---
title: "There’s some sort of crusty stuff on my cactus. Is it scale? Should I…"
description: "There’s some sort of crusty stuff on my cactus. Is it scale? Should I be concerned for its wellbeing?"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lZ7uAE3pQ86jnFGxrCwLrg/656286f9c6890e3026e818b0"
community: "Anything about plants"
author: "tree muncher 27 ★"
published: "2023-11-25T23:44:57.128Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/o2aOwDk08D3F6u8ZTTWyDtkamdarDCeCh6wxeYe9YU0/8f5af9eaf57c48c8bdc91634efc00930.webp?size=large"
---

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# There’s some sort of crusty stuff on my cactus. Is it scale? Should I…

_Posted by tree muncher 27 ★ on 2023-11-25_

There’s some sort of crusty stuff on my cactus. Is it scale? Should I be concerned for its wellbeing?

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/o2aOwDk08D3F6u8ZTTWyDtkamdarDCeCh6wxeYe9YU0/8f5af9eaf57c48c8bdc91634efc00930.webp?size=large)

## 3 comments

### Karson commented on 2023-11-26

I’m not sure if it’s scale or something else, but definitely not normal. I’ve never had to treat one of mine for scale but if I were you I definitely google some treatments!

#### tree muncher 27 ★ replied on 2023-11-26

I did some research and it does not appear to be scale. Might just be the natural process of corking (where parts of the cactus become brown and more bark-like as it ages), which I didn’t know was a thing until just now. If it is, that’s an odd place for it to start. Whatever it may be, it’s been on my cactus for several months, so I’m hoping it’ll be ok.

### 803plantguy commented on 2023-11-26

My cactus’s do that too, it’s basically shows its age.

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