Thank you. Patience is not my strongest quality but I am doing my best to leave it alone. It is drying under a pergola at the moment and continues to feel pretty firm. I'm thinking (hoping) the discoloration is due to some kind of oxidation. I kept the material I removed from the base that I suspected of having surface rot for observation. Not sure if it is any real indicator but so far, while those slices have also turned brown where I cut them, the surface rot has dried up and the interior tissue remains firm and free from obvious rot (pic below). Perhaps the mother plant successfully kept the rot isolated from the pup. Sick beyond hope of survival, with her dying breath, she cast off her child, her only chance at surviving. Romantic. Tragic.
I plan to rotate it every few days so it does not send roots out the side but I may pot it in a bone dry pumice/coarse sand/cactus mix in a few weeks. Not sure yet. I covered the wound with a sulfur slurry which dried almost immediately into a thin powdery layer that I hope will provide some protection. I'll post updates.
