Adenia glauca care questions

[estación seca]

Put a female glyph on it. You've seen it. A circle with a vertical line down from the bottom, the line crossed.

[Arizona Jeanie]

The Adenia's currently going dormant, soon to be trimmed and moved to the "Do Not Water" corner for Winter.
In the past, I've just trimmed off the current year's viney growth. I've recently found a very little bit of information about pruning the caudex, to encourage a larger caudex and more vine growth. This is an entirely new concept for me!
Looking at on-line images, I basically see a small stump at every caudex-pruned spot, with multiple vines growing. It reminds me a lot of the look of a tree that's been pollarded.
So, I have some questions.
Is this generally considered a desirable look?
Where, how and when do you cut the caudex?
I have a mature plant, is it still OK to trim it? Will this make for a fatter caudex and more vines?
Or just leave it alone?
I can find very little information about caring for this plant, and almost nothing about pruning the caudex. Any advice and opinions are very welcome!

[estación seca]

Most C&S people don't trim into the caudex. It would be rejected by C&S judges as unartful. I'm an accredited C&S judge.

You want the biggest natural caudex possible. Small branchlets can be removed but that should be done as early as possible so as not to leave a big scar. Larger branches can be trimmed back to a natural fork as with any tree or shrub, but the pollarded look is a no-no. Drastic pruning doesn't lead to a wider caudex; good growing does that.

[Arizona Jeanie]

Thank you again ES for your good advice. I will not be trimming the caudex. Is that a bonsai practice?
I do, however, have a couple of long vines that are dying back. In the past, I've clipped them off close to the caudex. If I leave them alone, will they come back in Spring? The vines themselves are still green, but the leaves have dried and fallen off. I think the vines will dry up during the winter rest, but I'm not sure about that.
I'm curious what qualities a show judge would look for in this sort of plant.
The plant has done well this year, thank you for all your good advice.

[estación seca]

The vines will die back to a certain point. Sometimes it's all the way to the caudex; sometimes not. If they don't die all the way back and they're not too big you can cut them flush with the trunk once they're good and dry. Most people cut almost all the stems back to the trunk every fall. If you leave the small piece of stem that survives the winter it will gradually enlarge, and your plant will have a permanent branch. That is OK but some people don't want that.

Judges look for caudices that have grown evenly, have pleasing shape or interesting character, with minimal scars or sunburn. After that size matters.

[Arizona Jeanie]

Here's what it looks like today. The leaves have almost all dropped, but the vines are about 4 ft long and still green and flexible. I just moved it to the "Do Not Water" section for the Winter.
ES, would you prune off the vines, and where?
Thanks!

[estación seca]

First realize you don't need to prune. People prune to save growing space. In habitat the branches start to become thick and woody with time and that can add to the character.

I would wait and see how they die back. Later winter I would prune out everything dead, including the dead stumps seen now. You can then prune branches back to a node if you want to prune further.

I can't see the cactus on the left well. Is it a Notocactus/Parodia? Does it have mealybugs in the depressions between the ribs?

[Arizona Jeanie]

OK, thank you, I'll leave it for now and see how it goes through winter.
The cactus is a sorry specimen, no mealybugs but something isn't right with it. It barely grows, doesn't die, and looks like it has some sort of surface fungus. It lives in the "Do Not Water" section, and has been there for several years. I give it a drink once in awhile. Have tried Physan, alcohol, insecticidal soap. I don't know what the plant is, what's wrong with it, nor what to do with it. Here's a photo from July 2021, doesn't look any different today. Any suggestions are welcome!

[estación seca]

This is probably Parodia werneri, which is much better known by its old name Notocactus uebelmannianus. It should flower profusely every spring.

It needs a lot of water during warm weather. Like many orchids, it should be watered just before going dry during the growing season. It's OK to winter it dry.

Many old cacti in greenhouses acquire the creeping corky crud. It isn't seen as much in cacti grown outside. I don't think people know what it is. Most people think better environmental conditions prevent it.

This plant comes from grasslands rather than deserts, with lots of summer rain. It is accustomed to having substantial organic matter in the soil. Growing under grass, it doesn't need as much sun as do most desert cacti.In your climate the plant could easily double in size in 1-2 years with more water and fertilizer. A good potting mix would be half and half good quality bagged potting soil and half pumice, small cinders, perlite or turkey gravel. Using more organic matter in the mix means it should be repotted every 2 years so the mix doesn't break down and suffocate the roots.

Some people grow them in pure pumice or decomposed granite. This works well, too, if you fertilize well during warm weather.

If you have an outdoor growing space with dappled sunlight, this would be much happier there than in the greenhouse in the summer.

[Arizona Jeanie]

"Creeping Corky Crud" exactly describes it. I'd like an opinion from a plant pathologist, but not enough to pay for it!
I'll try a Spring repot with more organic material, and Summer outdoors, with fertilizer. How cold/heat tolerant is it?
Thanks.