My opinion ---- >
I can only speak from my expeience = growing over 1000 and from all the books that i have ever read that talked about growing peyote .
I grew them in a tray untill they were somewhere between the size of a pea and the end of my thumb . Then they were repoted into the pot that they were going to spend their whole life in . Mine didnt like being repoted . They then get left in the same position all their lives = somewhere with NO direct sunlight .
I have NEVER seen any expert recomend giveing peyote water in winter . I have read that OTHER cacti can be given small amounts if they start to shivel up . In my opinion they only do that when its hot and it isnt dangerous anyway .
It doesnt like standing in water or haveing wet roots for weeks . In sommer it gets watered a few times and the substrate is allowed to dry before it gets water again . In winter if you give it water it rots and dies because the temperature isnt high enough to evaporate it ....... and peyote have a dormant period in winter .
As to growing them for internal use ......... it can take a peyote up to 30 years to get to a size to use . Native americans have been reported to use doses of 30 buttons = 30 X 30 years . Some have been reported as eating more buttons as if they were eating peanuts as a snack .
When they are babys they can take a hell of a lot more water ...... but sometime they have to be hardened off and after that repoted . That was always the most delicate stage and the stage where the most that died died .
Mine always did MUCH better in a pure mineral substarte with NO soil . Any kind of soil retains water wich is then a substrate for contamination . We need something that we can put water on and it dries quickly . That way they can double in size in one sommer .
As for fertilizer . Very rarely and only a quater strength .
Gardeners need patience . Especialy with Peyote .
I am autism spectum ........ please dont burn me at the stake for being honest .