Treating powdery mildew

Question

Our tomato plants got powdery mildew problem, because of wildfire at west coast, there was not much sunlight, and even some leaves at top has powdery mildew problem, as you can see in the first picture.

I have already cut some leaves and branches at its bottom, so it looks neat, should I also cut those leaves at top with powdery mildew problem? Would it give negative effect to plant's health as it will have less leaves and there're a number of green tomatoes there already?

We tried to apply mix of water and milk (ratio is 1:1) to it, but because of the dust that wildfire created, it seems like it only makes the issue worse. Please let me know if you have better way to treat it. Thank you!

Answer 1

My squash and cucumbers are very susceptible to powdery mildew. This year I treated them with neem oil (which is indicated for powdery mildew), and I had excellent results. (I say "excellent results" rather than "I had no further problems at all" because they looked so good for about a month that I stopped applying it, and then of course a few leaves got it.)

It's also fairly inexpensive and suitable for organic gardening.

Additionally, it keeps several types of pests away. (It's great against aphids, which are more of an issue for brassicas like kale, but it's possible that if you have any pest pressure, it could help with that, as well.)