bell pepper stem question - newbie alert!

[jepprey]

First time hydroponics grower here. I started with some bell peppers because I thought that would be the easiest. I'm starting to notice some ... furry/bumpy stuff growing towards the bottom of my stems before they hit the Rockwool. Some of it kind of looks like it might be little bits of rockwool growing into the stem. There's also some white stuff at the bottom on one of them. I was flipping through a book and thought it might be mealybugs... but when I Google'd around it doesn't look like it would mealybugs.

Do these pictures look alright to you all or do you see anything blatantly wrong?

Thanks,
Jeff

Sorry it wont let me post URLs apparently... remove the spaces below to see pics

www . understudied . com /plants/1.jpg
www . understudied . com /plants/2.jpg
www . understudied . com /plants/3.jpg
www . understudied . com /plants/4.jpg
www . understudied . com /plants/5.jpg

[kellypinto]

Hi “jepprey”. Can you please upload your image of your hydroponic system.