# Adjust Watering Duration & Frequency of Flex Schedules > Summary Want to make a quick edit to watering durations? Do you think your schedules are watering too much? Flexible Daily schedules automatically select du... Source: https://rachio.kustomer.help/en_us/adjust-watering-duration-frequency-of-flex-schedules-r10FDLkFw Last updated: 2026-04-25T17:55:24.004Z ## Summary If your Flex Daily or Flex Monthly schedule is watering too frequently, not frequently enough, or for durations that seem too long or too short, adjustments to your zone settings can help. This article explains which zone settings influence how each schedule type calculates run time and watering frequency, and how to modify them. ## **Contents** 1. [Adjusting Flex Daily](#section-1) 2. [Adjusting Flex Monthly](#section-2) ## Adjusting Flex Daily Flex Daily schedules automatically select durations for your zones based on the attributes that have been selected. To adjust this schedule duration or frequency, you need to adjust the basic or advanced zone settings. **Basic Zone Settings:** Before we dive into the advanced zone settings, first, we need to look at the basic zone settings, as these settings, when changed, can also affect the values on the advanced settings. Here we have a list of the basic zone settings and how each of them correlates with the advanced zone settings and how it affects the schedules: ### Vegetation Type The vegetation type is used to help determine watering durations. Each vegetation or plant type has a different crop coefficient, which is used in determining evapotranspiration. The higher the coefficient number, the more water the plant uses. * **Vegetation Type**\= Root Depth + Crop Coefficient * Affects both watering duration and watering frequency ![](https://cdn.kustomerhostedcontent.com/media/5f775c7b7cad407e578daa84/e239b15053829ce26db3868144176e0a.png) ### Spray Head Choosing the correct spray head (or accurately customizing the precipitation rate in your zone's advanced settings) is one of the most important factors in determining a zone run time. Nozzle precipitation in/hr is one of the factors used in calculating watering duration. A higher precipitation rate will lower the overall run time and vice versa. Nozzle type can be modified from Zone settings. ![](https://cdn.kustomerhostedcontent.com/media/5f775c7b7cad407e578daa84/a30bdc5ad32c4a8698e81c77ad34b4ed.PNG) **Spray Head**\= Efficiency + Nozzle Inches Per Hour * Affects watering duration ### **Soil Type** Understanding your lawn's general soil type is helpful when creating watering schedules to minimize runoff. Additionally, estimating the depth of the roots helps to understand the size of the soil moisture reservoir (or the "water tank" in which the Rachio controller can refill). Each zone can have a different-sized water tank based on the soil in that zone and what's growing in the zone. ![](https://cdn.kustomerhostedcontent.com/media/5f775c7b7cad407e578daa84/3bcdb446bc96d6856db0d35f666084d6.png) The earth’s soil serves as water storage for vegetation. If you think of this storage as being similar to a sponge, it helps illustrate why soil type is an important factor in Rachio’s scheduling decisions, in particular, Flex Daily and Smart Cycle features.  ###  **![](https://cdn.kustomerhostedcontent.com/media/5f775c7b7cad407e578daa84/01a3a4c952f8e48f6ac75ee0cbd115d3.png)** * **Soil Type**\= Available Water \[Capacity\] (AWC) * Affects both watering duration and watering frequency ### Exposure Sun exposure is used as a ratio of crop coefficient, which is used as a ratio of ET. When a zone receives less sun, this will decrease its overall ET value, which will in turn decrease watering frequency. Sun exposure can be modified in the Zone settings. ![](https://cdn.kustomerhostedcontent.com/media/5f775c7b7cad407e578daa84/e4cab35ef8a0f1bd1fed6995d864697f.PNG) * **Exposure**\= no advanced settings correlation * More sun exposure increases the watering frequency * Less sun exposure reduces the watering frequency ### Slope Slope affects the maximum allowable zone run-time within Smart Cycle. As the slope gets steeper, the maximum allowed watering time decreases (as illustrated in this support article). For steep terrain, a runoff will occur at a much faster rate.  ![](https://cdn.kustomerhostedcontent.com/media/5f775c7b7cad407e578daa84/d5fa1f5de645538fe3ade5a41abc5d26.png) * **Slope**\= no advanced settings correlation * Increasing the slope extends the soak time * Decreasing the slope reduces soak time Now that we have seen what the basic settings are, let's move on to the advanced settings to understand how this affects the Flex Daily schedule directly. **Advanced Zone Settings:**  **Zone Attribute**   **Run time**   **Frequency**  **Area**   * Used to perform Usage calculations only. * Used to perform Usage calculations only. **Available Water ** * Increasing extends run time * Decreasing reduces run time * Increasing reduces watering frequency * Decreasing increases watering frequency **Root Depth ** * Increasing extends run time * Decreasing reduces run time * Increasing reduces watering frequency * Decreasing increases watering frequency **Allowed Depletion ** * Increasing the % increases run time * Decreasing the % reduces run time * Increasing the % decreases the watering frequency * Decreasing the % increases the watering frequency **Efficiency** * Increasing