Thank you for the info -
To follow up;
"As for the plant in question, let me try to get the story straight. You got it in a 12 inch pot, measured 4 with the meter, and inspected visually. Did the visual evidence support the number you got from the meter? Would you say the soil was almost dry at that point? Then you let a month pass without watering, and the roots were giving way at that point. Right? This would suggest the plant was overwatered in the retail location before you got it, and nothing you did would have changed or reversed that"
I purchased in September. I watered it 1-2 times from purchase to January. The meter did ring true as the bottom half the soil was moist but the top wasn't. The inspection today showed the clustered center root ball was moist, but the surrounding roots were dry/weak. A good amount of the root network fell off the bottom half of the root system.
The part about the retail overwatering does seem true as when i purchased it i did notice slightly darker caudex base.
**EDIT -
I did not place in original post that I had thoroughly watered it 2 days ago as the soil was completely dry.
