On 13 Jul 2005 07:04:39 -0700, wrote:

"NJ is not the center of the universe.....in much of the western US
we get less than 6"/yr. Not a lot of night rain! We have night time
temperatures perfect for fungal disease growth.....fact is in much of
the irrigated world pre dawn watering is the smartest approach. "

And isn't that what I said I do? if you're going to get it watered
pre-dawn, then for a reasonable size lawn, you'll have to start at 1 or
2AM.


It wasn't you that wrote...

" Lots of people say not to water at night, as wet grass
promotes disease and fungus. However, I think this is mostly
nonsense."

"Okay, let's think about this. You're putting down an inch of water
once a
week. That means even if you can only run one sprinkler or zone at a
time,
you can have seven different zones. "

I don't know of anyone that runs only one zone a day. The main reason
being that in most systems, at least some of the areas covered by zones
overlap at the perimeters of the spray area. I have 3 zones like that.
Some of the areas where they overlap tend to be the areas that get the
least amount of water from each of the spray patterns. So, by doing
one zone right after the other, you get more like an inch there,
instead of 1/2 inch one day and a half the next. Once I start watering
a continuous area, I want that whole area done at once.

If the zones do entirely seperate areas, then yes, you could do those
on seperate days. But even then I'm not sure how practical it is. For
issues like putting down chemicals, being able to know which days the
whole lawn will be good and dried for mowing, etc, I think in most
cases it's more practical to just water the whole thing the same day.

" It wasn't you that wrote...

" Lots of people say not to water at night, as wet grass
promotes disease and fungus. However, I think this is mostly
nonsense."


Yes, I wrote that and I stand by it. Some people have the idea that
watering at night must be avoided. Starting watering anytime at night
so that it finishes by about 6AM works perfectly fine. That applies
the water when the air tends to be calm and temps are lowest,
minimizing evaporation. And as I pointed out, it rains in nature at
night doesn't it? The real problems from water come when it's applied
too frequently, keeping the grass constantly wet. That doesn't happen
from watering once or twice a week.

Yes, I wrote that and I stand by it. Some people have the idea that
watering at night must be avoided. Starting watering anytime at night
so that it finishes by about 6AM works perfectly fine. That applies
the water when the air tends to be calm and temps are lowest,
minimizing evaporation. And as I pointed out, it rains in nature at
night doesn't it? The real problems from water come when it's applied
too frequently, keeping the grass constantly wet. That doesn't happen
from watering once or twice a week.

If you're dealing with homeowners not understanding the whole range of
issues it's perhaps safest to just say not to water at night. Especially if
all they setup was a timer on a single zone with a single scheduled event.
They'd end up overwatering the various risks associated with it. Trying say
just because 'nature rains at night' greaty oversimplifies it. Nature does
all sorts of things and quite a few of them are harmful so that argument
really doesn't work. What DOES work is proper watering only as needed.
Timers that support better schedules that are also ACTUALLY programmed to
use them are a must. Not just on at X:XX running for X hours 7 days a week.

wrote in message
ups.com...
"Okay, let's think about this. You're putting down an inch of water
once a
week. That means even if you can only run one sprinkler or zone at a
time,
you can have seven different zones. "

I don't know of anyone that runs only one zone a day.
[snip]

If the zones do entirely seperate areas, then yes, you could do those
on seperate days. But even then I'm not sure how practical it is.
[snip]

My irrigation system has seven zones, the controller has three programs and
I use all three. The first program is for the lawn and treed areas (zones
1-4), and runs once every three days. The second is for garden areas (zones
5-6) and runs every two days. The third (zone 7) is for isolated sections
set into paving blocks, which dry out faster, and a group of large pots, and
runs every morning, using micro-irrigation.

Now you know someone who runs only one zone a day. :-)

On 13 Jul 2005 20:35:30 -0700, wrote:

" It wasn't you that wrote...

" Lots of people say not to water at night, as wet grass
promotes disease and fungus. However, I think this is mostly
nonsense."


