SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers

Unless you have new sod that you have to keep watered in, I would not reccomend that your water late morning/early and/or afternoon. It just wastes water because it evaporates quickly as you mentioned. Depending on how many stations you have, I have mine set to 5 am and it gets done at 9:30 am. All my stations right now are set at 25 minutes.

The average lawn should reveive about one inch of rain fall or watering per week. It is better to water for longer periods of time and less frequently because this encourages deeper root growth. Deep root growth allows the lawn to survive under stressful conditions such as drought. I have my system set so that zones 1-3 are watered on one day then 4-6 are watered on the next. I do this so that I can water in larger quantities at any given watering. I also would not recommend watering at 3 am because this promotes fungal growth like mushrooms.

Hi Hammer...

You don't mention where you live or the soil conditions you have. How a soil holds water can also be a factor as well as those mentioned above. Here in sandy central FL, I water 30 minutes per zone twice a week and start at 5 am. The St.Augustine grass and the rest of the weeds seem to like that schedule. I used to water less time but more often but have found that getting the roots to grow deeper prevents a lot of the between waterings wilt and burn I was getting even on the hottest summer days. Gardens do get more regular attention, however.

Bob



Edited by - Bob on Mar 02 2003 07:08:02 AM