this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2023
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I'd like to hear more about those moisture sensors if you'd be willing to share
How many do you have? (If multiple) do you space them out around your yard? Do you find it to be accurate enough? Do you have experience with other systems to compare it to?
Sorry for the 20 questions. I've lived in a condo my entire adult life but I'm buying a house soon and lawncare scares me lol
Honestly moisture sensors would be nice to have later, but you don't need to start with that. A smart irrigation timer from companies like Rachio will be just fine for the begining. It adjust the watering schedule based on current weather conditions so you don't have to make manual changes from season to season.
I use the Ecowitt moisture sensors for potted plants. Given their size, I wouldn’t recommend using them for your lawn because you have to be sure to not hit them when mowing.
Automated irrigation systems are reasonably consistent. I moved from my lawnless apartment to a house with a backyard of grass. I left out a few empty containers across the lawn, waited for the first watering cycle, and adjusted the timings based on the distribution.
Sure! I have three, in different spots in different gardens. I do find them to be pretty darn accurate, especially if you calibrate them like the instructions say. I don't have anything to compare them to, but their data makes pretty graphs in home assistant and their backend.
As someone who moved from condo life into having a significant amount of deck plants, you just need an irrigation system and it doesn't need to be smart.
I use the b-hyve as a water timer, it's on my WiFi and tied into home assistant but it's fully self sufficient on its own. It's only job is to turn on the water. It is smart enough to not do it when it's rained recently.
The water runs to some fat black pipe that runs around my deck, with smaller hoses plugged into it that go into the plant pots. In the pots are either drip emitters, or what's better is an emitter hose that releases water every few inches. This is called drip irrigation and outdoor pots have holes in the bottom, so you can't really over water. Mine runs for 20 minutes every morning at 6am and everything thrives.
Lawn care you'll need some sprinklers or something, but before you invest make sure you look up your local regulations for water restrictions. Where I live you can't water a lawn during peak summer, at all. Drip irrigation is always allowed because it's very water efficient.