How much time should I water on each zone?
Over watering is often a bigger problem than underwatering, particularly early in the spring. Don't be in a rush to supplement nature's water.
Mist head zones need to run half as much time as the rotor zones. Our standard spring setting is 10 minutes per zone on mist heads and 20 minutes per zone on rotors. This will vary a few minutes depending on nozzle size, soil and weather conditions. Setting your system this way will put down 1" of water per week running three times a week.
For drip irrigation be very cautious of overwatering. Folks tend to run it a long time because they can't see it operating. This type of irrigation should be run a short amount of time — approximately 5 to 10 minutes a zone, as drip irrigation can put out 9/10 of a gallon of water per plant, per hour.
Please note
*These are averages and a general starting point for the spring. As the watering season progresses these times will likely need to be altered to match precipitation and soil conditions in your area.
*A yard in the rich soil of Morningside or the heavy soil in Sergeant Bluff is going to need different watering than the full sandy soil at Wynstone or the mixed sandy soil at Dakota Dunes.
*A well-designed and maintained sprinkler is going to be able to water less than a poorly designed sprinkler. What works for your neighbor may not work for you.
If the summer is hot and dry you will want to increase this by a few minutes a zone as the weather arcs into the dog days of summer. The easiest way to do this is by using seasonal adjust on your controller.