New cactus owner, help please.

[alyeskas]

Hi, hello! My cousin recently gifted me with a cactus (at least, I'm pretty sure it's a cactus), and as is very obvious I'm a complete noob at taking care of one. I've had it for about a week and a half now. It was watered right before it was given to me, and I soaked it again a week after on advice from the internet (I let it drain and sit out afterwards). It's been living on my top shelf, right under an east-facing window that's partially shaded by an overhang. I live in the Philippines, and it's October now so the weather is very rainy and mostly overcast, but not too gloomy. I dust it every so often too with a fluffy brush (aka a recycled makeup brush).

I checked up on it this morning and there's an odd brownish-yellow, cakey sort of growth creeping up from the base. It chips off fairly easily when I try scraping at it lightly. I've checked forums but I get confused about what it could be so I wanna ask. It's not a bug problem, that I'm sure of. Can anyone help because I really don't want this little guy to die on me!!

I've attached a photo of what it looks like. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!!

[iann]

Looks like fairly typical corking. Are you sure it is spreading rather than you just noticing now? It doesn't usually spread fast enough to notice in a week. Chipping off doesn't sound good, you're probably damaging the plant by removing scarred parts of its skin. You might possibly have scale, which can be scraped off quite easily, but that's not what the photo looks like.

So plant it up, double-check for scale, and don't water it any more. Watering soon after disturbing a cactus is risky. The roots won't be working properly and any damage will be susceptible to rotting. If the soil isn't dry already, you might want to drag the poor thing out of the soil, let it dry out, and replant in dry soil. Read up a bit on what sort of soil would be suitable. There's no rush, it will survive out of soil for many months before even starting to suffer.

[alyeskas]

It could have just been quietly spreading without my notice, since I normally just bring him down to dust him off a little. But the other day I decided to stick a pinky into his soil to check the moisture, which is why I noticed this. I just looked up scale and judging by the photos, it isn't what's going on, so I do think you're correct and it's just "corking" (had to look that up too), which is a relief. I was terrified I'd kill my cactus. The soil is dry and I've adjusted him to sit better in it, and he's chilling on my desk for now just in case he was fertilized before coming to me and he's now getting too much sun (which I read on here might also be the problem?). I'll also leave him unwatered for another week or so at your advice. Thanks so much!! This has been a huge help and relief.

[iann]

Too much sun depends on where you live. Not going to happen at this time of year unless you're in the southern hemisphere or maybe the desert SW. Indoors might be too dark but not a problem for a few days or even a few weeks. Try to think of somewhere as bright and cool as possible for winter. A south-facing window is about the minimum requirement. A porch can be good for winter provided it stays above freezing or you know you have a hardy species (I think yours is quite hardy). For summer you might need an east window to avoid burning, or outdoors if you live somewhere it doesn't rain every day.