u/ExampleTraditional37

I repotted this desert rose almost a month ago after getting scared it may have root rot from yellowing leaves and a soft/squishy caudex. After getting it out of its old pot and cleaned off, I didn’t find any signs of rot but I trimmed the roots quite a bit, raised the caudex a good 3 inches and then repotted it in a larger pot using 100% cactus jacks potting medium which is very fast draining. I have increased watering to every 2-3 days whenever my moisture meter says the soil is dry. The lower half of the caudex is still soft though and hasn’t firmed up really at all. The yellow circled spot still has give when I squeeze and feels almost rubbery when I squeeze it. The red circled part is rock-hard firm but this was the case from the beginning when I repotted. Should I be worried? Could this be rot I just didn’t find before? Or new rot? Or is it still from under-watering? It’s still got yellowing and dropping leaves, but I’m sure that is at least partly from the stress of repotting. Need help to save or reassurance she’s going to be ok.

Just wanted to update everyone on my desert rose and thank u all for your help, comments, and suggestions. I think (and hope) she’s going to be ok. I repotted her today and used 100% Cactus Jacks gritty soil mix which will hopefully remedy the poor soil drainage problem I was having before. I never did find any root rot, but I did do more plant surgery and scooped the inside of the caudex with a spoon. The caudex of this plant has a large cavernous area inside it (imagine an octopus with its tentacles wrapped around each other covering its belly, but still space between the belly and the tentacles that u cannot see). There was still some moist dirt up in this cavernous area so I scooped it out and did find some old dried skin that came out, but nothing that was black or that smelled bad, so I still don’t think there was any rot. All the roots underneath the caudex were still healthy looking and white. (I posted a picture of some of the dried skin I scooped out). Hopefully fixing the soil and watering it more will make this plant happier.

Few more questions for all the experts…

When should I resume watering? How often should I water? Zone 9b (100F+ temps daily all summer here). I have a moisture meter but clearly that wasn’t working out that great for me. Hoping the gritty soil mix will keep the soil moisture consistency the same throughout and not have wet and dry pockets anymore.

Was raising the caudex a bad idea at this point? I care more about the plant surviving than aesthetics so even though I like how it looks that I raised it a bit, if there’s a chance raising it will be what kills it after everything it’s been through, I’d rather bury the damn thing than chase it a significant amount of more stress.

Is the sunny spot it’s always lived ok or do I need to move it/add a shade cloth/etc and for how long?

Can I expect flowers this year or did I nuke any chances of flowering with all the stress I induced?

Thanks again everyone for all your help!!

Just wanted to update everyone on my desert rose and thank u all for your help, comments, and suggestions. I think (and hope) she’s going to be ok. I repotted her today and used 100% Cactus Jacks gritty soil mix which will hopefully remedy the poor soil drainage problem I was having before. I never did find any root rot, but I did do more plant surgery and scooped the inside of the caudex with a spoon. The caudex of this plant has a large cavernous area inside it (imagine an octopus with its tentacles wrapped around each other covering its belly, but still space between the belly and the tentacles that u cannot see). There was still some moist dirt up in this cavernous area so I scooped it out and did find some old dried skin that came out, but nothing that was black or that smelled bad, so I still don’t think there was any rot. All the roots underneath the caudex were still healthy looking and white. (I posted a picture of some of the dried skin I scooped out). Hopefully fixing the soil and watering it more will make this plant happier.

Few more questions for all the experts…

When should I resume watering? How often should I water? Zone 9b (100F+ temps daily all summer here). I have a moisture meter but clearly that wasn’t working out that great for me. Hoping the gritty soil mix will keep the soil moisture consistency the same throughout and not have wet and dry pockets anymore.

Was raising the caudex a bad idea at this point? I care more about the plant surviving than aesthetics so even though I like how it looks that I raised it a bit, if there’s a chance raising it will be what kills it after everything it’s been through, I’d rather bury the damn thing than chase it a significant amount of more stress.

Is the sunny spot it’s always lived ok or do I need to move it/add a shade cloth/etc and for how long?

Can I expect flowers this year or did I nuke any chances of flowering with all the stress I induced?

Thanks again everyone for all your help!!