How to Schedule Your Sprinkler to Water Only When Needed

How to Schedule Your Sprinkler to Water Only When Needed

Efficient watering is essential for maintaining a healthy lawn and garden while conserving water and reducing your utility bills. With modern smart sprinkler controllers like the Wyze Sprinkler Controller combined with the Sprinkler Plus service, you can automate your irrigation system to water only when your plants truly need it. This guide explains how to set up and optimize your sprinkler schedule to achieve the perfect balance.

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Understanding Smart Sprinkler Scheduling

What is Sprinkler Plus?

Sprinkler Plus is an advanced subscription service for the Wyze Sprinkler Controller that leverages hyper-local weather data and detailed zone parameters to create intelligent watering schedules. It uses real-time and forecasted weather information, soil moisture, and plant needs to decide exactly when and how much to water.

Sprinkler Plus brings a hands-free experience by automatically adjusting watering based on:

• Rainfall and irrigation water already received ("water in")
  
• Evapotranspiration or water loss from soil and plants ("water out")
  
• Weather forecasts and soil moisture levels

This dynamic approach ensures your sprinkler only runs when necessary, preventing overwatering and saving water.

How Smart Schedules Work

Smart Schedules use your yard’s unique characteristics—such as soil type, crop type, sun exposure, and spray head type—to calculate the optimal watering times and durations for each zone. The system continuously updates schedules based on changing weather and soil conditions. You can customize:

• Which days and time windows watering is allowed
• Specific plant types and growth stages in each zone
• Soil moisture override settings for more precise control

This flexibility helps maintain healthy plants while avoiding unnecessary watering.

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Scheduling Options with Wyze Sprinkler Controller

1. Smart Schedules (Recommended with Sprinkler Plus)

Smart Schedules are the most efficient way to water your lawn and garden. They automatically adjust watering based on weather and soil data, ensuring your plants get the right amount of water at the right time.

• Automatically skip watering during rain or when soil moisture is sufficient
• Adjust watering duration per zone based on plant and soil needs
• Set specific time windows and days for watering
• Includes features like Cycle/Soak to prevent runoff by breaking watering into multiple cycles

2. Fixed Schedules with Weather Skips

If you prefer a more traditional approach, Fixed Schedules let you set specific days and times to water. When combined with Sprinkler Plus, you can enable Weather Skips to avoid watering during unfavorable conditions such as rain, wind, or freezing temperatures.

• Water on chosen days and times
• Automatically skip watering based on weather conditions
• Customize watering duration per zone

3. Offline Schedules

In case of internet outages, Offline Schedules allow your sprinkler to continue operating on saved schedules for up to 14 days, ensuring your plants stay watered even without connectivity.

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Additional Features to Optimize Watering

Weather Skips

Weather Skips prevent watering when it’s unnecessary or potentially harmful. For example, watering is skipped if:

• Rainfall is forecasted or has recently occurred
• It’s too cold or windy
• Soil moisture is already adequate

This feature helps conserve water and protects your plants from overwatering.

Cycle/Soak

Cycle/Soak breaks watering into multiple shorter cycles with soak periods in between. This allows water to penetrate the soil effectively, reducing runoff and improving irrigation efficiency.

Advanced Zone Settings

Fine-tune your zones by adjusting parameters such as:

• Soil type and available water capacity
• Crop type and growth stage
• Spray head type and precipitation rate
• Sun exposure and slope

These settings help the system calculate precise watering needs for each zone.

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How to Set Up a Smart Schedule on Wyze Sprinkler Controller

1. Open the Wyze app and select your Wyze Sprinkler Controller. 2. Tap the Settings icon in the top right corner. 3. Select Schedule. 4. Under the ONLINE section, tap Create Schedule. 5. Choose Smart Schedule. 6. Configure your zones by selecting crop types, soil types, and other parameters. 7. Set allowed watering days and time windows. 8. Enable Weather Skips and Cycle/Soak if desired. 9. Save your schedule. Your sprinkler will now automatically water only when needed, based on real-time data.

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Tips for Maintaining Optimal Watering

• Regularly review and update your zone settings to reflect any changes in plants or soil.
• Use the app to monitor soil moisture and watering history.
• Adjust watering durations if you notice signs of overwatering or underwatering.
• Keep your Wyze app and Sprinkler Controller firmware up to date for best performance.
• Take advantage of the 1-year included Sprinkler Plus subscription to unlock smart features.

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Conclusion

Scheduling your sprinkler to water only when needed is easy with the Wyze Sprinkler Controller and Sprinkler Plus service. By leveraging smart schedules, weather skips, and advanced zone customization, you can maintain a lush, healthy yard while conserving water and reducing waste. Whether you prefer fully automated watering or a fixed schedule with smart weather adjustments, these tools provide the flexibility and intelligence to optimize your irrigation system.

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Efficient watering keeps your lawn green and healthy Control your sprinkler from anywhere with the Wyze app Smart irrigation adapts watering to plant needs

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