Questions and suggestions about Rachio 3

[Kubisuro]

@scrambler

right now I am running it in simulation mode

This is a GREAT way to get started. I’ve done this and highly recommend others do this if they have time during the non-irrigation season in order to get a good feel of Rachio.

@scrambler

Why all settings being equal, do a Flex Monthly Schedule produce a watering time half as long as a Flex Daily Schedule?

If as you say everything is equal, beats me! Maybe Flex Monthly waters twice as frequently and so waters half as much?

@scrambler

With two different zones, one for perennials on drip lines with deep roots, and one for lawn on Sprinkler with shallow roots, a single Flex Monthly Schedule water them both as often (on the same exact schedule).

I don’t know. Watering time should at least increase with root depth unless it’s a wash due different nozzle in/hr values. I think Monthly tries to set the best fit frequency so that people can feel comforted by a regular watering regime vs Flex Daily’s as-needed regime.

@scrambler

Given it seems to be necessary to create separate schedules to get appropriate watering frequency, it would really help if each schedule could be given a different color or even icon on the calendar, regardless of the type.

This has definitely been brought up before in these forums, so you’re not alone in this desire for a better way to differentiate schedules on the calendar.

@scrambler

In Flex Daily, Rachio does not predict the schedule beyond the forecast. It would help a lot if it could predict all year long using historical data like it does with Flex Monthly. This would help in the initial setup phase to see the type of frequency behavior that is being calculated.

Flex Daily relies on the forecast to forecast crop evapotranspiration. That’s already basically a wild guess, especially beyond a few days, so I imagine using climatological daily averages to determine crop ET in the long term isn’t worth the effort? Note that I recall Rachio uses some variant of the Penman-Monteith equation to calculate ET and the daily inputs required for that might not be easily available in a climate almanac? E.g., wind speed, solar radiation and humidity? The availability of mean temperatures would be assured. Adding long-term calculations may also impact cloud processing time and add expense. Just spit balling here

@scrambler

• EDIT: I realize that for fine tuning of frequency, I could use the Advanced slider for Allowed depletion. by allowing less depletion, I can increase watering frequency. To fine tune watering time, I could also use the advanced nozzle inch per hour.

I wouldn’t change the MAD since 50% seems to be a well accepted value for most crops. The Soil Type modifies the Available Water value, which you can find possible useful values using the NRCS Web Soil Survey:

Using Web Soil Survey to define your soil settings

I found through my own experience that setting an incorrect soil type can have a dramatic impact on the watering duration and frequency of flex schedules. I’d lived in my home for 22 years and always assumed we had a lot of clay in our desert soil. Through these forums I found that was not the case, and instead we have sandy loam. Changing that setting really had a big impact on my scheduling. Finding out your soil type can be confusing, but I personally found the USDA Web Soil Survey site t…

@scrambler

The online manual seems to be out of date with the current options in the App. This should really be addressed both for users to find out all the settings meaning, but also for prospect buyers who could get the wrong impression about what the system can do.

I’ve noticed this especially Yard vs Zones buttons. The constant refrain I hear is that redoing screen shots is soul sucking lol but yeah that’d be nice to see resolved since it means I have to add “Yard” instead of “Zones” button/tab to forum responses.