Inorganic Treatments:   Despite the potent abilities that nature has in this area, often chemicals manufactured through industrial chemical processes can be more effective, efficient, and economic. Many chemical-based disinfectant treatments are safe to use with live plants. For example, potassium salts and phosphorous acid can protect and treat many fungal and bacterial infections by providing nutrients to plants that cannot be absorbed by fungi, strengthening crops and weakening disease.


Stronger chemicals can be utilized in various ways to prevent bringing disease into the grow room initially. Peroxide solutions can be used as an eco-friendly way to clean hard surfaces. For hospital-grade sanitation, Chlorine dioxide solutions can be used to immediately kill microorganisms and pathogens on any hard surface.


Organic Treatments:  Organic fungicides are derived from various plants and natural mechanisms. A few of the most commonly used organic agents to control Powdery Mildew: herbal oils like Neem, insecticidal soaps, sulfurs and other elemental pesticides, citric acid, and bicarbonates, Milk and many more.


  • Neem Oil along with various other oils are derived from trees and plants, which contain chemicals with broad pest control properties.




  • Garlic also naturally produces antimicrobial compounds, which can be extracted and used in spray solutions.
  • Milk or dry milk powder has been an effective tool for organic minded gardeners. Some organic farms use a whey based foliar spray to inhibit growth of several species of powdery mildew.
  • Insecticidal Soaps are based on potassium fatty acids which have nearly no toxicity to mammals, making them safe around children and pets, and have been approved for use on powdery mildew in the United States since 2011.


  • Sulfur forms a natural elemental compound which prevents fungi from germinating on leaf surfaces due to decreases pH levels. Sulfur can be vaporized in the grow room or sprayed conventionally to form a layer of protection. It is important to mention that sulfur is an eye and lung irritant, and protective measures should be taken, especially ventilating away from living spaces around the area.


  • Potassium Bicarbonate works similarly to sulfur by making the leaf surface uninhabitable to fungi, and is most often mixed in solution and sprayed over the plants.


  • Sodium Bicarbonate, or baking soda, can also be used in solution to a similar effect.
  • Beneficial Microorganisms have evolved ways to prevent disease, and by introducing these organisms to the garden they can also provide that protection to the plants on which they live. Bacillus Subtilis is one of these organisms, often found in the digestive tract of mammals and humans.