Put them in shower as in rainfall..?

I think most of the time especially during summer when I do water them I will water till water drains from the draining holes. But some people prefer more frequent but lighter watering. Spraying is unnecessary for most I think but a few mesembs won't mind some spraying at night time followed by some light watering. For mesembs sometimes I also water from the edge of the pot instead of pour water right on top of the plant.

It also depends what kind of soil mix you have your plants in. If it's a grittier mix then most likely more frequent watering than a peat-based mix (which is generally not good for succs)

I like a certain kind of watering can. The right shaped handle and a small spout is good for me as I tend to overwater.

I give most a good overhead soaking when needed. Don't bother misting. Never heard of anyone putting cacti or suxx in the shower unless they were really dusty and needed an actual cleaning, the 'watering in shower' method is more suited to water-loving tropicals, I would say.

I used to water most of my sux (not the mesembs) from below via soaking in a few inches of water x, back when I had to use more peat-based mixes, but watering from below does not work well with gritty-type mixes. Which is fine with me, since moving all those plants to soak every few weeks in summer was a PITB! And the permit would float away..

@ Coop:
I thought I was just quirky, but I know what you mean about being particular about the watering can. I use a squirty bottle with a long nozzle so that I can direct a gentle stream that doesn't dislodge the top dressing. I bring a tray & take plants off the shelf, inspect, remove old leaves. Then I water till it runs freely from the escape hole, then prop pot up on an angle to let continue to water drain.

I'm watering about once a week or so but it's because most of mine are winter growers, under shop lights & in a mix with a high percentage of perlite & grit. The room is probably about 68-70 degrees F and naturally bright in addition to the shop lights.

Great question, btw...looking forward to hearing what others are doing too =)

Mine's copper which I'm always misplacing and can't find another one like it. I have this theory that the minerals and oxidation on copper is good for some plants.

We have a sprinkling system that waters the ones we have in the front yard, and they get watered twice a week. I use a hose for the ones in the back yard and water them once a week or so. The ones in the back yard are mostly in pots, and when they get too big, they get planted in the ground in the front yard. The small ones get started in rectangular wooden planters (see photo from October of last year, below) and then get transferred into bigger pots as needed. I also have quite a few in hanging pots in my apple tree, and some others in quite large pots that are not really appropriate for the front yard. If we happen to get rain in the winter, I can have a problem with oxalis getting into the pots, but when there is minimal water, this is not a problem. I do not give mine a whole lot of water, and I used to have lithos plants that will die if they get too wet. Mine were in the wooden planters and got destroyed in a rare hail storm, even though the hail was tiny.

Hookilau I do the same thing with the water bottle and a gentle stream lol also I use a clear plastic squirt bottle when giving them a good watering so I can control where the water goes and exactly how much. I tend to water just a little but more frequently

publickman, whats the plant in the bottom right of the pic? Its in the blue pot.

I use a diluted fertilizer in a watering can and I try for not getting things on the rosettes. Otherwise , I am not very OCD.

I believe it is called a euphorbia flanaganii or Medusa's head, but I am not positive. This photo is from July of this year, which is when it blooms the most, but it puts out flowers for several months.

Lars

@ Breton and david-- yeah, I read about a woman using the shower on a different forum....glad I'm not the only one who found it strange!

@publickman-- beautiful plant, the flowers are so precious!

I'm glad to hear that most people do what I do: water with can until it runs through, let drain, etc. I recently came across a few bloggers who soak and was starting to get nervous about my habits, but I'm not sure how are well soaking would work with my "traditional" gritty mix....

my main problem right now is that i want to water way more than I need to ð­ i can be kind of an overbearing plant mama, I think I need to get some winter growers to tide me over til it starts getting warm again, haha

Plugging the hole for a minute or soaking the pot is sometimes a good idea too but rarely do I do that for cacti or succulents just because I'd probably overwater them. But the idea is not to drain out all the good stuff like plant food or some kind of soil nutrients.