Rescued juniper maybe too late

[MiguelMC]

I took this juniper mid fall as a rescue project and left it be until now, today I've notice the bark quite dark around be base. I was kinda shocked since I've been watering it very sparsely since here the humidity has been quite high and there hasnt been much need to do so.
the reason I was trying to save it was because it has decent shape but this darken area makes me think that the roots might be rotting away already and its too late.
It also had a scale problem that I've taken care of earlier.
My plan of this year (and maybe the next) was to just let grow with no pruning or repoting since I feel it need all the foliage it can get.

what do you guys think is there any salvation? what would you try and do with it? also I'm unsure which species it is tbh, so any info on that would be great.

 

[Handsome John]

It looks like just moisture on the base of the trunk, If its high humidity where you keep it then I wouldn't be surprised if just hasn't dried out yet since you last watered or rained. So long as you're watering when its appropriate then I wouldn't be too concerned. Plus you would see the foliage take a dive too but it looks okay to me.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

It's not showing signs of poor health. This can be deceiving in junipers, they can be dead and still look alive for months.
But there's no sign of damage right now, so I think you're good, for now.

The center of a pot is where the least amount of evaporation takes place, there's a trunk in there. If evaporation takes place, it can condense on the trunk, leaving a darker spot. Apart from cohesive forces that draw water upwards, where it evaporates from the trunk. I doesn't say a whole lot, so if I were you I would treat it like any other rescue: take it slow and wait it out until spring.