Hi Jerome,

Need more info please. Do you have separate zones for drippers and sprinklers. How many on each zone? Do you mean time of day to water your plants or how long to water your or how frequently do you need to water your plants? I love western ny. How far western? You should be in prime plant growing country especially grapes. Aloha

Aloha; i have (3) zones, two for my flowers and one for my small veg. garden.all on different timers at different times. drippers and some sprinklers on the flowers and scrubbers on the veg. garden.interested in what time of day to water. thanks

Hi jerome,

The plant starts feeding at sunrise and stops at night. If you water when its night, some of the water moves through the soil and is lost before the plant can use it. This is less of a concern with drip. If you water during the day, water is subject to evaporation and wind if it is a sprinkler. IMHO both of these refinements are not that big of deal unless you live in an arid water scarce environment. When you irrigate, if your system is noisy, the time to irrigate is after you go to work in the morning so it doesn't wake you up. The best time for the plant is probably an hour before sunrise. You can also tell that your system is working when you get up. The best time to apply an application of fertilizer or herbicide is early morning when the plant is about to start feeding and you have recently irrigated. Anyone agree with this? You might want to ask this question in one of the plant forums where the real plant experts are lurking. Aloha.