First time grower and I have made it to about the 6 week mark for my first seeds. I just noticed around the base of the stem on my best white marugo scorpion plant, it appears to be black and rotting. Very bummed out about this. Is this a watering issue? Can it be corrected or is this one a lost cause? It looks like it is doing good other wise from what I can tell. Any input appreciated. TY
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disease-pests Stem appears to be rotting at the base
- Thread starter 91300zx
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Yea that doesn’t look too promising unfortunately. Best way to avoid this is to bottom water and have good air circulation. I’ve saved plants like this by cutting above the dead spot, dipping in rooting hormone powder and putting in a humidity dome. It could work
appreciate your reply. I do have a fan going just not 24/7. I try to bottom water although I will use a spray bottle from time to time. Figures it is the main one i wanted to grow. Any powder you might recommend?
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The soil does look a little too wet from the picture. Are you familiar with rooting hormone powder and cloning plants? I really think that could work with this plant.
I would be a complete noobie on the topic. Just gave them a watering today. Last bottomed watered about 2 days ago
You could even just let it dry out a little and see if it recovers. Give it some support with a bamboo skewer and the stem might “scar” and recover. I’ve done that a couple times and got lucky both times. The bamboo skewer will just help keep it upright while you hope for the best
Thanks for the input. I'll let that one dry out a little more going forward.
That looks like damping off. To prevent that in the future, make sure the container has good drainage and be careful not to overwater. Putting a fan on them for a few hours a day can help dry out the top of the soil too. The safest course of action would be to toss the affected plant, soil, and container to prevent it from spreading. With that being said, I have saved seedlings before by cutting above the affected section and rooting it as Edmick suggested. It works sometimes. I have also saved plants on occasion by hitting the stem with Daconil (a fungicide). Lowe's and Home Depot usually carry it. That can also work, as long as the pathogen isn't also attacking the roots. I would also move the infected plant away from the others and repot with fresh potting soil, since damping off is caused by soil-borne pathogens. I would also replace the container itself, or at the very least clean out the container with a bleach solution before repotting. Changing the soil will also give you a chance to look at the roots. If they are all brown and mushy, then it could be best to go for the cutting and rooting method, if you still want to try to save the plant.