SEATTLE — Seattle gardening expert Ciscoe Morris has gathered some common kitchen ingredients to solve a common gardening problem, not start a kitchen show.
"This rose is called Oso Easy,” Ciscoe said. “It's famous for being one of the most disease resistant roses on earth. I was out deadheading and I found powdery mildew!”
Powdery mildew is a fungus that makes leaves look like they’re covered in white powder. Left untreated it will quickly dry leaves out and make a plant ugly and desiccated.
So, how to cure it?
"You've got everything you need in your kitchen cabinet,” Ciscoe said.
“It all starts with baking soda, then all you need is a quart of water, some dish detergent, and something you can use to spray,” Ciscoe said. “You need two teaspoons of baking soda in a quart of water, then you need four drops of dish detergent. Put the lid back on the container, shake the living tweedle out of it, and just pour it into your handy dandy spritzer bottle and we’re ready to go to battle!”
Ciscoe says if you see powdery mildew on one leaf, you need to spray the whole plant, all the leaves top and bottom. And he adds that usually plants get powdery mildew because they are stressed. His rose was located in the corner of his garden and wasn’t getting regular water. So if you’re treating for powdery mildew, make sure you deal with whatever was stressing the plant. Ciscoe will give his rose more regular watering now that he’s treated the leaves with his concoction.
“And if you keep this plant well-watered, keep an eye on it and spray every time you see a little bit of powdery mildew come, you're not gonna have any problems with powdery mildew all summer, and this rose is gonna look as lovely and beautiful as it should. So TAKE THAT powdery mildew!”
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