Winter watering advice for M. hahniana and M. poeppigii

[Aloha916]

I have two that I'm hoping to get some more input on in terms of overwintering.

How does everyone overwinter/water Mammillaria hahniana and Maihuenia poeppigii?

[keith]

Mammillaria hahniana I leave mine out in the rain in S CA unless its really going to rain then I move it under cover. Mines not anywhere as big as yours , the bigger they get the easier they rot so use caution. Doesn't really freeze here so I don't worry about that.

They are pretty tough as cactus go.

[mikethecactusguy]

curiosity. If it's not broke why screw with it. 40 years its been growing. No issues. Why change now?

[Aloha916]

Keith, that rot is my big worry. The bigger they get the easier they rot is what I've heard about a few similar Mammillaria species.

[greenknight]

Yes, I'd wait until Spring to water that old M. hahniana.

As for Maihuenia poeppigii, I've never grown it but from what I've read it's an exceptionally tolerant plant. How did it respond when you left it dry - did it lose leaves? If it did, you should give it more water, if it didn't there's no reason to change.

[DaveW]

Maihuenia's grow in the cooler windier climate of Patagonia. They should be treated more like Alpines than desert cacti.

http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACT ... _poeppigii

As in the link below, if you don't grow it hard it becomes an open lush plant unlike the tight clomps in habitat.

http://www.cactus-art.biz/schede/MAIHUE ... ppigii.htm

[keith]

Better safe than sorry? It's a big enough plant that it can surely go 4 months without water in the winter, right?"

yes especially if its cool and rainy up there unlike farther down down were the Santa Ana winds blow constantly with 10% humidity