I recently purchased a plant that I believe is in the same family as the aloe vera plant. I am very new to raising plants, so I am uncertain what my plant specifically is. It does not help that when I purchased it, it was painted purple. After noticing the leaves seemed injured, I carefully peeled some of the paint off to inspect the leaves. They appeared to be healthy, though I kept peeling off the paint in several parts to make sure the whole plant was healthy. On the bottom of one of the leaves there appeared to be an air pocket. I figured it would be a great way to clear some paint off and inspect the leaf. However, when I popped it, it wasn't air. There was something whispy inside. It almost looked like a spider's egg sac. When I pulled more of it out, it fell off the tweezers I was using and I lost it in the soil. Where the sac once was there is a small, white, slightly raised circle. I have separated this plant from the others just in case there was a parasite. I hope whatever it was ended up dying after weeks stuck under the paint. But I don't want to take that chance. I have no clue what it was or what to do to protect my plants. I am also scared that I might wake up to an army of spiders. Please help. I have attached a picture of my plant and the spot where the egg sac like thing was.

So I have to ask... You bought a purple plant knowing that someone had painted it purple? And now you are trying to fix it by peeling off the purple? WHY?

I think you are lucky you managed to peel the purple off - most of these painted succulents die because they can't photosynthesize.

I wouldn't worry about the eminent spider invasion until it happens.

BTW, Haworthia.

I didn't know that the plant was painted purple until after I bought it. I know it sounds dumb, but I just figured it was breed or genetically modified to be so bright. I figured it would be interesting to see how a plant like that would differ from my other plants. I did some research and found out that my new plant was painted. I didn't want to injure it by peeling off the paint improperly, but I couldn't tell if it was in good shape or not with the purple. That's why I decided to peel it off. Was I dumb for thinking such a purple could appear in a plant? Yes. But I still want my plant to be in good shape, no matter what color they are.

And that you for the information, I was quite worried that I might have to deal with spiders. And for the name of my plant, I really do want to keep it safe and well cared for.

Wow. A purple plant purchased around Easter was not at all suspicious to you! Easter colors are yellow and purple.
I would not waste time trying to peel the purple off because more then likely, the damage is done.
The growers put paints on these things hoping you'll buy them solely because they are theme colored for the holiday. You bit, you bought it and now have to deal with the aftermath.
Simple advice: if it does not look natural, don't buy it!!!!!

Use your experience. How many brightly colored purple plants have you seen around your area? How many gold ones? How many solid blue ones? NONE
They don't invest time trying to genetically engineer something in an attempt to entice you to buy it. That would be too costly!
Better to just use paint to achieve their goal. Quick and not much cost.

I hate to go with an old joke here but I will. If some one offered you a good deal on the Goldengate bridge, would you buy it?? Of course not, it couldn't possible be for sale or that cheap! But you bought your own bridge in the form of a purple plant!!! I might sound a little harsh to you but it would be a good idea not to believe everything you see, develop a bit of suspicion.

Ok, lesson learned. Let's move on.

Unfortunately, while you may want to have this plant "be in good shape", it probably never will be. Not as long as that paint is coating it. It is a living thing, being slowly suffocated.
The people who do this should get 50 lashes with a wet noodle. And not let near any plants.

We all have different levels of experience with plants, so I understand your not understanding that the purple was unnatural and I commend you for doing some research and reaching out for more information.

I can assure you that none of us know the consequences of painting the plant because we have never seen it before! How much damage occurs will depend on the composition of the paint and how long it had been on the plant. Time will tell. In the interim, keep it in a sunny location and allow the soil to dry about an inch deep into the pot before adding a small amount of water.

I suspect that the air pocket was a consequence of the paint damaging the plant tissue. The white substance is probably dead plant tissue. It is unlikely to be spider eggs or any other insect pest. You may see more of this develop as a result of the damage done by the paint.

Now, about those purple eggs you bought!

