I had just brought all my plants in for the winter and everything looked great. After 2 days in the house, I noticed my Jatropha berlandieri had lost it's vine. No biggy I thought. 2 days later I noticed odd raised patches on the caudex. Uh-oh, that didn't look good. And it was soft.
The first thing I noticed after removing the plant from the pot was the lack of healthy roots.




I placed pot and plant on the back porch, I new it was a goner.
2 more days brings us to today. I decided to halve it and see what was happening.





Then I quartered it to inspect it further and found some different damage.




Only the area closest to the roots had any firmness to it.

Is this bacteria or fungus or both?
I figure this damage had to have started before I ever brought it into the house. Can a firm body plant go soft so quick?
I had the plant for over 10 years and the only thing different about this past growing season was that I had it in a shadier spot than I normally placed it.
Any ideas of what happened here?

The shadier spot may have done it. It can just make the difference between drying up quickly after watering and sitting around damp just a bit longer. I have lost a couple of old caudiciforms that way.

Ursula, thank you for your answer. l thought the shaded spot could have done this. Oh, I could just kick myself Well, I sure hope I have learned this lesson.

It is sad to loose a plant. I'm sad that you have lost plants also. Especially plants that you have grown for so long.

I really like and enjoy ATP. You can learn more about plants than anywhere else in a short time.
If I could just ask questions before the worst happens