Desert rose w/soft cauldex PLEASE HELP

Hello everyone,

I have a desert rose plant (rescue plant) It was doing great until,My daughter went into labor & it was left outside day & night,got rained on 2 or 3 times.The temp's are as high as 80's and as low as 30's at night.I noticed this morning the bottom looked smaller and kind of sunk in on the sides.To the touch it's soft,the roots are not soft at all, they seem normal.

When I come home from the hospital with my daughter, I left it outside only during the day.I haven't watered it yet.Is this a sign of lack of water or a result of being wet to long.

If anyone has any advice or knows of a web site or even has an opinion of what i need to do, i would be so thankful.I don't want to loose this plant it was being thrown away because it was ugly (it was) tall,skinny,no limbs to have leaves on.

I hope the picture are at least good enough to see a little.I am awful with electronic's of any kind.

Have a good day

Given that it got rained on a few times and these plants don't need much water, I think too wet is way more likely than too dry (although both can cause similar symptoms). 30's at night might have also contributed to some issues if it had been living a comfortable life indoors and then suddenly got left out on a few cold nights, although I would expect the foliage to be wilted/damaged before the caudex. I would feel down a few inches into the pot--if it still feels really wet then I would take it out of the pot, dump the wet soil, and repot in some dry potting mix. Otherwise the longer you let it sit in really wet soil the less likely it can be saved.

Thank you for the advice ecrane3,

Could you please recommend what type of soil you think or know these plants do the best in.Should i use a chunky mix?I have a mix that's is made up of aged pine bark,lava pebbles,horticultural charcoal.It mainly used for orchids but i find it a good base to start with then only having to add slow release fertilizer and a little of soil or peat,depending on the plant i'm working with.

I would appreciate any advice on a potting medium for my DR.

Thank you very much!!!!!

Have a good night

I would guess the orchid mix would be a decent starting point. But I'd suggest you head over to the Container Gardening forum and read the sticky thread at the top of the forum--there's some really great info in that thread as well as some suggestions for how to make your own potting mix.

I have two seedlings, 2 and 4 years old, I grow them in Al's gritty mix, and have not had rot.

Thank you both very much!!! I will read that sticky now I'm going to hurry and re-pot the DC.

Have a nice day!!!!

How is your Desert Rose doing? Were you able to save it? I have one, purchased at HD in May. The flowers are very red, just beautiful. It has gone through a few cycles of flowering, and is starting another now. I still have not fertilized, I'm not sure what it needs, if any. I hope you and your DR are doing well.