[BC7269]

That's a pic of my back yard that gets West sun afternoon blasted and it's 102F right now and haven't had any rain since May 19! And yes, I have an irrigation system and it's still just....well, you can see..... :evil: And I'm even syringing in the afternoons! My evening cigar on the deck is becoming less enjoyable!

 

[pennstater2005]

The hotter it gets the worse it gets! Although temps should be decreasing in a few days right? I'm waiting on fall already :lol:

 

[BC7269]

We're supposed to get rain from Alberto Wed or Thurs and temps drop to 80's this week and next. It's not even Summer yet...it was record breaking heat at Indy 500 yesterday! I'm kicking around the idea of using some Air8 on those stressed areas.....they always struggle and think some is due to compaction from construction.

 

[g-man]

We are supposed to get some rain from the tropical storm. Hopefully!

I'm about to go out and mow. Im hydrating prior to going out.

 

[BC7269]

Hydrating with what gman?! I mowed on Friday and my height looks good!

 

[pennstater2005]

We are supposed to get some rain from the tropical storm. Hopefully!

I'm about to go out and mow. Im hydrating prior to going out.

I mowed this morning around 9:30 thinking it wouldn't be humid yet...boy was I wrong! Good luck!

 

[Austin]

How much water are you putting down every week? Just curious.

 

[BC7269]

Hey Austin....shamefully I haven't does the "measure" test! However, I have a Rainbird system for 8 zones (mostly the big rotors however have a couple of zones that are the MPR nozzles) and run each zone a bit differently....run 3 times a week recently since it started heating up (4:30am start, 6:15am start, 8:00am start).....started doing the "soak" method....run each zone ~`10 minutes/each zone runs 3 times...3 times a week...I run a bit longer in the back yard (~13 minutes/3 times) because it has no shade and get west afternoon sun. So, ~30-40 minutes, 3 times/week. I also have the "seasonal adjustment" feature on so it adjusts my schedule based upon the weather patterns of the area. I also syringe each zone every day at 4pm ~5 minutes/day.

I recently upgraded to the Rainbird Wifi System and app so I can control everything via my phone which is quite cool.

 

[Turfguy93]

I don't know your system but 1:30 minutes a week per zone doesn't sound like much water when it's 102 outside. You should calibrate your irrigation system. I know my system takes 3 hours to put out just an inch and the golf course which is doing 850 GPM takes and hour to put out .46"

 

[g-man]

^ I agree. There are a couple of methods. The cheap one is to place tuna cans or a straight edge Tupperware in the zone and see how long it takes to get to half an inch. There are some cups you could buy to check multiple spots in a zone for even coverage. Mine are 0.4in/hr per zone.

 

[zeus201]

Midwest is getting hammered with this heat.

 

[Pete1313]

shamefully I haven't does the "measure" test!

Like others have said, do an irrigation audit and figure out how much each zone puts down. Without knowing, all your watering times are just a guess as sprinkler precip rates can vary alot. Another example, I have my zones set up to put down only .2" of water per hour.

 

[Turfguy93]

The Midwest is coming up on a time when irrigation maybe your most important attribute, too much you get disease and turf decline. Not enough you get wilt and turf decline. Managing irrigation in the Midwest with heat and humidity is tough, but I once read by a man much smarter than me that too much water kills grass more often than not enough water. Just something to think about for everybody but 1" a week isn't quite enough when your ET's are hitting .2-.24 everyday