Sorry it took a bit to reply
This is kinda a rant that is directed towards just generalized public and thus some of the text may not be something directed towards you
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Anyway, here's what I, and my friends, have experienced....
There have been a large number of mould issues in the area in the last month or two due to extremely wet conditions.
Some of the issues are moulds (and generalized infection) growing on the outside of the pot and then growing on to the bottom/sides of the plant and its roots causing bacterial, fungal, viral or other issues causing root rot.
One of the early indications of mold on your pot will be fuzzy white stuff on your pot. There's a difference between hard water stains/nutrient salts run off and mold.
Nutrient salts will literally look like salt (NaCl) when you look at it. It will be a white to slightly off white (a yellowish white is possible) salt which doesn't come off if you lightly rub it for about 5-20 seconds. Also if you scrape the excess nutrient salts with your finger nail it will be just turn into like a powder that's a little rough feeling like... well... salt (NaCl).
Now, mouldy plants and their pots (again, discussing cloth pots here) may have a wispy and cotton/fiber looking fluff around its edges that also looks like a spider web. One of the easiest ways to know what mould looks like is to grow out mushrooms. Once you see a few successes and, more importantly, a few failures growing mushrooms, you will learn a lot of different moulds and such. This knowledge will allow you to view unique infections in a jar without causing contamination to your house/grow.
One of the other big issues you will see is the "mean green" mould. This mould is distinctive. It looks similar to black mould while it starts growing, but turns green and slime like (almost like really gross algae). Green Mould is VERY BAD.
When the black mould grows it gets a slight dark royal blue tint to the edges of the mould growth. If, during initial growth, the infection is fast, the mould can contaminate the whole grow within 24 to 48 hours making you say "bye bye" to all your hard work. Infection can come about for seemingly no reason known to you, the grower.
Another thing you can notice with mould is what i call "odd mould".
Odd Mould is nothing more than mould that isnt the main three i discussed (wispy/white mould, "mean green" and the deadly black mould). Main types of odd mould are the deadly red/pink mould and the even weirder (and very rare if you're not in a specific part of the country that can be revealed if discussed privately via pm) purple mould that (as stated) only grows locally. This purple mould is something very interesting, and it is such a rare thing that it makes me shocked. This has been known locally by growers to be called "catfish disease" because the first instance of the mould/fungus in grows was by me as an accident after handling a cat fish from this specific location. I accidentally took the infection back to my grow from the kitchen. This is why you ALWAYS take precautions specifically against mould/fungus. While catfish disease it is more of a bacteria, the local university has identified it as a mould that is in a symbiotic relationship with some bacteria.
Obviously with mould (and bacterial) infections, you want to trash (preferably burn) the plant. Another thing you want to do is trash the pot. It may seem like it would be cheaper to just keep the pot and clean it with bleach, but it can still be infected and can destroy a grow after you just restarted... A new pot is as cheap or cheaper than a single seed so it is worth the time to buy. Obviously you want to clean the entire grow area (tent or whatever have you) by sterilizing with bleach (aka comet/clorox/etc) and letting it air out for a day or so.
On another side note, locally there was a huge stink bug infestation in 2017, this was not an issue as they dont do anything to my plants. HOWEVER, I noticed that this year there was a gnat infestation in my grow but once the stink bugs started moving in, they started eating the gnats and the gnat problem resolved. I have no infestation now, but I keep vinegar, brown sugar and dawn dish soap in a few canning jars with open lids in case there is an issue.
Anyway, that was my sermon for now.
Thanks everyone for letting me preach to the choir
