Stem turning red

[hellucinogen]

I am a little worried, this morning I woke up and noticed that on my tallest plant on nodes 4-5(counting from soil up) the stem has turned a reddish brown color, should I be concerned about this, if it is something wrong what is it, and how can I stop it?

[skagardener]

my top node too has done this, the slickness of it too, has also been worn and it is very rough textured now, i dont think its anything to worry about, and if it is the plant will get rid of it.

[goatfish101]

Please post pictures if possible.

[Arcygenical]

Definitely post pics.

This sometimes happens to me, and the clone usually dies. Try spraying them with a 10% concentration of hydrogen peroxide solution (10ml of the 3% bottled stuff per 100ml of distilled water).

[hellucinogen]

Since, I've been at work it has spread a little more and it looks a little droopy, except for the one that has 2 branches it is actually growing now. here are some pics. though.
http://www.salviasource.org/images/gallery/954.jpg
http://www.salviasource.org/images/gallery/956.jpg
This next one here is the one thats doing pretty good
http://www.salviasource.org/images/gallery/955.jpg
Also with last pic. if you go to the gallery and make this pic bigger you get a nice close-up of that stem.

[skagardener]

o, wow. nevermind. ive never seen anything like that. hope you can get that straight. arcy, just cuz im curious, do you know what this is?

[hellucinogen]

I just thought of this, cut the top part off and try to root it, and then cut off the red part and leave the rest planted in the soil and see if it grows.

[Arcygenical]

Hellucinogen, where did you get your plants from? That looks pretty bad.

What conditions are you keeping the plants under?

Try touching the stem. Is it moist or mushy? Dry and hard?

[hellucinogen]

where it's red it feels like it has shriveled up and dry, and right where it begins to turn red it is soft. I got them from e-bay., should I immediately seperate it from the one thats doing good so it doesnt spread?

[Arcygenical]

yes. Quarantine it immediately. I'm not sure what it is... But you might try wiping it with hydrogen peroxide on a sterile cotton pad (in the afflicted area).

[hellucinogen]

Well, I salvaged a cutting from it, and carefully removed it from the other plant, and to my surprise it only had 2 roots!!! I examined the part of the stem that was of concern and it appeared to be dying, and shriveling up, so I'm guessing I did the right thing. I must say I've never seen any kind of plant do that before(it litterally happened over night), I took a couple of years of horticulture/ floriculture in high school, and from what I remember stuff like that usually starts at one end of the plant and works it way from there. On a good note though the other plant that was right next to it is experiencing really good growth, everyday those 2 new leaves get noticeably bigger, and it's about to unfold 2 more new leaves.

[Arcygenical]

If it only had two roots, well. I think that's your problem right there .

eBay plants... Sheesh...

[SalvinorinLighter]

Best bet is to take a piece of it and place it on agar to further identify it as it may turn out different colors on plant tissue. Method for agar. I used to grow shiitake mushrooms. I had to make hundreds of agar plates. I'll post the recipe in a second.