Outdoor Stem Fungus+Disease Information Thread

[weednazi]

Hello... The purpose of this thread to collectively gather information on the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of fungus and diseases that attack the stems of outdoor plants. Not to mention the Cause or where it came from.

Feel free to post pictures of any stem fungal diseases you may be encountering and any advice you may have on treatment.


This season, I lost a plant due to a fungal infection that attacked the base of the stem. By the time I noticed it due to the alfalfa hay mulch covering the base, it was too late. The damage to the roots had spread thru the entire plant. It stopped taking up water and died shortly after using Actinovate and 3rd Eye to combat the fungus. I chalked this up to death being the result of a drip emitter too close to the stem, hidden under mulch, causing a breeding ground for the fungus to take a hold of the stem and then roots. From what I researched, I thought it was Pythium.

One week later on another large diesel plant in the greenhouse I notice a small lateral branch completely wilted out. Upon closer inspection, the main branch it was connected to appears to have turned browned over a 12" section. It also feels a little squishy under the skin. There is evidence of mold growing at the lateral branch nodes close on either side of the 12" section. After analyzing photos up close, it appears there is the presence of possible black mold spores on that main branch.

Notice the 12" section of brown in this branch. It is visibly thinner than either side.


Close up of the section, notice the black spores


Notice the moldy nodes


Wilty branch that was evidence of problem



The plant otherwise looks healthy at this moment. Some leaves that are attached to branches off the moldy branch show slight yellow color.

Lets get some healthy discussion going... I can't be the only person experiencing this.

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

weednazi, in years of outdoor growing, ive never had a plant exhibit the symptoms you describe/display. I have had fungus problems as i battle the blight as we speak but never any type of fungus that attacks the stem.

I have had borers that killed sections of stems but they always leave the tell tale sign of a hole.

I dont doubt your condition: The blight that im fighting destroys cannabis in a few weeks and i grew weed for over 20 years and never even considered it, but 3 years ago it appeared and devestated crops far and wide.. Its possible you may be one of the first people to discover some other devestating fungus that we have to battle.

But to speculate: I use Liquid Copper for my fungul treatment, but a fungus that attacks the stem may not respond to topical applications.. I would be inclined to focus my search on systemic fungicides- those that are absorbed and replicated in the tissue of the plant as oppossed to a LC that is "on" the plant, not in it.

Im hunting for a short acting systemic- that disipates completely in the plant tissue after about 30 days but ive yet to find one.

 

[Midnight]

This picture is some type of scale.

 

[weednazi]

D.S. ... Yesterday I picked up a bottle of Agri-Fos, systemic fungicide made by Monterey. I am going to monitor the plant for a few more days before I use it. It's main ingredient is Phosphorous Acid.

"Controls Phytophthora, Pythium, Downy Mildews, Rusts, Apple Scab, Xanthomonas, Erwinia, and others. Root Rots, Blights, Mildews, Scabs, Leaf Spots, Cankers, Bacteria

Agri-Fos is a unique fungicide with curative and protective activity against many pathogens of agricultural, nursery, greenhouse, landscape ornamentals, turf and lawns. It is quickly absorbed by plant foliage and roots and is distributed systemically throughout the plant. Once inside it turns on the natural defense mechanisms of the plant to resist invasion by disease causing pathogens. If diseases are already present it helps the plant to kill the pathogen invaders by curative activity while protecting new growth."

I will let you know how it works if I choose to use it.

 

[weednazi]

Midnite... are you referring to the callous around the node?

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

By all means weednazi, keep me posted of what you discover..

I havent heard of the systemic you note but im very interested. How long does it protect the plant and have you read any data about how long the chemical presence exist in the plant after its stated effectiveness?

Ive been looking into this Eagle 20 that many in the Infirmary forum rave about. It has the same chemicals as Immunox and several other systemics but i cant find out much about how long its chemical marker remains traceable in the plant. Im currently looking at fungicides for the tobacco industry.

 

[Slangheat]

Hey cool shots, thanks for those.

I'm going through a battle with pythium as well.

Was recommended to me to use MycoStop (Streptomyces griseoviridis), 3D Organics 3rd Eye (Magnesium Sulfate, Trichoderma Harzianum), Companion (Bacillus subtilis GB03), Roots Oregonism XL (endo/ecto and trichoderma) to deal with this issue. (Thanks Trinity Gold)

The book Hemp Diseases and Pest Management and Biological Control recommends these same biological controls as well as other methods and info on the disease(s) themselves.

Ideally we find this issue early enough to kill the rotted areas, and grow new roots to replace the dead rotted ones that won't come back... unfortunately for me I caught on too late, and am fighting to kill the disease as my plant finishes up it's stretch outside.

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

slangheat, Mycostop is the same as Greencure. Its good for botryitys and pm, but my experience has been for blights and some of the more lethal fungusus, using it is the equivalent of pissing on a forest fire.

 

[weednazi]

Slangheat.. What are the symptoms of Pythium in your plants?

