Soil moisture fill/empty

[JNotar]

@katerri22

It really helps to be able to adjust the moisture balance when moving the zones from fixed schedules to flex.

That solved my problems. Thank you.

[JCE]

Since there is no slider, then button pushers like me get into trouble by trying it out without any way of going back to where we were. Can you add an “undo” button?

[franz]

I’ll put this in the backlog and we will prioritize accordingly.

Thanks!

[NickT]

@bhochenedel

Also, I have a moisture sensor that tells me the exact %. Some sort of a slider to set the value may also be nice for “advanced” users. Eventually I hope to have everything dialed in so the Rachio % matches the soil sensor

I have moisture sensors too, and I don’t understand why my only two options for adjustment of soil moisture are 0 and 100% (i.e. empty and fill). Seems to me that you could walk around with a sensor and set the actual percentages and give the controller a much better idea of what to do. Having a portable sensor could also help the controller “learn” the drain rate. Anyway, the feature seems really hobbled by only being able to adjust to either endpoint, and nowhere in between.

[franz]

Agreed. This is definitely in our backlog, will get to this as soon as we can.

[ETIrrigation]

I am having a hard time understanding why this particular tool needs to be complicated by adding a slide for %. What is this tools particular purpose? Is it to make a quick correction to input variables either from zone parameters or weather data being off from actual condition in the ground, YES. Is it to fine tune parameter settings NO. IF you want to add choices to the slide OK. Keep them simple and relevant to what is being accomplished. Depleted, Water at next available time or Saturated Delay water 1 day, or 2 days. If these options do not correct the issue, chances are it is improper setting or weather data that needs to be address.

@NickT

I have moisture sensors too, and I don’t understand why my only two options for adjustment of soil moisture are 0 and 100% (i.e. empty and fill). Seems to me that you could walk around with a sensor and set the actual percentages and give the controller a much better idea of what to do. Having a portable sensor could also help the controller “learn” the drain rate. Anyway, the feature seems really hobbled by only being able to adjust to either endpoint, and nowhere in between.

If you want to be able to do this, maybe it should be an option within the zone setup menu but probable not in a quick correction tool.

[emil]

@ETIrrigation

I am having a hard time understanding why this particular tool needs to be complicated by adding a slide for %.

@ETIrrigation, are you referring to the slider @bhochenedel mentioned for a moisture sensor?

@bhochenedel

I have a moisture sensor that tells me the exact %. Some sort of a slider to set the value may also be nice for “advanced” users.

[ETIrrigation]

@emil

are you referring to the slider @bhochenedel mentioned for a moisture sensor?

I am referring to the zone Moisture Fill/Empty tool under iro’s zone moisture balance graph.

[emil]

@ETIrrigation

I am referring to the zone Moisture Fill/Empty tool under iro’s zone moisture balance graph.

@ETIrrigation, okay thanks for clarifying.

@ETIrrigation

Is it to make a quick correction to input variables either from zone parameters or weather data being off from actual condition in the ground, YES. Is it to fine tune parameter settings NO. IF you want to add choices to the slide OK. Keep them simple and relevant to what is being accomplished. Depleted, Water at next available time or Saturated Delay water 1 day, or 2 days. If these options do not correct the issue, chances are it is improper setting or weather data that needs to be address.

Are you recommending we add more options to the Fill/Empty tool?

@ETIrrigation

If you want to be able to do this, maybe it should be an option within the zone setup menu but probable not in a quick correction tool.

Assuming this is for soil/moisture sensor data. If so, then we’d probably want to separate user quick edits from sensor calibration edits. Let me know if we’re on the same page.

[ETIrrigation]

@emil

Are you recommending we add more options to the Fill/Empty tool?

I would prefer it stayed just as it is. Empty/Fill no need for a slider here.

[rwabel]

I have a few question in regards of moisture level

1. Looking at the graph, I can see it shows it will go up from almost empty to full. However I do not see if that will happen due to rainfall or the system that calculates it will need to run the sprinkler for that zone
2. I have different nozzle types and even different plants in my zone. Is it wise to keep flexible schedule and try to find a balance between the plants and the nozzle types?
3. I have a the famous moisture meter you can put into the ground to read the moisture level. Would it make sense to do that for each zone and then adjust the moisture level to have a good starting point? Is it now possible to set it to a specific level or still only empty or full?
4. The default area size is set to 1000 sq ft. That is very big. Not easy to calculate, but mine are way lower like 100 or even less. How much impact does the area have in the calc?
5. If the level is empty how much does the system look into the forecast in order to not run the sprinkler? I mean if the system knows in 3 days in will rain, however moisture level is empty, will it still run the sprinkler?
6. Is there some kind of a list of plants that shows in what category they are going and their typical root depth?

Thanks

[franz]

@rwabel

However I do not see if that will happen due to rainfall or the system that calculates it will need to run the sprinkler for that zone

The moisture level is filled by precipitation, or irrigation.

@rwabel

2. I have different nozzle types and even different plants in my zone. Is it wise to keep flexible schedule and try to find a balance between the plants and the nozzle types?

