I recently setup my flex daily schedule and noticed that my popup zones are scheduled to water for anywhere between 18-24 minutes per zone. This seems extremely aggressive, especially in the spring with cooler temperatures. I was typically watering between 8-12 (spring/summer) minutes per zone a few times a week. Based on numerous recommendations from Denver and Fort Collins Colorado sources to run popup zones between 7-10 minutes, 18 minutes seems like it cannot be right. Am I doing something wrong?
Probably not. The concept behind flex daily is to give a deep watering to each zone when the root zone is empty.
If you see puddling or excessive runoff, then perhaps the soil type needs to be adjusted to water more frequently for less time. The cycle and soak option can also allow the root zone to absorb a deep watering.
At 1.5"/hr precip rate for fixed spray nozzles, 20 mins is 0.5" per watering. That would be normal for a loamy soil and a 6" root zone.
Check the soil moisture level graph (and details) for your zones. You can see how much moisture is added at each watering, and how much water is lost each day. Note the next run date for each zone. You will likely find that you are watering less frequently than in the past. The less frequent watering encourages root growth, and wastes less water.
You can tweak some zone parameters if you are watering too frequently, or too long at each watering. But keep an eye on things for a while first.
Hope your Rachio works out for you.