 

[weednazi]

using it is the equivalent of pissing on a forest fire.[/quote]

thats good to know as I was about to pick some up.

 

[Slangheat]

Slangheat.. What are the symptoms of Pythium in your plants?

Let me preface by saying this has been one of many learning experiences for me as my outdoor growing career is quite short. This should have never been an issue for me, but lack of preparation and attention to small signs bit me in the ass.

The symptoms started with droopy leaves at the top portion of the plant. I assumed this was more than likely an issue with overwatering, and so I backed off a bit. Symptoms continued to worsen, to the point of droopy leaves turning to more of a wilt. Random leaves around the top and middle of plant started to yellow and lose color the more weak they became.

What was at one point one my thicker stalks, had stopped growing thicker around the base (near soil line), but was still growing thicker higher up around branch nodes. Further inspection showed the base of the stalk was mushy when poked, at which point it was obvious to me that I had a root issue that was spreading up into my stock.

I didn't have Mycostop available locally, I wanted to attack the problem right away rather than wait for a product to be shipped etc.... so I subbed Actinovate, and then used 3rd eye, Companion and Roots Oregonism.

It's been 4 days since treatment, and while the plant is obviously sickly looking, the symptoms have not gotten any worse. The plant is uptaking water at a close to normal rate still which to me a is a very positive sign that I won't lose her... although expectations for her are definitely lowered.

I'll try to get a shot up tonite or so...fortunately I have another cut of the same plant running next to it that has been unaffected for comparisons sake.

 

[weednazi]

Slangheat..... wow!! that is exactly what happened to the first plant i lost. Word for word like you wrote it... in fact i used actinovate and 3rd eye. The plant got worse. the wilt went to the rest of the plant. The way i can describe the stem rot issue is the first branches above the rot get affected first and so on up to the top of the plant until it is totally wilted. I pulled the plant as not wanting to cross contaminate if that is possible.

the damage to the base of the stalk was only what we are seeing. when i pulled the plant, it came out with ease in with a 12" diameter root base. All the roots were rotted. If you inspected the roots you would notice that if you tugged on a root, the outer layer would pull apart from the inner layer. like pulling a wire from its conduit. I believe when the damage is that far along, no amount of beneficial bacteria can repair it to the point where you still want that plant on your team.

Attached is a photo of the base of the stalk that I pulled out. just like you described, it was mushy, brown to black colored, the skin would come off easily if you rubbed it, and it had white spores in a circle around the base. the spores are still present in the photo of the dried stalk. nasty shit... going to dump... not in the compost pile.

 

[weednazi]

Tops of the affected branch were wilty... Went ahead and mixed up some systemic fungicide called Agri-Fos. 2 oz per gallon. Sprayed the lady, poured a gallon on the roots. now we wait and see. I i don't see marked improvement by tomorrow, i am going to probably cut the 1" diameter branch at the base to avoid it traveling to the rest of the plant.

I'm not a biologist....I have no info to back up that claim, it is only my backwoods remedy. we will see if it works. working on getting a tissue sample analyzed...

 

[weednazi]

Cut It Out

Cut It Out

Checked on the afflicted branch this morning. No marked improvement. Would have liked to wait much longer to see if the Agri-Fos had any effect, however, I am concerned about it spreading deeper in to the plants stem then into the roots. I cut the branch out.

In the 2nd picture you can see a diagonal line under the skin where the fungus has damaged the plant tissue on the left. Appears undamaged to the right.

In the stem sectional picture, you can clearly see some brown discoloration. This became more pronounced by the time I took the picture about 15 min after I cut it out. The other end of the branch (wider end) that was connected to the main stem didn't appear to have the same discoloration.

It makes me draw the conclusion that the infection happened somewhere within the 12" section of branch. Possibly from a site that I previously pruned. That seems to make the most sense. Trying to bring tissue sample for analysis. Will keep you posted

 

[weednazi]

sectional shots.

 

[weednazi]

sectional shots.

 

[sudsandbuds]

this is all really interesting.from the pictures showed previously i now think i have been effected by scabs, and by some sort of weird fungus. a few of my plants have started to wilt pretty badly and are on the verge of death, but some how a few of those branches perked back up. ill post pictures soon

 

[weednazi]

I spoke with a friend... he said he is having a similar issue on a couple MK plants.. Mysterious wilting, then yellowing of leaves, followed by death.. A couple of friends in his circle also having similar issue.

the only correlation we all have is that we all use a certain granular humus in our tea recipe. Also Plant Age.. I cut clones Feb 1.. These plants were huge when they went in the pots June 1.

Not sure if that is some fungal scale or woody stalk, because further up the stems and branches, it is nothing but green. In my experience, mature clone plants develop a more woodlike stem.

Sudsandbuds Interested to see your pics.

 

[OMMPatient]

You guys ever heard of myclobutinil??

Systemic and use in veg only. Grape farmers love this stuff.


Spectracide Immunox-Multi Purpose Fungicide Concentrate
$14.99
At Ace Hardware

 

[SicKSKills]

looks like fusarium wilt