This is crazy awesome. Do you know what type of grass they have?
I’m not sure, but it’s a fine bladed grass that is relatively common to Utah - likely Kentucky bluegrass.
I don’t know exactly how to address the concern that the system is watering more often.
I’m not sure either. If you guys swear you didn’t change anything, then I guess the most likely explanation is that the roots grew deeper this spring so that now it doesn’t look dry before it waters. I’ll have to lower the root depth some more in the settings.
Wow, I’d convinced myself I was crazy until I saw this thread. When I switched to my Bermuda settings I found it was watering the same frequency with 90-100F temps as I had last year at 115F+. I kept going over my numbers as it really did seem too frequent. I dialed back my crop coefficient, but it seems others here have the same so know I’m wondering, (rhetorical question) am I still crazy ?
Here’s the next two weeks for me. Not only do I never get 2 days off, but I have a couple consecutive days… don’t remember that last year. I’m trying to think up what changes I may have had in my zones. The only thing I can think of is root depth was maybe 6-7.
@azdavidr your crop coefficient is the default for cool grass (.7) and not the warm (0.65), any reason you are doing that? It’s giving you some crazy 0.3+ ET figures
I’m sure you’ve heard it before, and will say it yourself one day. Enjoy it while you can, it goes by fast! Anyway, mine is off to college in August. I figured he should learn how to detatch and aerate before he goes off to spread his wings.
Had same observation and suspicion that something changed. Modified crop coefficient downward, adjusted amount of shade by zone (very seasonal in my yard), used FILL after big rain event. Next to my struggles to pull the right precipitation data into rachio, with the 110% threshold I am not getting the “benefit” of a saturated soil, and have to compensate with a FILL a day or two after the rain to keep moisture levels from dropping too quickly. My ET though looks reasonably consistent with my weather observation. It feels that I am getting there, but it is not where I left the system in fall.
Not that any of you would have this situation, but the Hubs and I have different, um, philosophies on watering, he would change a setting or manually water a zone or set a rain skip and I wouldn’t know.
Just recently he said, " Rachio is going crazy." I explained it was the cycle and soak and that’s exactly what should happen. A few days later, after a similar conversation, he asks, “Are you sure?”
So I went back and looked at the data on all my waterings from last year, and I am the crazy one, I think – the waterings are spacing about the same time apart. The only change I’ve noticed that is a problem (and I didn’t have much of this happen last year), is that when I get lots of rain two or more days in a row, the flex daily system wants to water before even the very surface of the soil is dry.
Franz, I logged into my Rachio using the website, changed the root depth of my grass zones, and the watering frequency didn’t change. However, I changed the root depth of my planter bed zones, the watering frequency changed massively.
For example, Zone 1 is grass. Before I made any changes, the root depth was set at 8 inches and it said the last time it watered was on June 6 and that it will water again on June 9. I changed the root depth to 25 inches. It still says the last time it watered was June 6 and that it will water again on June 9. I left it set at 25 inches.
Zone 7 is for planter beds. Before I made any changes, the root depth was set at 10 inches, the last time it watered was on June 6, and it would water again on June 10. I changed the root depth to 25 inches and it immediately changed the date it will water again to June 20. I changed the root depth back to 10 inches.
Something isn’t right here. Last year, changing the root depth of my lawn massively changed the water frequency.
If I remember right @Linn, they dropped the max moisture levels on the charts from 120% down to 110% sometime last year. That could explain why it starts watering sooner.
+1. One of the things I love about this controller is that my landscaper can’t mess with it if he tried. On my old Hunter I used to try to dial things in, then the landscaper comes and cranks things up, confuses valves/zones, etc. I don’t miss those days at all.