• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

Weird thin stem problem

J

Jaimalalanus

I came back from work the other day and here's what I found :


3 plants were like this. One fell down and died, a Brain Strain. One jalapeno plant (the one pictured) and a primo, still (barely) standing up. What is causing this? Miniature beavers turning my plants into a dam? Insects waking up from winter and eating the stems? Some kind of disease? Fungus?
It doesn't look eaten, it looks more like it shrunk than anything else. Thanks in advance for the help.
 
I would say damping off, The only thing I can really suggest is to cover it up with soil. Watch the watering and make sure to bottom water
 
The one time I water from the top, just to see what it does to the plants... haha! Won't be doing that again. Glad to hear I can probably just cover it up (sweep that mistake under the rug), it was kind of leggy anyway. Thanks a bunch.
 
This is what i have done with success.
Cover it back up and put some hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, the regular stuff you get at the drugstore) on the covered stem twice a day, for two days and continue to water from the bottom. Just a cap full each time is all you need. It will oxidize the area killing the bacteria involved.
 
Yeah, looks like damping off. I've had several plants do that and actually bounce back fine if you do what these people say: disinfect and cover it up. In my experience, cutworms actually attack just below the soil line, but this plant is still in a solo anyway, so no danger of them yet.
 
Do you have a fan on your plants? Its obviously dampening off, but I have never bottom watered and never had problems.
 
T-TOOL-1011-1__wire-stripping-pliers-cutter-clamp.jpg


Wrong pruning tool!
 
No this happened to me with about 10 plants not hardening off the plants correctly for some reason it attacks the stem just right where it hits the soil

I managed to save 4 or 5 plants by burying the stem
 
I had a plant damping off that I cut just above the thin spot, dipped the stem in rooting hormone, then stuck in some dirt. It's now a very fast growing plant loaded with pods.
 
Cooler, damp conditions are ripe for this type of fungus. Then again, I still get this from time to time regardless of what is done to prevent it. The spores are carried by wind, rain, bugs, and looking at the plants the wrong way...lol You could propagate the plant after cutting, burry the infected area in hopes of the plant recovering or just cut your losses. Damping off is like a cruel joke the pepper gods play when they are feeling spiteful.
 
See. It happens to all of us. Just took these shots of a gold bullet. Overall the plant was doing great compared to the others, then the last few days I started noticing it stalling. Checked under the surface of the soil and there it was. Some chamomile tea one day and a very active AACT the next. Hope and pray. Few more days and she kicked right back up, luckily. Note the new growth at the nodes where I took off spotted leaves.

8718173568_07ea438039_o.jpg



8718173524_e565930a05_o.jpg
 
I did have a small fan blowing, but only 1-2 hours a day, probably wasn't enough for those particular plants All the rest (over 50 plants) are doing just great, hardening them off outside at the moment.
I ended up just covering the stem with more soil, we'll see how that goes.
Great recovery Guru! My jalapeno still looks very healthy, probably caught it at just the right time, the primo too, but he can barely stand up, I hope he'll make as good a recovery as that gold bullet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top