So, I did my first defoliation and training today and discovered some stem rot at the base of my plant. I know where things went wrong, so I thought I'd share some thoughts on grow room hygiene, air circulation, and pruning, all of which would might have prevented of mitigated the problem.
Take a look at the second pic...health branch on the left side, slimy little stub on right that fell off while I was defoliating....$#CK!!!!! I'm sorry I didn't start taking pics before I started trying to fix this, but imagine a slimy RW cube with the top edge right at the base of that bottom branch.
Hygiene:
I started a few trays of bedding plants in my tent earlier this spring and the soil had a little bit of green algae on it. Of course the spores were floating around in the tent and when I started my weed seeds, they took root on the top of the rockwool and that was what started the stem rot. If I hadn't introduced the contamination into my grow area in the first place, and if I'd wiped down to inside of the tent with some bleach and water, before starting my seeds, I'm pretty sure the problem could have been prevented completely.
Air circulation:
Before I transferred the starter cube into the net pot and then into the aero bucket, I trimmed the cube, cleaned off the algae, set the cube low in the basket and covered it with hydroton. My thinking was that if the cube was buried and there wasn't any light on the algae, all would be well. I should have probably done the opposite and left the top of the cube exposed to the air, let it dry out and not had the first nodes down below the top rim of the basket, where the nasty shit was apparently still active. Also, I've got my fan hanging right where it was after my last flower cycle, about a foot and a half from where it should have been for a five node seedling.
Pruning:
This pheno is a stubby little thing, and I knew it was going to be a pain in the ass to prune, so I left it for a week longer than I should have. If I'd started stripping back the excessive fan leaves, I would have seen the problem and dealt with it sooner.
Dealing with it:
Thankfully, it doesn't look too bad and I think I've got it sorted out. I pulled all the hydroton out and washed it in a 10% bleach/water solution and then put it in the microwave to steam clean for 10 minutes, so it's sterile (this is SOP for me starting each grow). My root ball is still healthy and white, but I gave it the bottom of the plant / top of the roots a H2O2 bath, which I hope sterilized the problem area before I replaced the hydroton. Defoliation and training was done to about 70%. I left a few branches and leaves that I probably would remove under normal circumstances, but I want to get some clones off this girl in the next ten days in case the stem rot turns out to be fatal.
If she keeps going well, training isn't going to be as straightforward as I'd hoped as the plant has a pretty distinct asymmetry, not just from the missing bottom branch, but all the way up the plant. Normally a seed grown plant puts out the main branches from the central stem pretty much on opposite sides of the stem and in line. This girl has her opposing branches offset vertically, just like you'd see from a clone branch...weird, but I'll see what I can do with it.
BTW...I tossed all my RW last time I organized my grow room... time to try some rapid rooters.
Comments and feedback, welcome as always.
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