Yes, I wrote that and I stand by it.

And as I pointed out NJ isn't necessarily typical!


Some people have the idea that
watering at night must be avoided.

Once more, IN MOST IF NOT ALL OF THE DESERT SW WATERING AT NIGHT
PROVIDES PERFECT CONDITIONS FOR FUNGAL DISEASE AND IT"S SPREAD IN
TURF!

Starting watering anytime at night
so that it finishes by about 6AM works perfectly fine.

In your narrow field of experience....

That applies
the water when the air tends to be calm and temps are lowest,
minimizing evaporation. And as I pointed out, it rains in nature at
night doesn't it?

VERY SELDOM IN MUCH OF THE SW! Three to six inches of rain each YEAR
doesn't make for much night rain.

The real problems from water come when it's applied
too frequently, keeping the grass constantly wet. That doesn't happen
from watering once or twice a week.

typical Chet!

Tom Jaszewski wrote:
On 13 Jul 2005 20:35:30 -0700, wrote:

" It wasn't you that wrote...

" Lots of people say not to water at night, as wet grass
promotes disease and fungus. However, I think this is mostly
nonsense."


Yes, I wrote that and I stand by it.

And as I pointed out NJ isn't necessarily typical!


Some people have the idea that
watering at night must be avoided.

Once more, IN MOST IF NOT ALL OF THE DESERT SW WATERING AT NIGHT
PROVIDES PERFECT CONDITIONS FOR FUNGAL DISEASE AND IT"S SPREAD IN
TURF!


This year in western Oregon we got a lot of night time rain, and there are a
lot of fungal problems with all foliage, not just lawns. Listening to the
rain as I was falling asleep did not make for pleasant dreams knowing what
was happening to my landscape. (I've never see so much fricken black spot on
my roses as this year, for example!)

Even if it's natural to rain at night, lawns don't exist in nature. So the
argument that it rains at night is irrelevant to whether that's a good time
to water a lawn.

Why create a fungus Utopia if it can be avoided? Watering at dawn is a great
time. Starting a zone at midnight so the last zone is watered at dawn means
that zone started at midnight is a fungus playground even in New Jersey.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Have an outdoor project? Get a Black & Decker power tool::
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blackanddecker/

Tom Jaszewski wrote:
On 13 Jul 2005 20:35:30 -0700, wrote:

" It wasn't you that wrote...

" Lots of people say not to water at night, as wet grass
promotes disease and fungus. However, I think this is mostly
nonsense."


Yes, I wrote that and I stand by it.

And as I pointed out NJ isn't necessarily typical!

Some people have the idea that
watering at night must be avoided.

Once more, IN MOST IF NOT ALL OF THE DESERT SW WATERING AT NIGHT
PROVIDES PERFECT CONDITIONS FOR FUNGAL DISEASE AND IT"S SPREAD IN
TURF!

I do most of my watering at night, as in 2 am till 6 am.

No fungus amungus.

"If you're dealing with homeowners not understanding the whole range of

issues it's perhaps safest to just say not to water at night.
Especially if
all they setup was a timer on a single zone with a single scheduled
event.
They'd end up overwatering the various risks associated with it. "

So, you can't over water in the daytime? Overwatering and when you
water are two very different things. If someone is watering there lawn
shallow every day, then they shouldn't be doing that, and simply
changing it to doing it during the day isn't the solution.

