paul,

This is one method if you don't know the gpm per foot of the hose. Place a cup under the hose and run the hose for a certain time. Check the depth in the cup. Calculate the time to get 1 inch of water in the cup. That is the amount you should run per week so divide your watering into 3 watering interval during the week. Adjust for cloudy times or rain and for very hot and sunny periods. Watch what happens over a period of time and make adjustment to make sure the plants are getting the right amount of water. Feel the soil between waterings. The soil should not be too dry about 1 to 2 inches down or too wet at the same depth. GL Aloha

That sound like a great idea, so I place a cup can underneath the hose. The can filled up in just 4 min (32 FLoz). That seem too short of a run, since it took less than a minute to get one inch of water.

I am wondering if I am measuring incorrectly? A lot of sites suggest running it for about 30 minutes weekly or twice weekly.

Paul

Paul,

Well, your supposed to time depth not volume but you have an idea of your flow rate as well. There are 128 oz per gallon. You watered 1/4 gallon in 4 mins from about 4 inches of hose. So that is 1/16 of a gallon per minute(gpm). Per foot of hose you would get 1/4 gpm. Time is dependent on flow rate and your soil type. Most of the time it is trial and error. You run the water and see if the area around the plants gets a good soaking and it penetrates into the soil(good drainage). The frequency is when then soil at about 1" in depth is dry to the touch then soak the area again. This usually is in a couple of days but timing differs with climate as well. You have to watch how your plants are behaving over a certain period of time. The science of it only gets you so far and it is not exact, sometime not even close because of all the differing variables. Nothing like sticking your finger in the soil and seeing how moist it is and adjust your timing accordingly. Set your timer to once every two days and see if it is getting things too moist or not moist enough then adjust the timer. Check your pressure on the hose. Soaker hoses usually need a pressure reducer for optimum flow rate. That is why you are getting a high flow rate is my guess. Let us know how it goes. JMHO Aloha