aloe with rotten roots?

[Lyriael]

I was at the hardware store today and a really cute variegated aloe caught my eye - it looked very healthy above the soil so I nabbed it. However, when I brought it home and started to break up the soil to prepare it for repotting, almost all the roots broke right off! They were all yellow/brown and mushy; apparently the soil was too damp and they rotted.
I ended up rinsing out all the soil (and all the dead roots that went with it), leaving me with this:


So, there's still some of the major roots left, at least one of which is still firm.
Here's some close-ups (sorry they're still pretty dirty and you can't see the color of them, I didn't want to wash them too vigorously and risk damaging them further):



And there does appear to be some new root growth at the base:


At the moment I have left it out to dry bare-root, but I'm not sure what to do next and what its chances are.
Should I try to trim off the rest of the squishy roots and hope new ones grow in, or will rotted roots just dry up and fall off on their own? How soon should I try to repot it? Is there any hope for this little guy, or are the roots too far gone?

[Peterthecactusguy]

cut off the rotted out roots. See the thing in the top of the picture, that little white thing? That is a root bub. IT appears to be healthy. Aloe can survive for a long time without roots and then re-root. I think you should leave it bare rooted for awhile and watch that root bub. I would say that it should have a pretty good chance of re-rooting if you cut off the rotten roots near where the roots connect to the pad where the root bub is. (sorry there is a name for that pad and I can't remember what it's called LoL)

[Lyriael]

Thanks!! Should I sprinkle something fungicidal (sulfur powder...?) on the root stumps after I remove them?

[Robb]

Probably you should use a bit of sulfur to be safe