I have an adenium (obesum i think?) that has some rot in the caudex. What happened is some rain accumulated in a dimple on the caudex and apparently rot set in. You couldn't really tell unless you looked closely but when I touched it i felt a bunch of vertical soft necrotic tissue. I immediately tried to remove all of that but it went pretty deeply. I got what I could and sprinkled cinnamon in there (internet tip.. good thing?). I've been watching it for about a week. When I probe back in there I can still feel some soft tissue but it seems to have healed for the most part and dried out. I've kept it out of the rain and let it dry out (not watering for now).

The main problem I'm having is that the entry point is narrow but goes back pretty deep so it's hard to tell how things are going inside. The plant still looks healthy but I've had a few leaves yellow. I want to be proactive. I've considered cutting a wider opening so I can open it up and get more airflow in there and also get a better look to make sure I'm getting all of the necrotic tissue out.

I'd really appreciate some of the pros here guiding me. Thank you so much for taking the time to help. I've attached some pictures.

I'm relatively new to adeniums so apologies in advance for any rookie questions.

This happened to me too without my knowledge. By the time I noticed it, the rot spread pretty deeply so I had to get rid of it. I was so sad. Maybe yours is still salvageable? Hopefully someone can give you better news.

Thread moved to the Adenium forum. Hopefully people here will be able to help you solve your problem.

thank you!

I'm really inclined to cut a larger opening so I can get in there. Maybe put some cinnamon on it and take it out of the pot and hang it up to dry. The areas by the opening that I cleaned out and put cinnamon on healed nicely and no further spread

If this were mine I would take it out of the pot and rinse until clean. Get a good high powered flashlight and a poking tool and look as close as possible to see what is going on inside and what the cuts you already did look like. If there is no where for water collection to go in any new crevice created by your surgery you will need to cut out some drainage. It is really hard to say what to do unless you can really get up in there. Cinnamon does work and Turmeric is even more potent. Then let it sit out of soil for at least a week afterwards to callus and heal over. When you replant make sure to orientate the wound in a way that allows for air and drainage. Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

I think Audrey has given you excellent advice. I would only re-emphasize her point that you need to make sure water does not pool in there. Even if it's perfectly healed, it's still vulnerable to the effects of persistent water. You might cut the opening a bit wider on top to be sure that you have a good view of how everything sits down there on the inside.

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 the inside (hard to see) prior to any additional clean out. You can see some additional rot and how dark and damp it is.
The fourth picture shows how you can see through the whole caudex after I opened it up on both sides for the airflow.
The fifth picture is the new opening I made and the inside form that perspective.

It looks like you have cleaned up the plant pretty well. The hollow part is not pretty but it does add character. This being Adenium season, there should be a quick recovery. I would leave the plant to heal in bright shade for a week or so. Water carefully (aiming away from the hollow) from there on out. You may want to consider overhead protection if it rains. You probably would want to keep the plant out of the rain for a while and maybe long term. Good luck!