I just got my Rachio and am trying to set up a schedule. When I am done it says watering duration is 2hrs 40 minutes. What time period is this for? A week a day a month?
Watering duration is always the time for that session. You could have any number of those sessions per week.
If this is your first time doing irrigation, then you’re going to realize that watering takes a long time, and a lot of water. I spent the majority of my time in first 6 months of owning a system reducing the amount of watering until it was just enough to keep it green (not lush, just green) in the long dry spells.
Rachio is designed to maintain a “reservoir” of water in your soil profile, from the minimum amount of plant-useful water to full. When you first set up your zones and schedules (particularly those flex schedules), it has no knowledge about what’s in the ground, so it’s safer to assume it needs to be “filled”. Using your information about your soil, slope, location, growing things, it may need 2 hrs 40 minutes to declare the soil profile full or saturated. Trust the plan - eventually you, and your vegetation, will optimize your water use, which is why you bought a Rachio.
Thank you for the info. I live Phoenix and the heat is coming. I want to be prepared. I also tested my drip system to see what it is putting. I kinda was amazed how much they are getting when it is running. They appear to be getting 2 gallons an hour without emitters
I’m in Gilbert and my shrubs have 1gph emitters and my trees have multiple 2gph emitters depending on size. All my drip zones run for about 3.5-4 hours each time PER zone using Flex Daily.
What schedule type are you running? The advise I can give is to make sure your zone settings are correct (soil type, emitter PR/inches per hour, and root depth) and keep an eye on things. You may have to ease your yard into a new style of watering, long durations, less frequently, which is the better way to water.