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Other the than powdery mildew I have a nice looking, healthy looking, strong bee balm, that I just bought last month.

(I thought I saw the TNIEST bit of mildew on it, but the plant was just so healthy and shapely other wise)

The plant is COVERED with powdery mildew now.

Do I absolutely HAVE TO get rid of it? (the nursery also likely would take it back without a receipt, I'm a member) But I really don't want that hassle.

Since it is a perennial and we are getting closer to winter, can't I just cut it back in few weeks and the plant will come back next year anyway? Also it's in a container, so I can move it farther away from my other plants.

I do have a homemade milk solution I can spray on it to attack the powder mildew.

I love this plant...help...

That's too bad. I can't offer any advice for you but hopefully someone who has had experience with this can tell you what they did. Or have you tried to google the problem?

Monarda, Bee Balm, is one of those plants very susceptible to Powdery Mildew a common plant problem under certain weather conditions. Generally hot and dry.
PM is fairly easily controlled, however. A spray of a 50/50 mixture of fat free milk and water or a teaspoon of Baking Soda mixed in one quart of water, repeated as necesary. An oft cited method of protecting plants from PM is to maintain good air circulation which might help.
Cornell found that Potassium Bicarbonate worked better then did Sodium Bicarbonate, but I find the Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) mush easier then the Potassium Bicarbonate.

In my opinion growing monarda in a container is second best for a healthy plant. There is just too much crowded conditions in such small amount of soil; much better to grow it in the garden.

Its rather late in the season now to think it might re-flower when cut back but you can think to do that next summer. Cut it back rather severely and it will re-bloom.

The thing about monarda is that it is important to divide it at least every 3 years. This keeps the plant at its peak blooming and health.
Just dig up the entire plant, divide the root into 3 sections--throw away the center part--the oldest--and bring the two outsides together and re-plant.

The milk water solution is recommended at a rate of 4 water to 1 milk and spray the plant well.

The original research on using milk diluted with water done in Brazil used a 10 percent raw milk solution. Since obtaining raw milk can be a problem in the USA many of us have found that it requires a 50/50 mixture of fat free milk and water to do the same thing. I have seen many other mixtures promoted and have heard from numerous people that anything less then the 50/50 mixture does not work.
http://www.pioneerthinking.com...blems/tv-mildew.html