Toro TMC-212 manual Planning Your Watering Schedule, Guidelines for Watering

Planning Your Watering Schedule

It is generally helpful to organize your initial watering schedule on paper before beginning the programming steps. The information can be recorded on the Watering Scheduling form located inside the cover of the outdoor controller or on the blank form provided on page 20.

Guidelines for Watering

There are several factors to considered when determin- ing how much to water. For example, the soil composi- tion, the type of lawn and plants, exposure to sun and shade and the rate at which the sprinklers apply water. Because of these variables, an exact schedule can not be provided. Some trial and error will be required to find the best watering schedule, but here are some general watering guidelines to help you get started.

•Water two or three hours before sunrise. You will have the best water pressure at this time and evaporation will be minimal.

•With a new lawn, water frequently for a short duration to keep the soil and plants moist at all times until established. Cut back on watering if runoff occurs.

•With an established landscape, water enough to saturate the plants and soil without causing runoff. Gradually cut back watering over a period of time until you notice signs of plant stress. Increase watering gradually just enough to regain plant health and vitality. This watering method enables a healthy landscape to be maintained using the least amount of water.

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Filling Out the Watering Schedule Form

•Location - Identify the portion of the landscape watered by each station.

Note: Enter the following information for each program (A, B and C). If a program is not needed, leave its information column blank.

•Watering Day Schedule - For a Calendar schedule, circle the day(s) of the week that watering is desired. For an Interval schedule, circle the desired Interval number. For Odd or Even days, simply mark the appro- priate box. If you need to restricted watering on certain days, circle the excluded day(s).

•Station Time - Indicate the amount of run time (1 minute to 4 hours) for each station. Write “Off” for any station that you do not want to assign to the program.

•Well Recovery Delay Time - See “Setting Pump Start/Master Valve and Well Recovery Controls” on pages 28–30 and 38–39 for detailed information.

•Program Start Times - Indicate the time(s) of day to start the program. Each program can have up to four assigned start times.

Note: The TMC-212 runs one program watering cycle at a time. Within the cycle, only one station runs at a time. Therefore, when scheduling multiple programs and/or multiple start times per program, make sure that each program watering cycle can run to completion before the next program cycle is scheduled to start. A program that attempts to start during an active watering cycle will be delayed until the active watering cycle ends. If the program is delayed past Midnight, it will be canceled if the day is restricted from watering or is not a scheduled watering day.