"Once more, IN MOST IF NOT ALL OF THE DESERT SW WATERING AT NIGHT
PROVIDES PERFECT CONDITIONS FOR FUNGAL DISEASE AND IT"S SPREAD IN
TURF! "

Is that so? Well how about Arizona, is that desert SW enough? Here's
advice from Arizona State University College of Agriculture on how to
water a lawn in Arizona:

http://ag.arizona.edu/azmet/phx/lawnfaqs.htm
"When should I water ?
Be a night owl.
Night or early in the morning are the most effective times to water,
because wind and evaporation are lower.
High wind speeds distort sprinkler patterns and produce non-uniform
irrigation. "


Or how about this from a major sod producer in Arizona:

http://www.arizonagrass.com/wintergrass.htm
"However, when the temperatures begin to rise in the spring you may
need to begin watering every night, depending on the needs of the lawn.
"


Or from Colorado State Univ:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1532.html
"Finally, avoid watering during the heat of the day. Water early in the
morning or in the evening. If you have an automatic sprinkler system,
water during the night; our climate is so dry that night watering
doesn't create problems unless you overdo it.


Sound like none of the experts have a problem with night watering or
believe it will lead to disaster. So, stop the baseless hysterical
shouting.

On 16 Jul 2005 07:04:00 -0700, wrote:

So, stop the baseless hysterical
shouting.


Chet,

Go eat something you're getting grumpy. Any turf manager will set you
straight. NJ is not the center of the universe and you citations are
loaded with holes!!
Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold

On 16 Jul 2005 07:04:00 -0700, wrote:


Is that so? Well how about Arizona, is that desert SW enough? Here's
advice from Arizona State University College of Agriculture on how to
water a lawn in Arizona:


They are talking about bermuda grass neophyte....now go eat....
Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold

"Go eat something you're getting grumpy. Any turf manager will set you
straight. NJ is not the center of the universe and you citations are
loaded with holes!! "

You know, you really are quite a moron. I specifically provided you
with links to 3 reputable sources in Arizona that all indicated
watering a lawn at night was OK in Arizona. ARIZONA, got that? Last
time I checked, that was part of the desert southwest, not NJ, so stop
the NJ BS. The very area where you claimed night watering was
completely unacceptable and that I was wrong. Two respected university
agricultural services and a major turf grass producer had advice that
is consistent with mine. And Steveo, who is a turf grass
professional, told you earlier in this thread that he does all his
watering at night in Ohio and has no problems. But apparently you
think you know more than all of us, yet you're incapable of
demonstrating that to anyone here, with responses like "NJ is not the
center of the universe" and "your citations are loaded with holes."

wrote:
"Go eat something you're getting grumpy. Any turf manager will set you
straight. NJ is not the center of the universe and you citations are
loaded with holes!! "

You know, you really are quite a moron. I specifically provided you
with links to 3 reputable sources in Arizona that all indicated
watering a lawn at night was OK in Arizona. ARIZONA, got that? Last
time I checked, that was part of the desert southwest, not NJ, so stop
the NJ BS. The very area where you claimed night watering was
completely unacceptable and that I was wrong. Two respected university
agricultural services and a major turf grass producer had advice that
is consistent with mine. And Steveo, who is a turf grass
professional, told you earlier in this thread that he does all his
watering at night in Ohio and has no problems. But apparently you
think you know more than all of us, yet you're incapable of
demonstrating that to anyone here, with responses like "NJ is not the
center of the universe" and "your citations are loaded with holes."

We're getting way off course here. The original question was "Is there a
best time of day to water the lawn?" The answer is yes, and that time isn't
at night.

Yes, some people water at night, and don't have fungal problems. Some people
water during the day, and don't have evaporation problems, either. That
doesn't make either of those times the best time.

Recent studies have shown that some people who normally drink lots of
caffeine do not suffer from the same diuretic effects that are often cited
as a reason for people not try to rehydrate with caffeine beverages when
dehydrated. That doesn't mean that Coke is the best thing to drink to
rehydrate.

If you don't have fungal problems after watering in the evening or too early
at night, that's wonderful for you. It, however, does not mean that night is
the best time to water, nor does your experience qualify as a reason to deny
that fungal problems from night watering can be a serious problem for some
people.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Have an outdoor project? Get a Black & Decker power tool::
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blackanddecker/

On 16 Jul 2005 11:03:40 -0700, wrote:

Two respected university
agricultural services and a major turf grass producer had advice that
is consistent with mine.

Bermuda grass grumpy!