Planning Your Watering Schedule; Filling Out The Watering Schedule Form - Toro TMC-212 User Manual

373-0319 TCM 212 Doc2 12/20/04

Planning Your Watering Schedule

It is always helpful to have your initial watering schedule
organized 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 watering is desired. For
an Interval schedule circle the desired Interval number.
For Odd or Even days, simply mark the appropriate
box. If you need to restricted watering on certain days,
circle the excluded day(s).
• Station Time - Indicate the amount of operating time
(1 minute to 4 hours) for each station. Write "Off" for any
station which you do not want to assign to the program.
• Well Recovery Delay Time - Well recovery time is
indicated her. See "Pump Control and Well Recovery"
on pages 28 and 29 for detailed information.
• Program Start Times - Indicate the time of day to
start the program. Each program can have up to 4
separate start times.
Note: The TMC-212 can operate only one program
at a time. Within that program, only one station can
operate at a time. Therefore, when using more than
one program or using more than one start time in a
program, make sure that each watering cycle can run
to completion before the next watering cycle starts. A
start time that occurs while a watering cycle is already
in progress will be delayed until the active watering
cycle is finished. If the start time is delayed past
Midnight into the next day, the start will be ignored if
the day is not scheduled as an active watering day.