What time of day and how long is optimal for watering grass in Phoenix?
Question:I just got a house with an automatic sprinkler system. The people who lived here before stopped watering and there are some burned out spots. Any advice?
Answers:
I lived in Phoenix for 18 yrs. before moving back to the Midwest. The best time of the day to water in Phoenix is by far the early morning hours. I would water my dwarf tiff-green lawn for 1-1.5 hours every 6-7 days. Your goal is to provide 1" of water per week on your lawn. You can put out a can in your lawn & run your sprinklers for 1 hour. Now measure the amount of water in the can. Adjust your sprinkler system duration so you get 1" of water on your lawn. Remember to move the can to diiferent locations to get a good average.
Early morning watering allows the grass a chance to dry before it gets dark. If you water in the evening, the grass stays wet all night. Your primary concern here is fungus. Fungus needs water moisture on the leaf to penetrate and infect a grass blade. The longer you have water on your grass, the higher the probability that you'll get a fungal attack. Bacteria is not the prime concern because bacteria enter a plant through a wound. Bacteria are not vectored by the wind like fungal spores. Bacteria usually are vectored to the plant by an insect. Bacteria does not need water moisture on the plant leaf to infect, just a wounded plant.
Mid day watering (any time during the heat) just allows too much water to evaporate to be efficient and water is in limited supply in Phoenix.
late in the day is the best..if you water early the water will quickly evaporate and can burn the grass as it does so where at night it has alot more time to sink into the ground and do good..i know i only usually water for about an hour a night...no more is really needed.
late, like night ish if possible ,
try to avoid the morning and heat of the day.
I know when you plant new grass it needs to be watered twice a day. But like with flowers you don't want to water in the mid to afternoon on account of it burning. I usually water my grass early in the morning, 6am and in the evening 7pm just so happens to correspond with my work schedule of getting up and getting home. Hope this helps. You might also want to try the Scotts website they may offer you some more tips and information that might be helpful.
Early morning before Sun is high in the sky.
If you water at night on a regular basis you will start to get bacteria growth on your lawn. It turns to an orangish color.
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