Some kind of wilt.

[Cactus Squatter]

So a few weeks back I noticed one branch of a massive KA5H x HonPan had a single wilted/mostly dead branch. I cut that off, didn’t see anything weird and just let it go. Week by week it progresses a single branch at a time. Also slowly started scarring up the stem.
Came back yesterday from a week away and 90% of one of the largest plants I’ve ever grown was dead. I just cut it all out this morning.

At the same time, my Zamaldelica x Ethiopia just had one branch start doing the same thing, and a Purple Satellite that was doing fine and getting close to ready completely wilted in a weeks time and died.

I’m assuming it’s some time of Fusarium or a similar fungus. Stems got a black mold growing in them on the big plant.

It really sucks because that KA5H x HonPan had a main stem the size of my forearm and was going to be so insanely heavy flowering.

 

[Creeperpark]

They had too much water.

 

[Cactus Squatter]

It isn’t a water issue. This particular plant was a test for me on whether or not I could gorilla grow in the desert areas without attending to it. The only water it got is what came out of the sky.

 

[Cactus Squatter]

There’s also another plant 1 foot away growing in the exact same conditions without any issues. It’s a very different growing pheno of the same cross and hasn’t shown one sign of this problem.

 

[led05]

There’s been some very unusual black & brown fungal rot going @ here in the Northeast, imo it began last year, the warm winter allowed it to easily stick @… I’ve been talking to farmers @ the states, lots seeing unusual too… effected my garlic, apples, pears but not peaches, berries, peppers, tomatoes etc… some apple varietals not others, never had my fall garlic rot, not once ever and it did this past year… it’s fungal & likely a viral issue(s) too imo but not sure exactly what or if it’s singular in nature… In perennials it’s easier to follow as they fight longer, some win, some brush off like nothing, eventually others succumb to the chop…

You may have something entirely different but I do know there’s an unusual black rot hitting cannabis plants too all @ - hitting you that hard in a dessert makes me lean viral too

GL buddy - it sucks, I’ve chopped 5-6 apple & pear trees already this year

It wouldn’t surprise me if the BMSB are spreading it

PS: nice pavers, mine been down nearly a decade but I think the same

 

[Creeperpark]

The fruit on that broken limb should have been thinned out to keep it from breaking. The split in the bark is from sun scaled.

The term “frost crack” describes vertical cracks in trees caused by alternating freezing and thawing temperatures. When the bark alternately contracts with freezing temperatures and expands on warm days, a crack is likely to occur. A tree with a crack is in no immediate danger and may live for several years. Google
Below is for the above fruit tree.
Dry weather (which slows growth) followed by wet or ideal growth conditions may cause an excessive or vigorous amount of growth leading to splits in the bark. Sunscald, especially in Winter months, can cause bark injury to thin-barked or young trees. Google

 

[Creeperpark]

Having the main stem the size of your forearm is what may have caused the problem. You say the only water the plant got is what came out of the sky. You talk about desert areas without attending to the plants. So that tells me its a watering issue, not a fungal, problem friend.

 

[led05]

The fruit on that broken limb should have been thinned out to keep it from breaking. The split in the bark is from sun scaled.

The term “frost crack” describes vertical cracks in trees caused by alternating freezing and thawing temperatures. When the bark alternately contracts with freezing temperatures and expands on warm days, a crack is likely to occur. A tree with a crack is in no immediate danger and may live for several years. Google
Below is for the above fruit tree.
Dry weather (which slows growth) followed by wet or ideal growth conditions may cause an excessive or vigorous amount of growth leading to splits in the bark. Sunscald, especially in Winter months, can cause bark injury to thin-barked or young trees. Google

Share your harvest pics master and I’ll mine… your certainty toward both us within this thread; from afar I might add screams too much ego and hubris, and certainly not enough hands on experience…

I put this humbly

 

[Creeperpark]

Looking at the top of the plant you still see green foliage. The fungal disease starts at the top of plants and will yellow from top to bottom. With water issues, the leaves die from the bottom up . Its not fungal.
If it were fungal it would be the cause of watering issues.

Why do I have fungus in my plants?

High humidity and low airflow are the primary causes of white mold. Planting your vegetation without adequate spacing where it cannot get proper air circulation, or overwatering your garden or potting soil can create prime conditions for white mold to grow. Google

 

[Creeperpark]

Share your harvest pics master and I’ll mine… your certainty toward both us within this thread; from afar I might add screams too much ego and hubris, and certainly not enough hands on experience…

I put this humbly

I've been in the horticulture business for over 30 years. Made a damn good living doing it too. I put this humbly.

 

[Cactus Squatter]

Looking at the top of the plant you still see green foliage. The fungal disease starts at the top of plants and will yellow from top to bottom. With water issues, the leaves die from the bottom up . Its not fungal.
If it were fungal it would be the cause of watering issues.

Why do I have fungus in my plants?

High humidity and low airflow are the primary causes of white mold. Planting your vegetation without adequate spacing where it cannot get proper air circulation, or overwatering your garden or potting soil can create prime conditions for white mold to grow. Google

These died from the top down. The wilt started at the tip of a branch, and progressed down to the main. At the base of each branch black mold looking crap appeared.
What you call sun scald is also not, it is where this stuff spread up and down the main stem from that first initial branch that was infected. It was in the shade as it spread and hadn’t been in direct sunlight until I started cutting it apart for removal this morning and took pictures. I watched as it spread over the weeks from that initial branch to the entire plant. It did it branch by branch, not the whole plant at once and it has taken several weeks to do so. Half the plant I cut out this morning was still alive, very healthy looking and unaffected yet, but was in the path of this crap that slowly moved both up and down the stem from that first infected branch.

