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After weeks of little to no rain, it rained about 5-6” on Monday. Since then, we’ve had temperatures in the mid 90’s and we’re getting more hot weather throughout this upcoming weekend.
Your question isn't as simple as 1-2-3
The rain you got mostly washed away because it fell in short time and the ground was so dry and compacted. It wasn't over 1-3 days so the ground didn't absorb it too deep. But even still, figure you got 2-3" to absorb. That's enough to keep ground moist and give the plants a nice drink. Wind, humidity, temps, sun all factor in next. You can see how complicated we can make this.
I'm in same boat but not that much rain. Got over 2 inches couple days ago then 90s past 2 days. Did not water the lawn or the garden. My sprinklers only drop 0.10" of water every day which is enough to keep it green all summer. So why would I water after 2 inches of rain if Im only watering 0.10" a day?
This weekend I'll be watering because most of the 2" will have evaporated.
The rain you got mostly washed away because it fell in short time and the ground was so dry and compacted. It wasn't over 1-3 days so the ground didn't absorb it too deep. But even still, figure you got 2-3" to absorb. That's enough to keep ground moist and give the plants a nice drink. Wind, humidity, temps, sun all factor in next. You can see how complicated we can make this.
I'm in same boat but not that much rain. Got over 2 inches couple days ago then 90s past 2 days. Did not water the lawn or the garden. My sprinklers only drop 0.10" of water every day which is enough to keep it green all summer. So why would I water after 2 inches of rain if Im only watering 0.10" a day?
This weekend I'll be watering because most of the 2" will have evaporated.
This makes sense. I didn’t water today either because I was waiting for some rain that never came. I will most likely water tomorrow morning.
After weeks of little to no rain, it rained about 5-6” on Monday. Since then, we’ve had temperatures in the mid 90’s and we’re getting more hot weather throughout this upcoming weekend. On Wednesday I saw a lot of people in my neighborhood watering their lawns, which I found strange on light of the heavy rain just two days prior. I stuck a screwdriver in the soil and it went through easy, so I figured it was still moist enough to not need to water so soon. A Google search results in conflicting information on the subject. What would you guys do?
After weeks of little to no rain a heavy rain in one day is no guarantee of water soaking deep into the soil. A heavy rain can result in a lot of run-off with more water going into gutters and down city drains than what gets absorbed into the ground. The drier the soil is to start with the more it repels water and the more difficult it is for the soil to absorb new water ..... even in a heavy rainfall which is really little more than a primer. Soil ideally needs to be a little bit damp to start with just to allow more water to be absorbed into it, so the rain you got on Monday served as a dampening primer for your neighbours who were watering the lawns on Wenesday. They actually did the right thing.
What I do depends on what kind of soil it is. I go around with my moisture meter sticking the sharp end of it into the ground in different spots here and there to get readings of how much moisture is in the soil and how deep down it goes. If the meter comes out registering dry 2 inches or more below the surface I water whatever I'm metering.
Moisture meters are inexpensive and absolutely essential in my estimation, especially if you happen to have water conservation restrictions in place in your city.
I had been watering regularly prior to the heavy rainfall so my soil should have never been that dry. My lawn wasn’t perfectly green, but better than most. I’ll look into that moisture meter
It depends on your climate and how green you want your grass to be. We get around 40" of rain a year in Indianapolis, so I don't water the lawn. Even if it gets brown, it'll come back. But in Denver (where I used to live), you needed to water twice a week to have a lawn. If you didn't water, your lawn would die.
After a heavy rain I usually wait for at least 48 hours till grass not get dried and no need to begin watering again until the top two inches of soil are dry.
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