By Annegerman
South Yorkshire,
United Kingdom 
Last season my courgettes suffered from mildew. Yesterday, digging over the soil where they were planted I discovered many bits of white matter some of which looked as though it was white covered twigs? Has this been caused by the mildew? For this coming season should I not plant courgettes again in this area? Perhaps I should be conditioning the soil.
Many thanks for everyones help - aware that as a new gardener I seem to ask questions and never answer questions. Perhaps in a year or two!
29 Mar, 2012
Answers
There are varieties of courgettes available now with a more open leaf habit, specifically designed to minimise mildew (not quite sure how that's supposed to work) and make finding the courgettes themselves much easier, so you don't end up with a series of undiscovered, massive marrows, sapping all the strength from those tasty, tender little ones.
Bamboo, should one start spraying BEFORE the mildew makes its appearance, or is it only effective on the mildew itself?
30 Mar, 2012
No point doing it as a preventative, works directly on the mildew.
30 Mar, 2012
Thank you!
30 Mar, 2012
Thank you - will be standing by with my water/milk mix! I find support from this gardening site really helpful, not being a great reader and preferring to learn on a practical level. Anne
31 Mar, 2012
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Nothing to do with mildew - they're fungal mycelium in the soil, you sometimes find those in drier soils particularly. If you get mildew on them again this year, spray as soon as you see it with 1 part milk to 9 parts water - works well on mildew. Repeat as necessary.
And don't worry about not answering questions, nor about asking them...
29 Mar, 2012