Cones require 3 years to mature. Rainfall is positively correlated with the production of the cone buds. Summer moisture stress at the time of cone bud production occasionally may promote an above-average crop of strobili the following spring, indicating that reproductive growth is favored over vegetative growth when trees are stressed. Mexican pinyon and other pinyons produce only a few seeds per cone. Establishment of Mexican pinyon seedlings depends on the availability of adequate water during the first dry seasons.
Mexican pinyon occurs in semiarid climates with relatively high temperatures and evaporation rates.
Along a moisture gradient from mesic to xeric sites in Arizona, Mexican pinyon was not present on the mesic end of the gradient. Facultative Seral Species Mexican pinyon does well as an understory tree when canopies are relatively open. Most Mexican pinyon seedlings establish beneath open canopies in partial shade. Seed production requires 3 years.