Thanks. I'll do that. That seems to be consistent with what I'm reading and getting on other forums. It's potted in a cactus/succulent potting mix with some gravel mixed in. I'm in Dallas, TX

Hi Scott, perhaps add your location and zone after your name so it appears automatically when you post, it will help us as we can't remember without!

I agree with Manda, you definitely need to unpot it and take several pics for us, clean off all old mix, use a small brush, no water to rinse the mix off for this one as it would only add to the problem. I think there could be more going on underground than you/we can currently see.

Gill

Scott, I forgot to say after re-reading your post above....

No question is a stupid one when you're looking for an answer, so ask away.

Yes we do need to know the soil mix it's in...I'm assuming that the gravel is just a top dressing?

Cinnamon is good for its anti fungal properties and is often used by many here, not used it on my plants myself as I haven't needed to. The area needs to be dry and rot free for it to work properly, not sure if it can stop parts from actually rotting, don't think that's its purpose, rather it acts as a preventative as opposed to a cure, as far as I'm aware.

Gill

I took it out of the pot. The roots look super healthy. No rot. I did find more rot inside the caudex though. The small opening combined with the depth is causing a dark, warm and humid environment which is clearly not good. I went ahead and opened the opening wider. Upon doing that it had gotten so deep that I went ahead and decided to open in up on the other side through the healthy tissue. It was several inches deep into the caudex and only maybe half an inch from the other side. I opended it up to get some airflow and it allowed me to clean it out more. I heavily dusted the inside with cinnamon powder. The question now is how long to leave it unpotted, and where? I've been hearing a week. Should I leave it somewhere that it will get some sunlight? Or will that damage the roots? Can it just lay on it's side or does it need to be suspended in the air by string/twine?

I think If I can get it to heal this could eventually add a lot of character to the plant as it callouses over and grows.

Thoughts? Thank you!

Just to make it clear what you're looking at.

The first picture is the roots.

The second picture is the first cut I made to widen the original opening. You can see that the tissue there is healthy.

The third picture shows how you can see through the whole caudex after I opened it up on both sides for the airflow.

The fourth picture is the new opening I made and the inside form that perspective.

The fifth picture shows the inside (hard to see) prior to any additional clean out. You can see some additional rot and how dark and damp it is.

Hello Scott, you just have to make sure you get every last bit of soft brown rot cut away to clean healthy white/cream flesh as the smallest bad part can grow and spell the end of your plant. Clean smooth cuts will always heal better than ragged ones, appreciate that may be difficult in some instances especially when cutting inside a plants caudex.

I would also be concerned about 2nd pics left hand root, is that also rot, it looks rather damaged, also 4th pics right hand root looks the same?

Adeniums can be hung for several weeks, with no ill effect, hang them in a light, dry, airy place, with no direct sun on them. Hanging is best as it will allow good airflow all around whereas lying on its side can trap moisture and may not allow a good drying out but if that's all you can do then go with it, turning it regularly.

Gill

Looks like you did well cutting out the rot down to good tissue. If so, let it dry. Then I'd cover it thinly with a clear glue rather than cinnamon. It's ... helpful, but just barely and will cover up what you need to keep an eye on. Glue seals your cuts and will deter the living tissue from withering. I like to spray it down well with some alcohol first which dries off pretty fast and kills bacteria and fungus before you seal it.

Others prefer to dust with sulfur, which is much more effective generally then cinnamon. Spray or dust works. Then allow to air dry. But you may get withering and loose some additional areas. Others who have more experience may have better advice to chip in. I hope you can save it! If you can, then it'll add a very interesting character to your tree.

@greenclaws, good eye on those roots but those are just calloused spots from the past. I checked those. I'll try to hang it up somewhere

Whenever you spot the rot immediately take the plant out of the pot and with sharp knife remove the brown rot part until you reach the healthy part of the caudex then apply pest of copper oxychloride as shown in the picture and leave it for few days and then repot the plant in fresh potting mix which has high drainage quality. Copper base fungicides are the best to control such rot.