Some of my plants seem to have powdery mildew. What should I do?
If it isn’t too bad, and the plants are otherwise healthy, you could probably just trim the leaves that are showing the PM and move them elsewhere for disposal (burning works). There are organic fungicides out, but even organic fungicides require caution.
One of the best preventative measures in the future may be to establish a strong community of beneficial fungi in the soil.
Sadly, I don’t know any additional advice.
Well, the squash and melons have shaken it off on their own and begun growing normally again. The morning glories are still in critical condition, and I think I’m going to lose most of the parsley. Do you think over-watering might have something to do with it? How can I encourage beneficial fungi? Could leaving it alone and not using fungicide help strengthen my garden’s “immune system” for next year?
sigh
ok, i lost my first post 
so i’ll try this again…
first off, i apologize, i kind of feel like i left you hanging…
now, onto your questions…
overwatering might have played a role, it’s hard to say for certain, if i remember rightly, you’ve got sandy soil…? generally, i wouldn’t say overwatering would be a big issue in that case.
re: the parsley, parsley is difficult to grow it has pretty specific likes and dislikes (for some reason, picky children come to mind… :P) so you might want to spend a couple/three years building up your soil before trying it again.
unfortunately, i have 0 experience w/ morning glories and don’t really even know much about them. i’d harass local nursery workers until they give you some info ;D
ok, now, for the fungi, i have 2 links to Fungi Perfecti (Stamets’ site) with product info, but it’s a pricey way to go. you may be able to find a local source (either by wildcrafting or by finding local mushroom growers) that are cheaper.
The first link (and FP isn’t the only company to offer a product like this, btw) is for fungi “tabs” that have non-fruiting fungi spores.
The second link has a bunch of kits, the one we’re interested in for creating a community of beneficial fungi in a garden is the “Three Amigos”, which is a mix of 3 fungi that Stamets has found to encourage most garden veggies (Shaggy Mane Coprinus comatus, Stropharia rugoso-annulata, & Hypsizygus ulmarius). If you’re comfortable ID’ing inky caps, you should be able to find some in your area. The others you’d likely need to obtain from a person, either local or mail order.
You might also want to see if your local library system has Mycelium Running, there’s some seriously cool shit in there.
btw, google books has excerpts from this book here.
Thanks for the information! I’ll definitely check out Mycellium Running.
sigh. The morning glories are doing okay now, but the squash had a relapse.