@TheShyOne Welcome to NGA! We all have picked up a plant and learned that it wasn't suitable for our climate, going to get too big, or only noticed it was covered in bugs when we got it home. That's just part of gardening!

I think you were smart to come to this forum to ask questions. Most of the answers are usually very helpful. If you bought this plant from Walmart, return it. They will take back anything with a receipt. You did buy it in good faith. I noticed Home Depot has started carrying these painted plants, also.

If you want to try to save it, continue to peel off the paint. It's probably an acrylic paint that will "stretch" a bit. You should be able to use tweezers to remover the smaller pieces.

I don't think continueing to bash a new member for making a silly mistake, which Shy admits to, is furthering the cause of this forum. We are here to help.

There is hope for the pruple plant as a lot of the paint has come off. The leaves that stay purple may die but the green ones look healthy.

Here is a discussion we had in the Cactus and Succulent forum a couple years ago:

The thread "Painted Cactus update" in Cactus and Succulents forum

Thank you all so much for your support! It means a lot to me. I am planning to save the plant, and have removed the paint from a few more leaves. Some are mildly damaged, but most appear to be in good health. Hopefully, I will be able to enough for the plant to regrow.

Seriously, thank you all!

(And thanks for the link.)

The plant may be a Gasteria (another relative of the aloes). It looks like whoever did the painting was pretty thorough about it. But whatever you can remove is good. The plant needs to breathe (which it does through tiny holes in the leaves) and it needs to make energy (which it does in the exposed green tissue). Paint interferes with both, but by now with the plant partly exposed, it should recover. Maybe over time the paint will be easier to remove. I wouldn't worry too much about the little bubble you discovered... maybe a mealy bug? They tend to make a wispy cottony substance. But if it's out of the picture then there's nothing to be concerned about.

Hi TheShyOne, from me too!

Please don't be discouraged by the chastising you've received. We were all newbies to plants and gardening at one time and it's sad that we sometimes forget that.

I had a friend once give me a beautiful blue orchid; she was not into any type of plants or gardening at all and had no idea that the plant had been injected with dye and that future blooms would be the normal white of the species.

Unfortunately it seems that many companies are painting and dying plants nowadays, to catch the attention of buyers, I suppose ... and it seems to work because I always see folks at the big box stores checking them out and commenting about how pretty they are. I think painted and dyed plants usually end up just being novelty, short-lived plants but hopefully all the paint will come off of your pretty little (Haworthia?) and do well for you.

I wonder if the thing attached to the underside of the leaf might have been one of those hydrogel beads that some people add to potting soil? It may have gotten stuck in the paint!

I'm not real familiar at all with Aloes, Haworthia, Gasteria or other succulents but your plant looks a lot like one pictured at our database entry for Pearl Plant (Tulista pumila) although, I'm not certain those photos are actually Tulista pumila as they don't resemble other photos I've found when googling.
(Admin note: incorrect images removed from database entry)

That plant is misidentified. Hawothia pumila (now Tulista) looks like this...

http://www.llifle.com/Encyclop...
http://pza.sanbi.org/tulista-p...

But that picture does look a lot like the plant in the original post, though.

To my eyes (not experienced in this part of the family) it bears the closest resemblance to Aristaloe (Aloe) aristata, but it's different... like a hybrid between that plant and a Gasteria maybe? Here is aristata for comparison.

@Baja_Costero, I can remove those incorrect Tulista pumila images unless you can suggest a generic entry to move them to.

Welcome Shyone:

Welcome, you will love it here. I think that when we type here, at least for me, I type just like I speak. I can see me saying something in a joking manner, but very will intended. Just the way I would talk to a friend. Without the luxury of facial expressions and hearing the tone of voice, it often does come off all wrong. I do not think posters here could tell their posts sounded so judgemental. It's about the only thing about forums I don't love. Who has not seen someone crack a joke, and it just bombs really badly.

Hope your new guy is doing ok.

Yes, @Calif_Sue, I guess that would be the best thing to do. Thank you for taking care of this.

OK, incorrect images removed and I made note of it on @plantladylin's post.