So again, no it isn’t a watering issue and is something fungal or pathogenic. I can see fungal growth where every branch connected to the main stem, and the plant fiber itself was really weird feeling inside. It basically crumbled apart. Other plants in the same soil, watering and growing conditions have zero issues.

 

[xet]

It looks like it was given a gallon of gasoline.

Realistically one of the plant's essential roots came under the influence of soil compaction which turned that specific area of soil highly anaerobic and the branch which relied on that root's sustenance became a vector and substrate for growing a Cannabis-plant-shaped death fungus.

 

[kalopatchkid]

In Hawaii, we have these black twig borer beetles that carry fusarium and they will attack cannabis plants and cause branches to wilt or kill entire plants.

I've also had instances where I have missed a watering and the plant wilted real bad, but after the plant recovers from a watering some of the branches would get the same black fungus and wilt off after a few days.

 

[Cactus Squatter]

It looks like it was given a gallon of gasoline.

Realistically one of the plant's essential roots came under the influence of soil compaction which turned that specific area of soil highly anaerobic and the branch which relied on that root's sustenance became a vector and substrate for growing a Cannabis-plant-shaped death fungus.

That is one thing I plan on checking is the whole area of soil to see if there’s a big clay pocket or something that I missed when that area was prepped.

 

[Creeperpark]

These died from the top down. The wilt started at the tip of a branch, and progressed down to the main. At the base of each branch black mold looking crap appeared.
What you call sun scald is also not, it is where this stuff spread up and down the main stem from that first initial branch that was infected. It was in the shade as it spread and hadn’t been in direct sunlight until I started cutting it apart for removal this morning and took pictures. I watched as it spread over the weeks from that initial branch to the entire plant. It did it branch by branch, not the whole plant at once and it has taken several weeks to do so. Half the plant I cut out this morning was still alive, very healthy looking and unaffected yet, but was in the path of this crap that slowly moved both up and down the stem from that first infected branch.

So again, no it isn’t a watering issue and is something fungal or pathogenic. I can see fungal growth where every branch connected to the main stem, and the plant fiber itself was really weird feeling inside. It basically crumbled apart. Other plants in the same soil, watering and growing conditions have zero issues.

Lastly, in the last sentence, you stated-
"Other plants in the same soil, watering and growing conditions have zero issues." If you had a real fungus bloom the other plants would be infected too.
I have walked up on plants in the wild exactly like the one above and have seen them die from the bottom up many times. It's not fugal it's a watering issue. Investigate, dig your plant up and get a good look at the root ball and check the hole for the reason your plant died. Too much drainage, or not enough organic matter to hold water longer. Do a slurry soil test on the soil with some distilled water. It's not fugal, it's a watering issue.

You posted a question in the infirmary and got an answer but you don't like the answer, maybe because of personal error, I'm not sure. I'm sorry Friend you are closed-minded to an answer to your problem. Thank you for sharing your work with us.

 

[led05]

I've been in the horticulture business for over 30 years. Made a damn good living doing it too. I put this humbly.

And yet your completely wrong and totally misinformed about what’s going on here; lots of people have careers, jobs, but not all excel at them as much as they believe they do - diagnosing from afar over another experts opinion, ignoring their info is ego, take it as you may…

But I’m very happy for you , that you made a career doing something you love, it’s rare

 

[Capt.Ahab]

Ive had the exact same problem in the past where the plant rubbed against the tomato cage it was in and the infection set in on the wound in the "bark" at those rubbed areas.
Ive also had that infection set in at areas where I removed a fan leaf and it pulled a strip of bark off below the fan leaf. Thus creating a small open exposed area.
The exposed area gets infected and the infection eventually runs up inside the stem . When I cut the infected stem or branch off the blue/grey mold is up inside the hollow of the branch. Eventually the leaves yellow and the entire branch dies just as Cactus Squatter describes.

 

[Cactus Squatter]

Lastly, in the last sentence, you stated-
"Other plants in the same soil, watering and growing conditions have zero issues." If you had a real fungus bloom the other plants would be infected too.
I have walked up on plants in the wild exactly like the one above and have seen them die from the bottom up many times. It's not fugal it's a watering issue. Investigate, dig your plant up and get a good look at the root ball and check the hole for the reason your plant died. Too much drainage, or not enough organic matter to hold water longer. Do a slurry soil test on the soil with some distilled water. It's not fugal, it's a watering issue.

You posted a question in the infirmary and got an answer but you don't like the answer, maybe because of personal error, I'm not sure. I'm sorry Friend you are closed-minded to an answer to your problem. Thank you for sharing your work with us.

Yeah, but read everything else. Other plants right next to it in same condition zero issues. Downwind of it other plants are effected in the same way. Those plants are in fabric pots, not the ground, and are in a vastly different soil mix.

This is some sort of fungal, and I’m not interested in your “water” arguments anymore. I’ve watched how it spread, I’ve watched how it is effective all of the plants with it. It isn’t watering and I’m don’t with that course of convo with you.
You aren’t the only one here with over a decade of growing experience and the way you talk to people smacks of ego so I’m no longer interested in hearing/reading it.

 

[xet]

the plant rubbed against the tomato cage it was in and the infection set in on the wound in the "bark" at those rubbed areas

 

[Capt.Ahab]

Im not a microbiologist but it seems what is happening is explained in your first photo.