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

My last comment on zone cycling.......

All SOILS benefit.........even sand, why? The root zone of your turf grass may at best be 6".........if you deeply water a sandy soil, you run the risk of watering past your root zone.........

Tom as to how to come up with your run times based on 1-1.5" per week

You nned to grab yourself a rain gauge. In my case I like to spread out 4-5 gauges within a zone to get an average count of volume. Run your zone for about 30 minutes, see what your measurment is. If its lets say 1/4" of a measurment. Mulitply the 30 minutes x 4 to equal 1". This now equals your weekly run time of 2 hrs. Now based on the everyday of day schedule for longer runs timnes to promote deep root growth
2hrs x 60min = 120minutes / 4 days = 30minute run time every other day.

This should give you a pretty good average of how long you should run. Depending on the time of summer. Hotter Months add 50% more time, early spring and fall deduct 40-50%. This of course depends on your region.


The formula above can even be easier if you just come up with how long it takes to fill 1/4" in your gauge. x that by 4 and you get the same thing. You will have to run into the same every few minutes and get a little wet to keep checking

Cycling small run times is a must for hard clay soils. You need the cycle techniuqe to allow the slow absorbing soil to take in the water. Or else you will end up with runoff

wich leads to wasted water.

I understand about the clay soil siuation but It is my opinion that not all applications require cycling of zones and my situation is one of those.

Also, one more comment regarding the cycling of your zones.

Its not something I made up. You can find this info in many websites, books, etc.

One of the better books out there is "The Complete Irrigation Workbook" by Larry Keesen.

Aquamatic- I agree with your generalization "1 to 1.5 inches per week"

But, How do you apply that? or, in other words how do you program your timers to obtain that end result?

I'm the cycle watering guy.

Let me ask you this. Say you have a yard where the soil is clay. Now its a fact that clay soil can hold quite abit of water. Its also a fact that clay soil absorbs water very slowly. Clay soil will absorb on average 1/10 of an inch of water in 1 hour. If you set a spray zone to water for 20 minutes(which I have found to be the average that "joe homeowner" sets his timer for) you will have applied 1/2" of water that the soil is not able to hold in 20 minutes! If you can agree to these simple statements, how can you justify watering a zone for 20 minutes?

I completely agree with your post. Somone else was stating that you should cycle your waterings and it still does not make sence to me. I agree with everything that you stated.

Here is some information that I have preacticed and it works well.

How do you know if you are putting the correct amount of water down with your automatic or manual sprinkler system? The most effective method is to place a rain gauge in the yard and measure how much water goes down in a certain time. During the heat of the summer, typically you will find that 1 hour in each area 3 days a week will provide the necessary moisture. During spring and fall, 15-30 minutes of water in each area, 3 times a week, may be all you need. Keep in mind that wide open areas exposed to all day sun will need more water than shaded areas and adjust water amounts accordingly. If the grass does not spring back up after walking on it or begins to show a gray appearance it's time to water.

Is it possible to over water? Absolutely! Not only is over watering wasteful it too can have detrimental effects on grass such as creating the ideal environment for the development of fungus and other turf grass diseases. A general rule of thumb is 1 to 1.5 inches per week in two to three waterings.

Water 1-1.5 inches per week.

Avoid watering every day or even every other day.

Water deep to increase root development.

Allow the soil to dry out between waterings.