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Pinedale, WY

I got a rain gauge that is made to test sprinklers, I stuck it out about halfway out from the sprinkler (ocilatting (sp?) kind), I checked it and it took 2 hours to put down a tenth of an inch or 1/10". So that means it has to run a total of 20 hours for an inch of water. I tried this with 4 different models, and all had the same results. Does this sound right?

7/14/2009 2:16:50 AM

Colorado

doesnt sound right to me. was the ground soaked after 2 hours of watering?

I use a water meter in line in my system before the sprinklers. not super accurate, but lets me know how many gallons i am putting on in a day. once you get a feel for your soil and how well it holds water, it works quite well.

7/14/2009 10:06:06 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Well your problem is physics rain falls down and a sprinkler sprays sideways :)

7/14/2009 2:01:55 PM

Pinedale, WY

Ahh, so any guess on how long I need to water to get an inch of water down then? I know there are a lot of variables.

7/15/2009 12:40:58 AM

Place an empty tuna can out in the garden and see how long it takes to fill it up when your watering.

7/15/2009 11:10:55 AM

Sorry, that should be "you're" not "your." Not enough caffeine yet this morning.

7/15/2009 11:17:34 AM

Upstate S.C.

I have been rakeing my brain trying to figure the answer to this question out. Good Job Linus

7/15/2009 12:42:56 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

OK put the sprinkler in a 5 gallon bucket hit the timer..when it is full stop.
1 minute to fill a 5 gallon bucket = 300 gallons per hour, In a 500 sqf area I beleive it takes around 800 gallons to make 1 inch of rain. So probably about 2.5 hours, with the above example.

7/15/2009 2:16:43 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Tremor posted this a few years back;

All of these quantities are for ONE INCH of water. First figure out your rate of flow with a bucket. See how much water you get per minute. I get 4 gallons per minute or 240 gallons per hour.

1 acre (43,560 sq ft) = 27,000 gallons
1,000 sq ft = 620 gallons
100 sq ft = 62 gallons
10 sq ft = 6.2 gallons
1 sq ft = 2.5 quarts

As the roots expand, the targeted irrigation area increase rapidly. The freshly transplanted seedling may only require a 1 square foot area of water for a week. Hence a gallon of water would be overkill.

Given good growing conditions, this area will expand to 4'x4' or 16 sq ft in the second week. So now 10 gallons will be needed to deliver a FULL INCH to the same plant.

If the same plant is ultimately rooted into an area of 600 sq ft, it will then require 370 gallons to achieve the same result.

7/15/2009 2:45:32 PM

Ohio

thanks for that info Linus!

7/15/2009 2:47:05 PM

Ohio

and Glenn!,,lol

7/15/2009 2:47:27 PM

Pinedale, WY

Sweet guys, thanks for the help. I even got a little gauge that is made to test sprinklersm and that is what told me I needed to water for 20 hours to get 1 inch.

7/15/2009 10:40:07 PM

Anchorage Alaska

North shore boyz info is right on , simply take sq ft x 12 for sq inches x 1 for cubic inches, divide by 231 (cubic inches in 1 gallon)will give the number of gallons per week ,divide by 7 for daily amount

7/16/2009 1:17:58 AM