What's the best time of day/night to set for lawn watering?

[Sidney Lanier]

We've been told:

Don't water at night; the dampness left sitting will cause mold/mildew to grow.

Don't water during the day; the sun will cause the water to evaporate so quickly that the grass/plants won't benefit.

Does anyone out there know definitively when is the 'healthiest' time to water in terms of the value of watering to the grass/plants? Thanks!

[Mikitv]

I know here in ARK where it is hot and humid in the summer we set ours for early morning and usually only 3 days a week unless it gets well over 100. We have Bermuda grass and it does love the heat.

[chuckinca]

5 AM


Earns the 5th Star for 500 posts!

[gfmucci]

Agree with early morning - have the sprinklers running between 5 AM and 7 AM, before the heat of the day causes excessive evaporation, but not so early that the moistue sits a long time increasing that chance of fungus.

[DickY]

Don't forget to look at the VCDD site for the current guidelines.
http://www.districtgov.org/slcdd/wn-watering.asp

[chuckster]

The water/trash bill lists times for watering based on address. And I quote, "watering only permitted before 8am or after 6pm. Residents to adhere to the following schedule: addresses with house numbers ending in 0 or 1 irrigate on monday; ending in 2 or 3 tuesday; ending in 4 or 5 wed.; ending in 6 or 7 thursday; ending in 8 or 9 friday".

Hope this helps.

[The Shadow]

Water early in the morning. If you have dollar weed, you are watering to much.

[villager99]

since we are still under drought watering restrictions the time and number of days to water is set by the water authority in your area. for me that's midnight once a week no choices til the drought is over.

[handieman]

Micro-irrigation is becoming a more important means of conserving water and making sure your plants and trees are getting their fair share. Some neighborhoods don't place restrictions on this method of watering
Handie :joke:

[zcaveman]

Since I walk the dog at 11:00 PM it would have to be after midnight since we are sometimes late going to bed if there is a good show on and it has to be before 4 AM so the cycle is done when we go for our morning walk at 6 AM.

[The Great Fumar]

LAWN PEOPLE SAY 5:00 AM I'm sleeping at that time so its kinda like the light in the refrigerator......I know it goes out but can't say for certain.......
ZZZZZZZ fumar

[The Shadow]

It seems to me that when FL got to the point that water conservation was necessary, at the same time, it would be time to stop new home construction. I don't know how long restrictions have been in place but I do know it has been longer than 9 years and 3 hurricanes. During the 9 years I have seen dry lakes with tire tracks on the lake bed go to overflowing capacity and then recede. With the increase in the number of empty houses, new houses outside of the Villages at a halt I think the water supply is going to be ok. :beer3:

[Sidney Lanier]

Thanks for the tips, everyone! From what I've read, I think the best time, which also conforms to the water restriction requirements, would be just before or around dawn. I did know that it's once a week for a maximum of 20 minutes; we discovered that ours was set so outrageously incorrectly coupled with our discovery of a major leak that resulted in our using 30,000 gallons of water on our last bill! We will be getting it fixed on Monday and in the meantime have reset the control to conform to the once a week, 15 minutes a day. Just wasn't sure what the best time for the lawn would be within these guidelines. BTW, see the newer thread about settings that you might not even be aware of on your sprinkler control panel (on the outside wall of your garage). This should REALLY be checked and, if necessary, reprogrammed....