I observe seasonal changes when watering. Light levels and temperatures affects my watering regimen here. My area is considered Central Valley, so we are inland, with sizzling dry heat into the triple digits during the long hot, dry period and cold inversion during winter so our temps may go down to 20F. We do get residual Delta Breeze since we are just at the edge of the Bay Area, so it helps cool my area down on some days.
More watering during the long and hot dry period, not just summer per se, since it starts from mid Spring to late Fall here for our long dry spell, zero rain.. Once temp forecasts says it will be over 90F and higher, I would have to assume we will meet and exceed the forecast It always helps to have a weather station, so you can clearly see the temperature in your own locale as well as the humidity levels. Our humidity levels are so dismal during the long dry months, may just be in the 30% to 0% range. So understandably all the plants may easily get too dry very fast.
When I do water, I use a watering can and another one with a spray. I try to do it early in the day, so there is time for the water to reach the roots, help cool down the soil somehow. Succulents for the most part are drought tolerant but not all are heat tolerant. Some would go dormant if kept way too dry in summer, shrink badly, but may still bounce back once the amiable cooler temps of Fall to Winter returns. If forecasts really call for weeks long heat wave, I may have to do watering every other day here. My containers are a mixed type, some maybe glazed clay or not, plastic, fabric, but all must always have drain holes. Also the older ones are in heavier set clay containers to avoid being toppled by the wind.
Winter is rest time for me in watering, Mother Nature takes over. By then temps are not too onerously hot, so the plants can wait it out for the intermittent rains. The only dicey part is if it starts to hit 20F, then just have to expect considerable cold damage. Typically too, I have to overwinter some succulents indoors and wait for mid Spring to let them out. Once indoors, there is lesser to no watering being done, since they also go dormant.
With my media mix, I use cacti soil that is not Miracle Gro, and always adding pumice or perlite to make it grittier and well draining. I have to do that since most of my succulents are growing outdoors year round, and come winter time, they fend for themselves when the cold rains arrive. Got to maintain the media gritty and well draining.
The succulents that I overwinter indoors are Adeniums, Euphorbias, the desert orchid-Eulophia petersii along with other orchids I have here except the Cymbidium.
There are some succulents that I never bring outdoors, the Sansevierias and some of the succulent Hoyas. Indoor watering is another thing to consider. Watering them as needed may sound vague but pretty much, about once a week in summer, and longer intervals during winter when light levels are just too weak, so plants are slowing down, and they do not need much watering. They maybe indoors, but they are always near a window so they can still get bright indirect light.
