Watering you Lawn during the summer (Sarasota, Port Charlotte: how much, area, underwater)

[culturedmom]

I have a sprinkler system that is set to automatically water on Tuesday (the only day we are allowed to water the lawn in this part of Sarasota). I have it set to water each section for 10 mins. a section starting at 4:00 am. I am starting to see the grass browning in certain sections.

How long do you let the sprinkler stay on for each section?

Also, what time of day you water the lawn? I heard doing it very early is good so the water doesn't evaporate during the heat of the day before it has time to soak in.

[bbronston]

It depends on the type of grass you have. There's probably a dozen websites that will give you specifics based on the grass type but I doubt 10 minutes is enough for any zone. I know one trick is to put an empty tuna can out in one of the zones and see how much water you collect during the period of time the sprinklers run. Once the rain gets more frequent, you can cut it back. I've always been told not to water late at night because it promotes fungus growth.

[Harbor Hopper]

20-30 minutes per zone. 4-8am is perfect. In fact, some counties mandate that watering be done before 8am or after 6pm (due to evaporation like bbronston said). Plus, watering during the heat of the day can burn your grass & foilage.

[Harbor Hopper]

Oh yeah, and there are rain sensors that hook to your gutter and tell the irrigation controller not to turn on if you've had a recent rain. You really shouldn't need to water much, if at all, during the rainy season

[Sunshine Rules]

You should also check for pests that can infect your lawn and create brown spots. What type of grass do you have?

Depending on the type of lawn, you could have mole crickets (bahia grass) or chinch bugs (St. Augustine grass).

I agree that 10 minutes per area is probably not getting enough moisture to the roots of the grass. You may actually be harming your lawn by underwatering as the roots become shallow if not watered properly.

[TamRE]

We water our lawn in Port Charlotte for 15 minutes per section. We water at 7pm and it takes 4 hours to do the entire lawn. Our watering day is Wednesdays. Our sprinkler system manual recommended 15 minutes per section.

[photoman_6]

traditionally i've heard of one inch of water per inch, and watering early in the morning. sprinkling late in the day or at night can cause fungus. take an empty can of tuna and put it in the garden, turn your sprinklers on and see how long it takes to fill the can. That's how long you should water.

[ladyflyfsh]

If you are on a well, do these conditions and watering schedules still apply?

[Skunk Workz]

Originally Posted by ladyflyfsh

If you are on a well, do these conditions and watering schedules still apply?

If you are in Sarasota County then yes.

Sarasota County Environmental Services Water

The City of Sarasota doesn't specifically state that wells are or are not exempt, but I believe that SWFWMD does include wells, and Sarasota directly adopts the SWFWMD regulations.

You can find links to each county or city here:
Water restrictions and watering days

and the base restrictions here:
District Water Restrictions