whats this grey colour on my schottii monstrose? i noticed it last week. it just randomly appeared. i thougt maybe sunburn but its under 50% shadecloth and is all the way around the plant.
it doesnt rub off when touched. doesnt look bad to my untrained eyes or appear to be doing anything... the plant is growing. i love the plant and i hope its okay.



???

Not a clue ! It looks like some form of oxidation of the skin, what has caused it I don't have a clue. Possibly chemical ? Have you sprayed it recently ?

Mites also come to mind but you can pretty much rule them out because they would attack the new growth first (easy target).

I would refrain from spraying it with anything just yet, if it is oxidation the skin will be vulnerable to damage. Keep it out of direct sun, under the 50% cloth should be ok.

Just keep an eye on it. Maybe even a spray down with water ? If it is a chem on the skin causing it, washing it off will only help.

im clueless too! i haven't sprayed it with anything! i'll spray it down with water and see what happens.

are you talking about th enew lumpo thats reddish? or the grey skin?

both of those look normal to me, every single one i have found here grows identicle to that.

^the grey skin. until last week the plant was green. is it normal? i hope so, but the others ive seen are green.

Yeah mine is green but it is the short fat variety.

i have not grown the normal forms of this sp. so i shouldn't say much, but many cacti as they get older get this grey colour, or something similar. i would not worry about it bro, mine are all liek that and they grow fine (Touch wood, they dont all drop dead tomorrow!)

I'm with Kada on this one, don't stress about it Lewis. A lot of my cacti get this too and its never been a problem in the past.
Hellonasty might be right in saying its oxidation but its nothing to worry about.
Let us know if you think its getting worse though...

well thats a relief i wasn't stressing too much.. it didn't strike me as being serious. i'll let yall know if it gets worse (and hopefully i won't have to).