When do you stop watering Pediocactus?

[iann]

I'm looking at the long range forecast and wondering if this weekend might be the last water in a long while for my Pediocactus. Or maybe it will continue chilly and they'll get some more ...

[Aiko]

I water my Pediocactus knowltonii three times: early March, early April and early May. That's it.

[cortez753]

I water my Pediocactus simpsonii April, May, July. Usually weekly. Mine is outdoors just beginning to flower even though it's snowing and over night temps will be near freezing for the next five days.

[iann]

I water my Pediocactus simpsonii April, May, July. Usually weekly. Mine is outdoors just beginning to flower even though it's snowing and over night temps will be near freezing for the next five days.

I expanded the poll for people who live above the treeline

[A. Dean Stock]

My native Pediocactus simpsoni are all planted outside and I seldom water them. They get what falls naturally. Some spring/summers are warmer and drier than others and I may give them a drink in May or June before the monsoon rains start. After the summer rains I ignore watering for any of my hundreds of outside cacti. My P. simpsoni are now in bloom and I'm at 5100' elevation which is fairly low here for P. simpsoni. Higher elevation plants are likely still dormant or even under snow.
I should add that species of Pediocactus that are more sensitive to growing conditions like P. sileri, etc. that occur just to the south of me get a lot of summer rain in July and into August so light water up to that point should not hurt if other conditions are right.
Dean

[7george]

I do some watering in April and May if I decide that it's too dry but not after that. Mine are outdoors and get lot of rain and snow all year. Blooming here is in May.

[iann]

P. sileri and P. peeblesianus get watered for longer. I've already watered them since I put up this poll, and might water again. They seem to be sensitive to staying wet for too long at any time of year.

We are having a series of very cold nights for the end of April and it might snap over to be summer-like at any moment. Or it might stay cold and I could be tempted to water again. P. nigrispinus seems to have stopped taking up water, or maybe it is just full.

I was looking at new P. sileri spines today and they are very fuzzy. I don't know if you can see it very well in this photo.

sileri-0428.jpg (94.44 KiB) Viewed 1160 times

[7george]

Soon, soon... so I gave them some water, it is pretty dry here. (P. simpsonii v. minor).


These plants (P. nigrispinus) are growing now in full. Both species are most active at minimums ~ 0 - 5 and maximums 15 - 20º C.