Are you saying that I shouldn’t water at all until Spring?!
it depends a bit on your local climate, but generally speaking, yes. Pines dislike being too wet anyway, are happier to be kept on the dryer side. But again all this is generally speaking.
In my climate ( Belgium) i generally don't water at all from half/end of autumn till spring, but i do keep an eye on rainfall during that period. Normally it rains now and then during that period, so no watering needed. If it rains a lot ( it happens) i protect my pines a bit ( under the bench), etc etc. It allso depends on the soil you are using. I use a free draining soil, so the protecting is not really necessary but i do it anyway. My deciduous trees are kept on the bench all the time ( unless it freezes below -5/10 for a longer period tn they all ( pines included) go into an unheated greenhouse)