Brown streaks inside the stem when cut
Found when a wilting stem is cut lengthwise; streaking runs up from the base..
- Also called
- vascular browning
- brown inside the stem
- stem discoloured inside
Likely causes, most likely first
Ranked for this sign on its own. Your stage, medium and readings change the order, so run the checker for your plant.
PossibleFusarium wilt or crown rot
Fix: No cure once infected: remove the plant with its medium in a bag, sanitise pots, trays and water lines, and use clean clones and new media. Reduce root stress (overwatering, heat, salts) on the rest.
Recovery: No further wilting plants over the next 2-3 weeks.
How to confirm it
- Cut a wilting stem lengthwise. On a wilting or dying branch, scrape the lower stem and cut it lengthwise with a clean blade. Brown streaks in the water-conducting tissue point to vascular wilt (Fusarium). A dark, sunken crown points to crown rot. Disinfect the blade afterwards.
- Send a sample to a plant diagnostic lab. For rots, wilts, leaf spots and viruses you can't separate by eye, send a fresh sample (whole plant with roots or a wilting branch with healthy and diseased tissue) in a sealed bag to a university or commercial plant diagnostic clinic. Results in days to 2 weeks.
- Look at the roots. Hydro: lift the net pot and look at the root mass in good white light. Containers: tip the plant out with a hand over the medium and look at the edges and bottom of the root ball. Healthy roots are white to cream with fine fuzzy tips. Brown roots whose outer layer slides off between the fingers leave a bare thread: rot. Firm, evenly tan roots with white tips in coloured solution are staining.
Look for
Lengthwise-cut stem showing brown vascular streaks beside clean white pith..
The full guide: Fusarium in cannabis: wilt, crown rot and bud rot
Guidance, not a guarantee. The checker weighs common causes against what you tell it; confirm with the tests before you treat, change one thing at a time and watch the new growth.