Sprinkler system timing and schedule
 

I haven't touched my sprinkler system timing at all. But it seems like it is still not quite enough.

How long do people generally have the sprinkler system run and what time of day ?

15 minutes per zone, twice a week at 5AM, until the rainy season, then I turn it off. If need to turn back on, it's easy enough to do it.

I have mine set to start at 5am

each zone runs for 10 minutes

Depends on the size of the zone, couple of mine are at 35 minutes.
This may be helpful:
https://www.thevillageswaterwisdom.com/

Thanks Everyone! I'm at 10 minutes twice weekly. I'll go to 15 and see where I am at!

Hunter Runtime calculator.

Hunter Run Time Calculator | Hunter Industries

One problem with some of the Hunter controllers is that the watering times are controlled by a "solar sync" sensor. This sensor can automatically change the watering times by changing the "seasonal adjust" setting on the controller. So, if you set the watering time for 20 minutes per zone and the "seasonal adjust" setting to 100 percent, you may find that, in a few days, the solar sensor has reset the "seasonal adjust" setting down to 50 percent (or lower) which changes the watering time to 10 minutes per zone. The only way to bypass this sensor is to disconnect the wires to the sensor inside the controller panel. I would suggest that you check the "seasonal adjust" setting on your controller to see if it has reduced the watering times that you originally set. If it is set at 50 percent, then you need to double the watering times. Or, you can reset the seasonal adjust back to 100 percent, but the sensor will readjust it back to 50 percent in a few days.

THANKS! Although those times do look rather long...

See post No. 7. You may have the watering time set at 10 minutes, but, if the "seasonal adjust" setting is less than 100 percent, you are actually watering for less than 10 minutes.

Agree, so I deleted the table.

I switched to a B-Hyve smart wifi controller, very happy with results.

Orbit b•hyve

Ahhh. ok.

Well, I had a literal Trial By Fire last night replacing a broken sprinkler head. When I tested it, it worked exactly right. Except I was standing at the juncture of 3 other sprinkler heads and got totally soaked . HA HA

Depends on how many dogs are in your neighborhood.

I'm growing
Mushrooms

if they are a rotating head 45 minutes ( thereby 20 minutes each side) depends on how much sun hits the area. stationary heads about 15 minutes- again depends on how much sun hits the area

Water everyday for 10 minutes a zone. A little daily is better than a lot twice a week and it doesn’t use more water

half hour 3 times a week summer....20 minutes 2 times in winter...turn it off if a lot of rain

Watering daily will cause your turf to have a shallow root system that dries out fast and is weaker. Watering 2-3 times per week for longer periods will result in the turf having a deeper root system, more tolerate to temp changes and overall healthier.

Just installed b-hyve for under 100 bucks smartphone WiFi its excellent

You change the times to more in summer, less in winter. If you have a service company to inspect your system, they make adjustments for you. I use ACI 352-266-3158. They are the only vendor I have used in all the years we have a property here!

This is me. 15 minutes for all zones and 30 for front lawn for 5am with rain sensor on. I also run the sprinklers in the afternoon twice a year to check what I'm watering. I have a neighbor who waters his lawn and the one across the street. Not good.

Good answer

I water, according to my scheduled days, twice a week.

I have placed small cans on my lawn/grass and measured one and a half inches. I have zoyzia grass and it takes my system to run 90 minutes to put down 1 1/w". I set my timers to put that much on the grass in total. I set Program A to run for half that time, (45 minutes) throughout all of the zones....Flower beds get 10 minutes. I set Program B to run the remaining half of that time (45 minutes).

My reasoning.....I want as much water as possible to reach the roots and by running the system in two passes, I loose less to evaporation and more going to the roots.

I know it may be a little complex, but I have a great looking lawn.

Make sure you are aware of the type of head your system uses. I'm by means not close to being an amature at this let alone expert, but I believe the some heads just don't distribute as much water as other types/brands so 10 min on one type head may mean 45 min on another that has much less spray but not distribute any more water to the lawn.

With that in mind it's probably good to speak with neighbors or irrigation specialist for information. Here you're going to get 130,000 opinions and most probably turn into a "poop" discussion, just saying from experience.......

When we first moved to TVs, I attended one of the UF's seminars on irrigation system. The advice they gave was in the spring and summer, run your rotor sprinklers twice a week for 45 minutes, and pop-ups for 20 minutes. With each watering cycle, you want to deliver 3/4" of water to the roots. You can check the efficiency of the sprinklers by placing clean tuna fish tins in various locations within a zone, and then measuring how much water was delivered to the spots. I used 4-5 tuna fish tins in each zone. Once I knew how much water was provided to the roots, I could increase or decrease the timing for the zone on the controller. I would repeat the process for successive zones.

