Beginner Gardening: Mold or mineral deposit, looks fuzzy?, 3 by jakeplant

jakeplant wrote:
I have a few plants in my apartment potted in terracotta pots and I think mold is forming on the outside of the pots.

One is a golden pothos, two are snake plants, one peace lily, and one dracaenas fragrans. I originally noticed the substance on the golden pothos so I bought some better soil and repotted all the plants as I was wondering if it was the cheap Kmart soil I bought. Now I'm noticing it on all the plants in terracotta pots.

It's white and fuzzy and showing up in splotches. I am new to this and can't tell if it's mold or not. I made a solution of water, baking soda and a bit of Dawn and sprayed the pothos as a test. Not sure if it's working. I also repotted that particular plant into a plastic pot.

I live in a basement apartment with medium to little sun. The soil looks ok. A couple leaves on the pothos look like they are dusty, not sure if it's related. White dust looking substance.