Base of stem is dry

[chico1st]

Hi I am growing outdoors in southern ontario.
It's my first grow and I didn't do a great job. I think I'm 3 weeks into flower but some of my stems have a funny thing happening to them.
The base of the stem gets super dry and if it's windy they break.

It's not a huge issue but I don't know where it's coming from.
Image of example:
stem post breaking
what the dry spots looks like attached at the base of a stem (i snipped the branch)

If anyone has any ideas I am all ears!
The closest thing I have to a grow journal.

 

[Renfro]

That is definitely something fungal. Mold / Mildew of some type.

 

[Renfro]

Lookup sclerotinia

 

[go go kid]

stem/root rot. poor drainage

 

[chico1st]

Lookup sclerotinia

So mold sounds scary. Do I just carry on and try to ensure they are as healthy as possible? I read a little bit about sclerotina and it says treating really early is the only real solution.

stem/root rot. poor drainage

My soil has too much drainage if anything but it's damp outside now so I get it. I'm hopefully moving them inside this weekend actually, so I just make sure they dry out well once then carry on? then go back to a normal watering cycle (which involves regular dryness).

 

[go go kid]

one of my hindu kushes suffered the same early on in its growth, i gave it a good feed of seaweed solution. lost a third of a plant from it, but it never came back

 

[Renfro]

So mold sounds scary. Do I just carry on and try to ensure they are as healthy as possible? I read a little bit about sclerotina and it says treating really early is the only real solution.

Yeah SSR (sclerotinia stem rot) is a serious one, few survivors once the infection is this advanced. The best you can do is keep the plant from experiencing excessive humidity. Avoid overwatering, instead allow the soil to dry between watering. That said, this established form of white mold/mycelium is going to live on the moisture provided by the plant so there isn't a lot of hope for a cure but hopefully you can slow it down enough to get some harvest although my concern there is aflatoxin, I am not positive that sclerotinia wouldn't produce aflatoxins that could be harmful to the user, one should do some research on that.

If you can add a silicate to the feed it may help boost the plants defenses a little.

 

[chico1st]

So I wanted to post a little follow up on this.
1 - Most of my plant seems happy so I wonder if it is root rot or not. doesn't that affect the whole plant?
2 - Attached another picture. The dry/discolored spots are very specific.
3 - Today I brought everything into my tent to try to dry it out (fall is too wet! Even dew is like enough water for each day since nothing evaporates at the low fall temps! Ahh)

 

[chico1st]

Yeah SSR (sclerotinia stem rot) is a serious one, few survivors once the infection is this advanced. The best you can do is keep the plant from experiencing excessive humidity. Avoid overwatering, instead allow the soil to dry between watering. That said, this established form of white mold/mycelium is going to live on the moisture provided by the plant so there isn't a lot of hope for a cure but hopefully you can slow it down enough to get some harvest although my concern there is aflatoxin, I am not positive that sclerotinia wouldn't produce aflatoxins that could be harmful to the user, one should do some research on that.

If you can add a silicate to the feed it may help boost the plants defenses a little.

OK so Im pretty sure it is a stem canker.
It starts like this: https://autoflower-portal.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Phomopsis-species_stem-cankers-300x222.jpg
Then grows (one plant is less effected, 1 is basically entirely dead) see images.
I've just been watching my plants slowly dieing. There are in wk 6 of flower. One is basically dead and I've just been watching it to see what's up.

3 questions:
1- They are in wk 6 of ~10wks for my northern lights to finish. Is there a point in cutting them down now or ill just keep it going and see how much I get from it in 4 weeks?
2 - Is it safe? I will just cook it into weedbutter. I can't find much info on stem cankers, so I don't really know what's going on
3 - How do I prep for my next grow? Scrub down the walls of the tent and toss the soil?