Mold Identification

[marcownz747]

Hey everybody.

I recently purchased a Hallertau and Tettnang rhizome from a hop retailer who occasionally posts on these forums. I have no intent of outing them in public, but when I received my rhizomes, I got the most beautiful Hallertau rhizome I've seen in a LONG time. But the Tettnang one had a small bit of white mold on it and was small and unimpressive. Due to the mold, I decided to plant it away from my Hallertau (both done in pots).

Since receiving the plants about 8 days ago, the Tettnang rhizome is dead, and the Hallertau rhizome is beautiful. Problem is... the mold has since spread to the Hallertau pot and no fungicide I can find is doing anything for it. I think it might be Sclerotinia Wilt, but I am not sure.

I've taken a picture of a small sample of it in the hopes that somebody might be able to help me identify the mold and possible ways of treating it. (For the record, I care more that my hops live than I do that they're organic. However, if the only solution is "Burn your hops and throw away the soil", so be it.)

(Also, for the record, the soil is much less damp than it appears to be in the picture.)

 

[TeeJo]

Well, I would have been pretty quick to have rinsed it with some sanitizing solution of one sort or another before planting it.
A dilute bleach solution (10 percent bleach or less, in water) gets suggested a lot. But if the rhizome is viable, it should grow and go just the same.

TeeJo

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

I know it is not a fungicide but try a spray Of neem oil. I swear it works. I was asked last year what was on the end of my rhizomes and I use root tone on the ends to give it more of a chance to grow. That is definitely mold. Contact the seller and make sure he is aware of the problem, It might be something they are not aware of. Kind of strange though, I wonder if they had gotten warm during shipping?

 

[TeeJo]

I dug around the web, searched Moldy Rhizomes, and many if not most of the hits were guys that had stored their hop rhizomes in the fridge in plastic bags for too long.

I would not read too much in to that there was some mold.

But if the seller will send you a fresh replacement...

TeeJo

 

[marcownz747]

I dug around the web, searched Moldy Rhizomes, and many if not most of the hits were guys that had stored their hop rhizomes in the fridge in plastic bags for too long.

I would not read too much in to that there was some mold.

But if the seller will send you a fresh replacement...

TeeJo

I'm not worried about the dead tettnang. I'm worried about the LIVING Hallertau that the mold ended up spreading to after potting. I've kept it off of the plant so far, but it's been extremely difficult to do so. If it's a harmless mold, so be it. But if it's one that will end up killing my living hallertau, and I can't figure out a way to get rid of the mold, I don't want to introduce the Hallertau to its final place in the yard.