A few species will bloom in late winter or early spring, and they’re often your signals that the plants are starting to wake up. Mammillaria as a genus often will begin to bloom earlier than other species, and over the years I often see my hardier Mammillaria blooming far earlier than the rest. 

As far as succulents go, you’ll see Aloe Hybrids looking phenomenal right around now. Your Dudleyas should be at least beginning to throw out bloom stalks, if not in full bloom already. Pachypodiums may start blooming by now, before they’ve even leafed out. 

Water and Fertilizer?

If I decide to water anything in February, I don’t use any fertilizer. The winter growers are beginning to wind down, and any early spring plants that are waking up aren’t quite ready for food yet. 

When true spring really makes an appearance – usually. Risk of frost is gone, and nights are rarely colder than 40F. Days start to get longer, and after the equinox, daytime hours are longer than night. This wakes up most cacti, and signals to winter growing succulents (like Euphorbia) it’s time to sleep. 

Many early waking cacti begin to bloom in earnest around now. My Astrophytum often begin to bloom around this time, as do my Ariocarpus. Some Stapeliads start to bloom around now, but not all. 

Water and Fertilizer? 

This is the time of year I consider the first batch of fertilizer. I do water at least once in March, especially if there’s a few days in the 70s. I only fertilize after I’ve watered at least once, and very weak – regularly, I fertilize at half strength, but for the first feed of the year I go half of that.

It should be warmer now, and for me, often in the 50s at night. Freezing temperatures are rare, although rain might be a regular occurence. The biggest challenge here is balancing water and fertilizer against cloudy skies or rain. In-ground plants usually do just fine, but potted plants can easily get and stay too soggy and rot. 

Echinopsis species and their hybrids should start blooming around now, producing big showy flowers that draw eyes. Aeoniums and other winter growing succulents will start to go dormant if it’s a warm spring. 

Water and Fertilizer? 

Very touch and go, and usually only once or twice if it’s cloudy. I may start fertilizing every other watering if the weather warms up, especially with sun in the afternoons. If you’re not experiencing temps above 70F, skip the fertilizer.

Sometimes it’s hot, sometimes it’s just warm, and sometimes it’s cloudy for weeks at a time. Blooming continues for most cacti, and the longer days encourage just about every cactus species to grow. 

Apart from Aeoniums, which are distinctly winter growers, most commonly available succulents will be looking their best around now. Most plants are getting as much growth in as possible while conditions are nice, especially if there’s any early summer rains. 

Water and Fertilizer?

This is the time of year I feed my cacti and succulents every time I water, and I water when things get dry. In my greenhouse, this is usually about once a week, although if it’s been cloudy most of the time it can be as little as just once for the entire month (as was the case in 2023). 

The beginning of the hotter months, July isn’t usually too bad – but if you aren’t prepared, cacti and succulents can quickly burn. Days are long, nights are warm, and your cacti are often still putting in plenty of growth. Copiapoas,  Astrophytum,  Gymnocalycium,  and Coryphantha are notable genera that bloom through this month.

This is the beginning of The Hard Times for most of my succulents, although the Adeniums,  Pachypodium, and similar species should be thriving. Some stapeliads start to bloom around now. 

Water and Fertilizer? 

I may continue to feed with every watering through July, but by the end of the month I start to dial it back. For Copiapoa and slower growing species, I stopped feeding them in June. I try to water about once a week.

I do continue to feed my Stapeliads, which encourages blooming. 

Most often the hottest time of the year, and my least favorite. Days average 90 – 100F, and some nights stay 75+. Everything is on the struggle bus. If I keep up on watering, the more hardy cacti will continue to bloom, but most are just hanging on. 

Most succulents need at least some supplemental shade at this point. This is when I’ll just leave pieces of shade cloth covering my soft succulents in the front yard, and add an extra layer even in the greenhouse during heat waves. If it’s really hot, I’ll splash my Dudleyas, although usually they should be dry through summer. 

Water and Fertilizer? 

I try to water every week, but I don’t always. I stop fertilizing as giving both water and food with heat & sun can cause cacti to stretch even in mid-summer.

The stapeliads continue to get fed – and often start blooming around now. 

The last couple years, October has been a strangely warm month for us in San Diego. Even so, the shorter days and colder nights start encouraging the cacti to go dormant. 

Cooler nights and shorter days wake up many succulents, and Euphorbias often start showing signs of life again. Your Dudleyas will probably continue to look sad for a few more months, but the other Echeveria plants and their cousins will start perking up. 

Water and Fertilizer?

Time to cut back on watering your cacti to about half as often as you were doing before (in my case, no more than every other week), but at the same time, selectively begin watering the winter growers more. 

Aloes appreciate some extra water and fertilizer around now, and so should your haworthias and gasterias. 

The cacti slumber, and at most, I splash them if we have a few days in a row of sunshine and highs in the 70s and 80s. I moisten the soil for the winter dormant plants to prevent dessication of the roots. If left entirely dry for the entire winter, I have a higher risk of roots dying off and rotting come springtime. 

If we’re lucky, we start getting rain around now, and all of my in-ground succulents look their best. The cold nights make the soft succulents blush beautiful hues, and the aloes start producing bloom stalks everywhere. I love having aloes in my in-ground garden for this reason; they bloom all winter and the hummingbirds love them!

Water and Fertilizer? 

I only offer water to my succulents or euphorbias grown under shelter and unable to get water or dew from the environment. This is about when I taper off fertilizing, depending on the nighttime lows – as they reach 40F or below, I stop feeding.