Downy Mildew on Basil - Common Plant Diseases in the Landscape and Garden

Join Virginia Tech Plant Pathologist, Mary Ann Hansen, as she discusses common plant diseases in Virginia. In this video she talks about downy mildew on basil.

[BasicallyaboutBasil]

In case anyone is interested there are some very nice ethnic basils out there you can grow that are highly resistant. I grew Akoko Mesa basil from Ghana this year and it was unscathed from a plague of mildew that hit our other plants. Also there is Mrihani basil from Zanzibar that is quite nice, this one was actually used in breeding Rutgers lines of resistant sweet basils. I highly recommend giving Akoko Mesa and Mrihani basil a try for culinary basils. For a pollinating basil you can always grow Temperate Tulsi which is immune to the disease. I currently am using this one in my own breeding projects to create new and unique pollinator friendly basils.

[RovingPunster]

I have my first batch of Prospera F1 DMR Basil germinating, and i'm excited to see how it does. Thank God for the folks at Rutgers.

UPDATE: See replies below.

[umiluv]

All the basil (Thai and sweet) in raised beds got hit with this. The basil in the grow bag, not as much. There was no issue when the temps were in the 90s-100s. It’s only when the temps finally came down to mid 80s that the plants were impacted.

[christinehaslam]

We have tia basil. The leaves are turning a light cream color and some have have died off. It's been very humid here. Could this be something other than downy?

[DjLwna]

i'm from guatemala and like 3/4 of my basil died and right now is rain season :( so i will save the seeds until it ends raining like in october, thank you for the information i didn't know what was happening.

[chefbambu]

What causes holes in basil leaves and how to treat them? Thank you.

[MichaelJosephJr]

I just planted basil and it's turning purple only after a few days in the ground. I'm wondering if it's too cold. We've been in the mid 30's here in Chicago. I tried a bit of epsom salt and fish fertilizer but it's getting worse. Please help.

[gypsyjunklady]

I have had an issue with when I pick basil leaves they look fine, but when I washed them off they developed brown patches just like this. Is it possible that the damage was there and just not visible until the water sort of soaked into the damage and made it show up? I have also had this trouble with lemon balm. I used some for a foot bath and it turned black! I wasn't sure what to think!

[dparamful]

I pulled out the plants. The leaves were yellow, brown and even had black areas. Maybe it was dome other disease. Now I'm wondering if the soil has the fungus in it too. Does it?

[akshayhujare]

Hi i m from India can i get the exact final solution for downy mildew which can end that fungi

[slayednpked]

I brought home a what I thought was a beautiful Thai Basil from a nursery near my house, the next day I looked under my leaves and saw the dreaded grey spores and soon after my whole basil garden was infected. I’ll never buy plants from a nursery again. Only home grown for me.

[susanbackes]

Hit with this for the second year. So frustrating

[lovemesomepoptarts]

It's like a yeast infection for plants😕

[akshayhujare]

Plz give me proper help to end the downy mildew

[MaximilianImaging]

So once you notice Downy Mildew, should you throw out the entire basil plant? 🌱