Irrigation scheduling


Irrigation scheduling is the process used by irrigation system managers to determine the correct frequency and duration of watering.
The following factors may be taken into consideration:
The goal in irrigation scheduling is to apply enough water to fully wet the plant's root zone while minimizing overwatering and then allow the soil to dry out in between waterings, to allow air to enter the soil and encourage root development, but not so much that the plant is stressed beyond what is allowable.
In recent years, more sophisticated irrigation controllers have been developed that receive ET input from either a single on-site weather station or from a network of stations and automatically adjust the irrigation schedule accordingly.
Other devices helpful in irrigation scheduling are rain sensors, which automatically shut off an irrigation system when it rains, and soil moisture sensing devices such as capacitance sensors, tensiometers and gypsum blocks.