Parts of my lawn are getting brown.was looking good until the weather hit the 90s.could it be from wateringtoo

Question

much or not enough water ?i water every other day for about 40 mins.per zone is this too much?please help!!

Answer 1

The only way to determine how much water your putting on the lawn is to get yourself a regular sized empty tuna fish can.

Time how long it takes to fill it up. (putting it in different areas of the lawn). When the can is full this amount to ~ 1 inch of water. It all depends on what type of irrigation heads you are using. To say that 5,10, or 40 minutes is too much and to long is incorrect.

If you have pop up fixed(non rotation) heads; then they can deliver more water in a concentrated area than one that goes from side to side set for the exact same amount of time.

There are too many factors in trying to determine the proper reason on whats causing the grass to brown.

I can tell you this: The best time to water anything is in the early morning. Not in the afternoon, early evening or late at night.

like type of grass you have(is it cool season or warm season), what type of fertilizer schedule it's on, whats the exiting condition.

This is something where it's best to have someone come out and physically see to give you a solid answer.

I hope this helps a little; I know it's not an answerr to your question but you cant get the correct answer without more information.

Answer 2

40 mins per zone is way too much.  In consistently high temp areas, water twice per day (5:00 am and 8:00 am) for no more than five minutes.  Allow the grass to grow longer in the summer months to protect the root systems and encourage them to extend deeper.  Make sure that brown spots are being covered with water.

Answer 3

I think it is to much water.  Water your grass and plants early in the morning, before the sun really hits, and early evening.  Water in moderation.  Remember if you are watering everyday, all that water adds up.  Don't drown the poor grass.  Don't cut it very short either, that will burn the grass too.  I know it is hard to keep the grass nice and green in the 90 degree weather!  Try your best.

Answer 4

That's a lot of water.  Would help to know where you live, it could be cinch bugs.  Especially if you are in Florida USA.  Here we water each zone 20 minutes per day, twice a week.

Answer 5

No offence but do you really need to keep your lawn green in the summer? Where I live there was a drought about five years ago. They stopped everyone from watering their lawns.

Everyone's lawn went brown. By September it cooled off and started to rain and within a few days everyone's lawn was green again. I have never watered my lawn since. It goes dormant in the summer and then comes back in the fall again. It saves me money on watering and lots of time and effort on mowing it. It also forces the grass to send down deeper roots for the water that it there  making the lawn stronger. I am sure you have noticed that if you water a lot you can yank your grass out very easily. That is because the roots are so shallow. Given that fresh water is becoming a

very precious commodity in the world maybe you may

consider just saving it to water your flowers or your vegetable garden.

Answer 6

No that is not too much water.  A Lawn needs to be watered deeply like you are doing or you will get shallow roots.  A big possibility is a fungus which occurs if you aren't watering early in the morning.  A common fungus effecting lawns right now in the area you live is red thread.  Diagnosing red thread is easy, in the early stages you will see little pink puffs attached to the grass blade, they are small but you will see them if you look closely.  In later stages the grass will actually turn red.  This fungus is not a severe one if caught early enough.  You need to make sure that you are watering early in the morning, and allowing a day or two in between which you are doing.  By early in the morning I mean around 4-6 am, this allows the entire day for the sun to dry the blades of grass and you wont get the fungus.  If the Red Thread is in its early stages you can get rid of it by simply applying a fertilizer, a lawn that is low in potassium is effected worse by red thread.

Also if the weather has been in the 90's 40 minutes of water may not be enough.  The lawn could be going brown from not enough water.  In May in early June the weather was in the 90's for a while ( I live in upstate NY).   I was watering 45 minutes per zone and the lawn was starting to fade.  I had to increase to 60 minutes to keep the lawn green.  

The first thing you need to do is to see if there is a fungus in your lawn.  Other funguses include rust, which will turn your shoes orange by walking on the grass, fairy rings which are easy to diagnose by a distinct circle of mushrooms.  And dollar spot which is several patches of dead grass throughout the lawn.  If you do indeed have a fungus just start watering early in the morning and apply a fertilizer, this will get rid of the fungus as long as you don't have a severe case.  If it is a severe case you will have to get a fungicide or you can use a miracle grow applicator bottle and put some antibacterial soap in it, this will get rid of the fungus.

If the weather is in the 90's you can increase your watering to 60 minutes per zone.  If this does not green your lawn up you know you have a fungus.  Just be sure to water early in the morning or you will get a fungus.