My plants are in a greenhouse facing south and west. It gets HOT in there, even with the door wide open (today its 106 inside and 90 outside). My cactus are in pots ranging in size from just a couple inches to about 18 inches wide. Most of the succulents are under shadecloth, that helps a bit.
I water when I realize something might be wilting, the smaller cactus and succulents every 1 to 2 weeks. The cactus are harder (they don't wilt
), they get watered every 2 to sometimes 3 weeks. I water with a hose and I don't have any saucers so make multiple passes 5 to 10 minutes apart to make sure the soil is well hydrated.
About the only planning I do is I try not to water before a heat spell. I have had cactus literally explode and fall into pieces and others crack because of the expanding moisture in the cactus. If there's no way around it, I water at dusk then cross my fingers I won't come out in the morning to cactus pieces all over the floor. I realize I wouldn't have this problem if I watered more often and the plants weren't so dehydrated to begin with but, ...
