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Powdery Mildew is an airborne fungus blight that occurs sometimes during warm humid weather.  Plants in the shade are particularly suseptible.  If left untreated it will rapidly spread to all plants within a general vicinity and ultimately kill the plants. The first indication you have a powdery mildew problem is the appearance of a dusty white substance on a few of the leaves on a plant. Early stage powdery mildew looks as if baby powder has been sprinkled lightly on a few leaves.  Within a week or so, without treatment, a thick white substance will spread to the leaves all over the plant and the leaves will begin to droop. Eventually the plant will die. Extensive powdery mildew infestation interferes with a plant’s ability to conduct photosynthesis through the chlorophyl in its leaves, a process that is essential to a plant’s life.
Powdery Mildew treatment is most effective when the disease is caught early. Sulfur works well against powdery mildew. But to be effective repeated applications have to be made every week. Common garlic has high concentrations of sulfur, so it can be used in place of sulfur for a spray.  Simply mash a few cloves of garlic in water spray bottle and spray both the tops and the undersides of the leaves. Ordinary baking soda is another remedy that works fairly well in a solution of one teaspoon of baking soda to one quart of water.  Again spray both the tops and undersides of the leaves thoroughly and repeat once a week.  In some severe cases of powdery mildew infestation, treatment simply will not kill the fungus and  you should remove the infected plants from the lawn or garden and destroy them.
Powdery mildew is a pain in the neck to get rid of once it has become well established on several plants on your lawn.  In this case, as in so many others, an ounce of prevention is worth a gallon of “cure.” Some of the more effective steps you can take to keep it from rearing its ugly head on your lawn are:
* try to plant in full sunlight,
* keep plants spread apart so they get good air flow around them,
* prune infected plants as soon as the first signs of powdery mildew appear,
* use only slow release fertilizer to avoid over-growth among the leaves,
* clean all your gardening tools regularly with bleach, and
* simply get rid of plants with powdery mildew infections at the first sign of infestation.
Finally, sunlight and good ventilation are the enemies of powdery mildew.  If you keep this in mind as you garden, you may avoid this nasty stuff all together!