Gotcha. Its hard to tell what I am looking at on the stem. Without a microscope picture I just don't know.

You can use a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol and use that on your stalks. That will kill what you have going on there on contact and not harm your stalks. Nematodes watered into your soil 1 x per week for 3 weeks in a row will boost your beneficials while feeding on bad microorganisms and get rid of these things on your stalks that are likely living in the soil.

https://www.naturesgoodguys.com/collections/beneficial-nematodes