stem growth issues

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prosport00

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Doing a grow with some cherry kush in hydro using advance nutrients G M B. my issue is when I first put the plugs from a young seedling, 3-4 weeks, into the hydro bucket, no nutes yet, there develops a brown area about 2" above the medium level. It never recovers, has a weak brown spot and falls over about 2-3 weeks later with 8-10" of foliage. Very thin stem at this point but normal growth above till the top gets to large for the damaged stem to support. Never had this issue before and have had a few casualties because of it. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!!
 
Stem rot.

Caused by to much moisture in the plug laying against the stem. Needs to have a dry period.
 
:yeahthat: In smaller seedlings its known as "damping off" because the stem stays too wet and begins to rot. It could be that you have been keeping them too moist, or it may be an inherent weakness in that particular strain that makes it subject to the damping off. allow the surviving plants to dry out more between waterings to see if that helps. :)
 
Thanks so much!! That makes sense with my system!!
 
Been off here for a year. Isn't there a like or thanks button that I can give you guys appreciation?? Been a while :)
 
No special thanks are necessary. We are happy to help fellow growers :)
 
Could this be caused by putting the plug to deep in the medium????
 
I do think you had stem rot, but hydro plants cannot go 3-4 weeks without food. This could also be an issue. With dirt, there is at least some nutrients in the soil, water usually (hopefully) has no or very little dissolved solids in the water. Are you checking the ppms and the pH of your solution? This is critical with hydro.
 
What medium do you have those plugs in while they are growing. Usually damping off only happens with the smaller seedlings. Once a plant is established, that is not as big of a problem. In your hydro system, do you aerate the water really well. without aeration, the plant will drown unless it is really allowed to dry out well between watering. However, in typical hydro setups, your plants will stay wet below the stem. I have even seen systems where the plants roots were literally floating in water all the way up to the stem but because the water was very aerated, it didn't cause any problems.
 
Growing in hydroton for last 3 years with 1 or 2 issues. I do keep the pH and ppm in range and use advance nutrients G M B that manages both. Maybe just a bad spell. Thanks for the input always.
 
It seems like you may have a pathogen present in your grow area that is getting to some of the plants each time, most likely a fungus. I think you might should try getting some fungicide and spray them early on and spray the pots and medium when you are first getting started and see if that will block the fungus that is causing this.
 
I am thinking it was stem rot and I stopped putting the plugs so deep in the hydroton which I think was holding to much moisture at the stem.
I started some more, and have made the transition to the buckets and things are going well. Been at this for awhile and just got to comfy!! Thanks for the help!!
 
cool :) its good to know we have a solution to the problem
 
I do not believe that you have the stem too far into the hydrotron--I believe it is another issue. I usually germ and clone in rapiud rooters and then put them into hydrotron. I often lay the cubes on their sides and curl the stem around completely buried in the hydrotron and never have any issues doing this. I believe that Hush called it when he said you have some kind of pathogen. Sterilize EVERYTHING and I bet the problem goes away. Burying the stem completely in a system with proper temps and aeration should not cause problems.

Also, please feed them sooner. Hydro plants cannot go 3-4 weeks without food.
 
Well, I have done a top to bottom cleaning/sterilization. Hoping for better things moving forward!! Thanks for the info all, it is appreciated.
 
Let's hope that takes care of it. You will also want to sterilize all your containers and hydrotron, if you did not.
 

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