A flex schedule will run each zone independently, so its not that big of an issue. If you want to take advantage of smart cycling, I would group like zones together.

@rwabel

3. I have a the famous moisture meter you can put into the ground to read the moisture level. Would it make sense to do that for each zone and then adjust the moisture level to have a good starting point? Is it now possible to set it to a specific level or still only empty or full?

I don’t think that would help much since we are tracking with different data. If you go into the moisture level graph itself, you can empty/fill each zone.

@rwabel

4. The default area size is set to 1000 sq ft. That is very big. Not easy to calculate, but mine are way lower like 100 or even less. How much impact does the area have in the calc?

Sq. ft is only used in calculating estimated gallon usage. Nozzle type (in/hr), crop type, and soil are probably the most important data points.

@rwabel

5. If the level is empty how much does the system look into the forecast in order to not run the sprinkler? I mean if the system knows in 3 days in will rain, however moisture level is empty, will it still run the sprinkler?

If the zone is depleted, we will run that day, unless enough precipitation is predicted for that day, to offset the current day’s evapotranspiration.

@rwabel

6. Is there some kind of a list of plants that shows in what category they are going and their typical root depth?

Here are the current crop types with root zone depth in inches:

XERISCAPE 5.0
TREES 25.0
ANNUAL 4
COOL_SEASON_GRASS 6
WARM_SEASON_GRASS 9
PERENNIAL 10
SHRUBS 15

Coming this Spring we will be consolidating fixed and flex into a more simple, understandable, efficient schedule.

[rwabel]

Thanks for your detailed answer Franz. I have tried to do the inline reply…but was not able to find it.

1. I think it would be good to see in the forecasted moisture level which part is from precipitation and which part from irrigation. I assume it knows approx how much rainfall is forecasted.

2. The problem is that I have different nozzle types and plants in the same zone. Means one plant might get a bit too much water and another not enough. But it is obviously difficult unless each zone as just one kind of plant and nozzle type installed

3. True, but my moisture meter gives me indication if the soil is very dry or wet. I just have a feeling that the current data for my moisture level could be pretty wrong

4. Good to know. Soil type is typically the same within a zone. I just struggle as I have different crops and nozzle types in the same zone.

5. Would it make sense to have the option to look at the forecast and even if it is depleted to not run irrigation as the day after rain is forecasted?

6. I found them on the webpage, but I have a hard time to know if my specific plant is a Xeriscape, perennial etc

Looking forward to the update in Spring then
Thanks

[franz]

@rwabel

Thanks for your detailed answer Franz. I have tried to do the inline reply…but was not able to find it.

You can just highlight text from the post, and voila!

@rwabel

1. I think it would be good to see in the forecasted moisture level which part is from precipitation and which part from irrigation. I assume it knows approx how much rainfall is forecasted.

This is shown in the details.

@rwabel

5. Would it make sense to have the option to look at the forecast and even if it is depleted to not run irrigation as the day after rain is forecasted?

After more than one day, forecast precipitation data gets a little shaky. I think we’d miss more than we hit.

@rwabel

6. I found them on the webpage, but I have a hard time to know if my specific plant is a Xeriscape, perennial etc

For crop types that are not turf (grass), it is very hard to estimate root zone depth without actually taking a sample. We’ve chosen industry standard estimates, but once again each individual plant will have a different root zone depth.

Hope this helps.

[rwabel]

@franz

This is shown in the details.

Right, would be nice having however a different icon in the graph for rain and manual watering. Gives the visibility right away if it was due to rain, irrigation or both.

Making my life sometimes more difficult by manually watering directly from the hose…That will be hard to account in Rachio

[franz]

If you hover over the rain drops in the webapp we do show more detail, but another icon is a good idea for immediately determining what happened.

[rwabel]

and if we already talk about visible improvements. When editing a zone and chose the different nozzle or soil types, I think it would be great to have the picture/icon (which is on the webpage explaining the different types) as well to the text

[briansusername]

@franz - Re-visiting the topic of offering more than just Fill and Empty, I’d love to have a manual percentage to enter or the slider suggested.

I replaced a sprinkler in one zone and manually tested that zone several times, which got that zone a bit off on the moisture balance away from its two overlapping zones (all three of which have identical characteristics and stay in sync on Flex Daily normally). Now, since they are out of sync, they are scheduled to non-ideally run on different days.

I realized I can use the moisture balance adjustment feature to get them back in sync, but it only works well when the zones are close to full or empty. Otherwise I’d mess up the flex moisture balance tracking too much. Tomorrow they will be pretty close to full, so I set myself a reminder to fix them then, but if I could manually set any moisture balance percentage, I’d be able to do it now while I’m thinking about it and just dial the one back in line.

So yeah, I vote for adding the not-just-full-and-empty moisture level adjustments!

[Timbiotic]

What happened to this being in the “backlog” 3 years later and there is still no manual entry for soil?

[JayKC]

Any update on this feature? I tapped fill to see what the button did (oops) no confirmation, it just filled my soil to 100%. Since it seems there’s no manual entry or undo, there’s no way to change it back…