Strange white patch on oxygona

[MadridPeter]

Hi all! I found a funny white point in the side of one rib so I picked at it with a nail file and it didn't move much so I noticed a while after that time that the white patch has grown as if it oozed..no other part of plant is affected and the plant is plump and growing very well..any suggestions what it might be??? The effects from wetting the stem while watering? Local water supply too much salts? Maybe fertiliser or salt expulsion? It has not spread , is firm , plant healthy and no sign of critters walking around stem hmmm

[greenknight]

The only thing I've seen that looks like that is spider eggs, but of course that would scrape right off. Very strange.

[MadridPeter]

I have noticed 4 different spider species in my apartment..2 jumping spider species and 2 web making ones..my wife has tropical plants that tend to be wet and that attracts small flies/fungus gnats so i would say thats what attracts the spiders and sure enough in the window beside a Dracaena fragrans CV Massangeana (corn plant or tronco de Brasil) there is a web with a mass graveyard of small flies underneath...but i read a suggestion that the white mark on this oxygona of mine could be the plant expelling excess salt or minerals through its stem...i cant think of another possibility but hopefully others can enlighten me..i did recently water it pouring on the stem (water + fertiliser) .... i usually water the soil only..maybe it didnt like that

[greenknight]

Maybe you need to leach out the soil, which is something we should all do periodically. If watering with hard water, you need to do it more often.

Spiders love my cacti, too, and I'm happy to have them around. It does look kind of bad when they crawl in under the spines and glue an egg mass to the cactus stem, though.

[MadridPeter]

yeah i might try that leaching although that plant had its soil changed only about 4 months ago hmm

yeah I dont mind the spiders at all although i had never seen a jumping spider before moving to Spain...found them sorta creepy in the beginning...i was picking up a cactus in a garden centre and one jumped out of the pot suddenly..fast movers..they need to be i suppose seeing as i dont think they use any webbing..other family members at home are not fans of any spiders