In the late fall and winter, you can run rotors for 30 minutes and pop-ups for 15 minutes. Or, you can water only once a week. There are other combinations to reduce the amount of water you deliver to the grass each week in the late fall and winter. In the rainy season, be sure your rain sensor is activated (and works) to preclude watering following a heavy rain.

In addition, start your cycle about 4:30 or 5:00 AM. Starting it after sunset, causes the water to remain on the blades of grass which contributes to growing fungus that can destroy your lawn. Running the sprinklers during the daytime will cause a high rate of evaporation, doing little to help your lawn. Running the system a few hours prior to sunrise allows the water to soak into the root system and the excess water evaporates after sunrise.

Hope this helps.

I finally installed my Rachio 3 and curious to see what settings the other Rachio people here are using. Also did you keep that big backup power supply/battery or disconnect it?

False. That will lead to a shallow root system which is then negatively affected by summer heat. All lawn professionals recommend watering 2-3 times a week for a longer period to develop a deep root system that won't be affected by the summer sun.

Time watering means nothing.
Every system is different. Every zone may have a different time.
GPM of each nozzle can vary greatly.
Place shallow cans around each zone, adjust the time to get 1/2"-3/4" per watering.
Corner rotors only travel 90 deg., so replace the nozzle with a lower GPM.
There are many YT vids on how to fine-tune your system.
A time that works for your system may not be the same as your neighbors.
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A simple answer. It is not a matter of run time but how much is delivered. Different heads deliver different quantities of water. For that matter different plants need different amounts of water.

Most people, are asking about a lawn. The first question is evenness of water distribution. Do all your heads work? Have bushes, trees etc begun to block the water from the heads? Easy to check by putting out shallow pans to check and measure.
Washed tuna, pet food cans are perfect. If you use something like jars, you will get a false reading. Some of the water will bounce off the side.

Some of us, including me, think we can force nature to do what we want. You will lose.
First you need to know the type of grass you have and the type of soil you have.
For most of us our soil is sandy clay. It can be, it should be improved.

If, you have empire zoysia, as I do, it shuts down for the winter and does not grow much until the end of march. I simply shut off my watering system during,"the winter," our bushes are well rooted in. No need to water and promote weeds.

It is all a balance. If it says so much fertilizer per 1,000 sq feet. So many think, me included -sometimes, if it says so much per 1,000 my lawn deserves more than that.
The result is you need to apply more water, you have fat lazy grass that insects and disease love

Actually, 1 inch of water once a week is better, because it will make the grass grow its roots deeper, thus more drought resistant. Besides, the villages only allows you to water twice a week.

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Sprinkler Timing
 

I set up each zone to run for 15 minutes two times. In essence, run each zone for 15 minutes and then run them again for 15 minutes. So it's a total of 30 minutes per zone each day I water. This lets the water soak in better. I do it twice per week except during rainy season.

You should take the University of Florida cooperative extension class on sprinkler settings. It's free and is probably online now since they can't give it in person yet. You should take a small tuna fish or pet food can and place it in different spots around your yard then turn on sprinkler zones one at a time and determine how long the sprinkler must run in order to accumulate 1/2 - 3/4 in of water. Then set that zone to run that amount of time twice a week. It is better to water for a longer time but only two times a week as that encourages roots to grow deeper and that will help them live through the high heat in the summer. You will probably find that your lawn oscillating sprinklers require twice as much time to get the one half to three quarter inch of water versus the pop up sprinklers in bushes etc. I have to set my lawn sprinklers at twice the amount of time as my pop-up sprinklers and I can reduce the time on some of my pop-ups where it's always in the shade. The sprinkler class is well worth attending or taking if offered online as it is very specific for new homeowners here in Central Florida and tells you many good tips about landscaping for our area. Good luck and welcome to the Villages.

If you water you’re lawn for 20 mins and after 8 mins all water running down the street to the street Drain. You are watering the street drain more than you’re yard. IMO need to watch, readjust sprinkler heads if needed, and see how long it take for run off. Little run-off ok IMO but River running down the street too much.

Instead of changing each zone just point the dial to Seasonal then press the up or down buttons. This time of year I set at 55 or 60 this will give me 8 mins. for plants an 18 mins. for grass. I do this instead od having to change every zone. Nov. or Dec. I set it back to 20.

Changing the "seasonal adjust" setting does not work unless you have disconnected the wires to the solar sync sensor on the roof. That sensor will automatically reset the "seasonal adjust" setting within a few days. It is better to change the watering times and periodically check the "seasonal adjust" setting. Unfortunately, the Hunter controllers do not allow you to permanently set a constant watering time.