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is 4:30am too early?

11K views 28 replies 20 participants last post by  topsites  
#1 ·
Is 4:30am too early to set timer to start watering? I've got 4 sprinklers in my lawn and I've set the timer for 45 minutes per sprinkler (zone). So it would stop watering at 7:30am. Is this ok or is it too early?
 
#3 ·
And I had thought this was about mowing at 4:30 in the morning!

some of the parks here, the irrigation starts at 10pm because it has so many zones to cycle through.
 
#5 ·
Actually that is about the best time you can water your lawn.
 
#8 ·
Actually that is about the best time you can water your lawn.
Right on. You want to water about an hour before the sun comes up. Tho you may want to cut your run time down 45 min . is a long time. I set zones to run for 20 min. every other day, depending on how much sun the area gets. Less sun, less run time on that zone. The key is to get the root of the grass to chase the water down. By over watering ,45 min. a zone ,your not letting the root chase the water down.
 
#9 ·
Right on. You want to water about an hour before the sun comes up. Tho you may want to cut your run time down 45 min . is a long time. I set zones to run for 20 min. every other day, depending on how much sun the area gets. Less sun, less run time on that zone. The key is to get the root of the grass to chase the water down. By over watering ,45 min. a zone ,your not letting the root chase the water down.
I thought I heard it is better to water long and deep instead of short and shallow to get the roots deeper. I don't have underground irrigation, I just have 4 spike sprinklers set on timer. So I should change and water each for 20 minutes?
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#10 ·
It is not the time per zone, but the output that determines this. 45 minutes with 5/8 in. hose will be much different than a 1" line. Regardless of,...it is about a sure bet that 45 minutes is WAY too long. You could probably water less than half that if the ground has some residual moisture in it and be more effective.
 
#11 ·
You will be fine. I have 9 zones in my system and mine run for 1.5hrs per zone, once every 7 days. This equates to about an inch of water per week. I start mine at 6pm and it runs through the night. You will not have an issue.
 
#13 ·
I wake up around that time every day. One of the first things I do is start my daily watering. I don't have an underground sprinkler system so I have to move a tripod sprinkler all over my "lawn".
We are in the same boat...whats the sense of having one if you can hardly ever use it due to watering bans or restrictions.
 
#14 ·
Around here my lawn doesn't wake up until 5:30 so my grass would get angry if I woke it up with cold water at 4:30 without letting it sleep in.:rolleyes:
 
#15 ·
I thought I heard it is better to water long and deep instead of short and shallow to get the roots deeper. I don't have underground irrigation, I just have 4 spike sprinklers set on timer. So I should change and water each for 20 minutes?
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Get yourself some tuna cans, turn off water when the cans reach 1/2". In your case, time the system to see how long that takes, then set your timer for that duration.
 
#16 ·
Watering at night is NOT GOOD. It attracts bugs, insects, diseases & other unwanted stuff. I always wondered about golf courses, because they water at night. Their answer? Because they have people there all day-you can't water while there are customers out on the course. So they have a substantial bill to go along with the water bill for fert & pesticide treatments
 
#17 ·
If watering at night or early morning is your only option to keep your lawn alive its worth the risk.
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#18 ·
some of the parks here, the irrigation starts at 10pm because it has so many zones to cycle through.
430 in the morning is perfect. If you have too many zones then rotate the days of the week that the zones water. If you water at 10 at night you are asking for a disease. Diseases need 3 things to thrive. Heat, humidity, and moisture. By watering in the evening time you will allow moisture to sit on the foliage all night longÂ…this will greatly multiply the chances of killing your lawn.

Always water between 4 AM and 9 am.
 
#19 ·
But if our parks have sprinkler systems, then you mus live in a very wealthy area and love paying high taxes
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West side of the state. Even some of the grass medians that separate traffic have irrigation. They can't let those tulips dry up!
 
#23 ·
I thought I heard it is better to water long and deep instead of short and shallow to get the roots deeper. I don't have underground irrigation, I just have 4 spike sprinklers set on timer. So I should change and water each for 20 minutes?
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I would change it to every other day for 20 min. and see how the lawn looks after a week or so. Make sure you put some kind of fert. down also. I wouldn't use Scott's but if that's all you can get use it. Try and find a LESCO dealer in your area.

Watering at night is NOT GOOD. It attracts bugs, insects, diseases & other unwanted stuff. I always wondered about golf courses, because they water at night. Their answer? Because they have people there all day-you can't water while there are customers out on the course. So they have a substantial bill to go along with the water bill for fert & pesticide treatments
100% right
 
#25 ·
As far as golf courses go, I used to be superintendent. It would be impossible to water all of your course at the optimal time, right before sunrise. What I alway did was water tees rough and fairways at night, greens woulf d get watered right before sunrise. I could only water one nine a night as far as fairways. As far as the water bills, most course have resorvoirs that they pump irrigation out of. We would fill our resorvoirs with wells we had on the course.
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#26 ·
I have found this to be my best option for watering.
MWF 430am and 9pm each zone 7 min and each zone once sun 430am for 7 mins

It depends on you sprinkler heads and their output 10 mins on a standard pop up and 10 mins impact rotor and 10 mins on a gear drive are all completely different things. I would never water anything for longer 30 mins.