Fear struck my heart when I first read the article on downy mildew on basil. Basil was a cast-iron plant, trouble free. It just spent the summer producing more and more wonderful leaves. But downy mildew has struck, afflicting basil plants first in Florida and then spreading up the east coast to Canada, then the Midwest and California. The mildew was first found in Uganda in the 1930's and then disappeared only to show up in Europe in 2007 and from there it arrived in America.The first signs are faint yellow bands on the upper surfaces of the leaves. The bottom of the leaf becomes dotted with tiny gray specks. The mildew isn't harmful to humans but it looks unattractive. You can remove the infected leaves and make sure the plants has good air circulation. Fungicides don't seem to be very effective. Some varieties of basil seem to be more susceptable than others. Lemon and purple basil's seem to resist it better than sweet and Thai basil.
For more information and pictures:
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/newsarticles/basildowny.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128061773
Let me know if you see this in your garden.
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