leaves have a white tinge not spotty. I think it is dryed milk but not sure. The girl is outdoors and lowest temp over night was 43 but mostly in the 50s at night so far and high 60s day time with some sunshine and some cloudy days. Any comments appreciated.