ID Help? (And bonus cultivation question)

[PresidentKang]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I've learned a ton from reading the old posts here, so thank you to everyone who's posted and thanks in advance for any help with this ID!

Can anyone ID this cactus, please? I haven't had a chance to repot it yet, but it will be coming out of that peat today.

I just couldn't resist buying this plant, but I'm not sure if I should stick it in dormancy with the rest of my plants after it recovers from repotting and has a chance to dry out? I'm doing a cold (45F minimum temp) and dark dormancy this year, it's my first attempt. The soil is damp so it's been watered recently. Any thoughts?

[esp_imaging]

A Mammillaria, maybe Mammillaria melanocentra.

45F min isn't that cold - many cacti (including most Mammillarias) will be OK to near freezing or below if totally dry.
I don't see that dark offers any advantages over at least some light - it's a testament to many plant's ability to survive that dark is OK, rather than being a particularly desirable. Of course, for plants covered in deep snow over the winter, months of darkness may be normal.

Drying it out before putting it in the cool and dark is a good idea, although if it's only damp - not saturated or waterlogged - then I'd expect it to be fine gradually drying out in your >45F conditions anyway.

[PresidentKang]

45F min isn't that cold - many cacti (including most Mammillarias) will be OK to near freezing or below if totally dry.
I don't see that dark offers any advantages over at least some light - it's a testament to many plant's ability to survive that dark is OK, rather than being a particularly desirable. Of course, for plants covered in deep snow over the winter, months of darkness may be normal.

Thanks!

I know the dark dormancy isn't what everyone recommends, but my only option for dormancy was cold(ish) and dark. I don't have a way to set up lights in the spot I'm using for dormancy storage, and its the only spot in my tiny apartment that I can keep consistently cool. There have been some minor fluctuations, but the temp has been pretty consistent between 45-50. The lowest it's gotten that I know of (I was out of town for a few days) was 41. I'm basically following Daiv's recommendations from the cultivation article and hoping for the best!

[ElieEstephane]

Yes daiv did do cold dormancy. The most important thing is air circulation to some extent if the area can be humid.
Be careful in spring not to put them immediately in the sun. You have to gradually acclimate them

[PresidentKang]

Yes daiv did do cold dormancy. The most important thing is air circulation to some extent if the area can be humid.
Be careful in spring not to put them immediately in the sun. You have to gradually acclimate them

Thanks! I have a plan for re-acclimating them to the sun, and the spot actually gets pretty good circulation with no humidity.

[7george]

I think this is Mammillaria melanocentra. And yes, keep it dry till May somewhere, after it returns to the sunny spot.