Is this mold on my stems??

[vasavasorum1]

Hey, I noticed this yesterday. I've got a DWC with a top drip that has been running 24/7. The medium is hydroton rocks and the ladies were taken and put into these bark plugs, kinda like a peat cube/jiffy cube.

The water was splashing up onto the stems from the drip lines.
It looked like just salt build up so I didn't think much of it for a couple days and then when I finally cleaned it off, it was more connected than salt and underneath, the stems were brown and damaged!

Is this some sort of mold? I don't have pictures of the actual stuff on there.

I let them dry out for 24 hours with a fan blowing on the stems. Now it's not looking any better so I sprayed the affected parts with a 1.5 tablespoon 3% hydrogen peroxide mixed with almost a pint of water.
I wasn't sure if this would just hurt them more, but they weren't looking any better!

The one plant that has the really choked section had a couple of discolored leaf tips today. The color almost reminds me of blight that I had on a tomato plant in that same room last year.......

I've also been spraying the plants with neem oil once a week or so to maintain control over spider mites...

THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP!

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[FreezerBoy]

It doesn't have the grey, undead, zombie look of mold that I'm familiar with. Powdery mildew looks like powdered sugar. It has the look of nute buildup. It fits the mention of top drip and splashing. Double, extra, concentrated nutes will certainly burn (instead of a tsp per gal you have a tsp straight on the stem... yoiks) H202 is for killing stuff, it won't bring dead stuff back.

Short term, I'd pull the pot and dunk it repeatedly in fresh pH adjusted nute free water until all trace of buildup is gone and stop spraying gunk all over it.

Long term, If your's is a straight DWC rather than a WaterFarm, lose the drip ring. I'd finish the grow then field strip and sterilize everything solid while trashing anything porous and then be more careful what I bring in to the garden so Neem becomes unneccessary.

 

[RubeGoldberg]

is it hard to the touch?

sort of looks like excess rooting hormone was used, and its almost just a bulging stem/callus type thing

 

[Stonetech]

It looks like mold to me, I've had this problem with top feed before. I think you need to stick those drip lines down into the pot a couple inches. The only way to treat it is to let the affected area dry out completely.

 

[Kcar]

Yes on the second pic. Looks like overwatering. Got to let that stuff dry out some.

 

[vasavasorum1]

So, I have removed the top watering portion and have let the stems dry out. The one that was really pinched is somehow still alive!
I think this system also led to root rot for that lady. She was always a bit behind the rest and the roots never developed and now they are just pathetic. I'm considering removing it to make space for the rest since its super packed. It can't even really support itself and if new roots don't start showing up I just don't think it will make it

 

[terminalc]

Have you checked for Root Aphids with a 30X loop? The crowns on those plants look real familiar.

 

[rashboy99]

is it hard to the touch?

sort of looks like excess rooting hormone was used, and its almost just a bulging stem/callus type thing

^^^^ or excess salt build up