2ofH - You forgot to attach a photo. That will help...

Denise in Omaha

can you see when you click on this? i was not able to upload a higher resolution file so if you need a better picture, I can email it to you if you give me your email address. Thanks so much for taking a look!

Not sure what you're doing exactly, but we still aren't seeing a photo or link. Sorry.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to embed photos

Sorry, here is the link to my photos!

Here is a link that might be useful: Hoys pics

I am a bit stumped about is wrong with your plant. Can you try to scrape at the white spots and see if they come off. The new leaves look to be deformed and this leads me to think that there is a pest present.

Mike

Yes, it's weird because it looks from your photos that it's only on the stem and not the leaves. But like Mike says, the leaves look gnarly, deformed. Do the white spots wipe off? I would start with a good spray-down of alcohol, water and a few drops of dish detergent. Why it came on in 4 days while you were gone is a real mystery!

Denise in Omaha

This is going to sound really gross but years ago, I had something that looked similar on a plant I kept outside. I can't remember what it was but I took it down to a local nursery. They cut a piece off and slit it open. Inside there were small white things that the nursery worker said were larvae and more of the white things that look like what's on your plant that the nursery worker said were eggs. I was much younger then, actually thought I was going to toss my cookies. I told them to trash it. Soooo...maybe its an insect infestation of some sort?

Lisa

Here is what I would do. Quarantine from your other plants. Trim the stem off with the deformed leaves. Drench the soil with Bayer Tree & Shrub, drench the leaves/stem with a fungicide insecticide soap and hope for the best.

Michelle

Thank you all for your advice! so the spots on the bottom came off when I wiped them away. But the top stops were embedded in the plant stems. Is it possible that mealy bugs started on the bottom, then the newer growths became infected within the plant? I am curious as to the small green/yellow growths that you can see coming out of the stem. Here is what i did: i cut the stem from the point where the white spots were not removable and the growths occured, used hydrogen peroxide to wipe away all the spots that did come off (towards the bottom of the plant), then sprayed the entire plant with a water and detergent mixture. I hope this saves it! Tomorrow, I will go pick up some Bayer Tree & Shrub, like Michelle suggested.

Ah, just what someone loves to hear when they post a "What's Wrong With My Plant" picture. Either aliens or stem larvae. (Preferably aliens, as we are less likely to toss our cookies.)

I really don't think it's mealy bugs. They tend to target newer growth to start out, and well, we know those little jerks so well they have no secret behaviors left to surprise us with.

Your plan of attack sounds very judicious. Good luck!!