Cabbage is one of the most productive and nutritious crops you can grow in your veggie garden.
They are easy to grow from seed or seedlings, will grow all year round in many Australian locations and they generally require little maintenance.
There is one ailment however that can infest a whole crop quickly – and that’s Powdery Mildew which thrives in moist and warm conditions. If you don’t treat it quickly, it will spread through your entire crop.
You’ll easily identify it as small greyish, powdery spots on the leaves – as per the photo here.
You can use sulphur sprays to kill it off, but for those who like to take a more gentle and organic approach then one tablespoon of baking soda mixed with one-half teaspoon of liquid, non-detergent soap all diluted into one gallon of water will do the trick.
Just spray the it on liberally on the leaves and wait for a week or so for evidence of its success.
Another solution is to spray on mouthwash – yes the same stuff you gurgle round your gums. It kills the bugs in your mouth and on your cabbages too without doing any other harm. You will want to wash the leaves though after harvesting or you might have peppermint flavoured cabbage.
The Gardenistas 