reduces run time * Decreasing extends run time **Crop coefficient** * Increasing crop coefficient increases the watering frequency * Decreasing crop coefficient decreases the watering frequency         **Nozzle Inches          Per Hour** * Increasing reduces run time * Decreasing extends run time ### Available Water (AWC) Soil type affects the available water capacity (AWC). AWC is the amount of water that a soil can store that is available for use by plants. We have chosen industry-standard AWC default values: Sand 0.05 Loamy Sand 0.07 Sandy Loam 0.12 Loam 0.15 Clay Loam 0.16 Silty Clay 0.17 Clay 0.20 Increasing AWC will increase the irrigation amount needed, increasing the run time but decreasing the watering frequency. The opposite also applies. Decreasing AWC will decrease the irrigation amount needed, which will decrease the run time but increase the watering frequency. AWC can be modified from Zones Screen>Edit> Advanced Settings > AVAILABLE WATER ### **Root Depth (RZD) ** Each crop has a default root zone depth (RZD) as well as a crop coefficient. RZD is used to calculate the amount of irrigation applied, which affects the run time. The longer the roots, the greater the irrigation amount, and the greater the run time. We have chosen industry-standard RZD default values: **Crop Type** **Inch.** Cool Season Grass 6 Warm Season Grass 9 Shrubs 15 Trees 25 Flower Beds 10 Desert Adapted 5 Vegetable Garden 4 As you can see for crops like trees and shrubs with much deeper roots, the watering duration will be longer, but the frequency of watering will be much less. Increasing RZD will increase the irrigation amount needed, increasing the run time but decreasing the watering frequency. The opposite also applies. Decreasing RZD will decrease the irrigation amount needed, which will decrease the run time but increase the watering frequency. RZD can be modified by going to the "Zones" tab, selecting the zone you want to edit, choosing Advanced, and scrolling to Root Depth. ### Allowed Depletion (MAD) This value, expressed in percent, is the portion of water in the root zone that plants can utilize before experiencing stress. At some point (just after the management allowed depletion level), the plant becomes stressed. As the soils become even drier, the plant will eventually reach its permanent wilting point. We default to 50% MAD for each zone. Increasing the MAD percentage will decrease the irrigation amount needed, which will decrease the run time but increase the watering frequency. The opposite also applies. Decreasing the MAD percentage will increase the irrigation amount needed, increasing the run time but decreasing the watering frequency. MAD can be modified by going to the Zones tab, selecting the zone you want to edit, choosing Advanced, and scrolling to Allowed Depletion. ![](https://cdn.kustomerhostedcontent.com/media/5f775c7b7cad407e578daa84/294e6acd7496d1b830d9d15b0e10ec67.PNG) ### Efficiency (DU) Efficiency, also referred to as Application Efficiency or Distribution Uniformity (DU), tells us how efficiently the water is being distributed by the sprinklers. The lower the DU, the higher the run time needs to be to deliver enough water to the area with the weakest coverage. * DU is a factor used to adjust the run time to account for the non-uniform distribution of irrigation water * DU can be measured by conducting a catch-cup test.    ![](https://cdn.kustomerhostedcontent.com/media/5f775c7b7cad407e578daa84/593dc8f691aa6a2edd2d63b85bec17a8.png) If the E/DU is below 0.40, then time and effort should be spent identifying what needs to be done to ensure the system is operating optimally. This may include recommendations for improving maintenance or seeking the services of a certified Water Manager to identify the factors that are causing such poor performance. When the uniformity is low, it is hard to justify the amount of additional water needed to minimize stressed areas and achieve an acceptable appearance. When additional minutes of run time become excessive, runoff potential increases and it becomes more difficult to do proper maintenance if the sprinkler system is operating beyond its desired or designated water window. ### Crop Coefficient Crop Coefficient is the best setting for adjusting watering frequency.  Each crop type has a coefficient.  Crop coefficients are properties of plants used in predicting [evapotranspiration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evapotranspiration) (ET). The coefficient is the ratio of ET observed for the crop. If ET is our zone _checkbook_ debit, the crop coefficient will offset ET slightly and not remove as much from our account.  Example: ET for the day is .2 inches. The crop coefficient for cool-season grass is  80%. The debit for the day is .16 inches (.2 x .80). Increasing crop coefficient increases watering frequency, and decreasing crop coefficient decreases watering frequency. Recommend moving the crop coefficient slider +/- 10% increments and see if that gets watering to the correct cadence. Crop coefficient can be modified from Zone Menu > Advanced Settings > Crop Coefficient. **Crop Type** **Inch.** Cool Season Grass 0.80 Warm Season Grass 0.65 Shrubs 0.50 Trees 0.75 Flower Beds 0.55 Desert Adapted 0.30 Vegetable Garden 0.85 ### Nozzle Inches Per Hour This is a measurement of how much water your sprinklers are applying to your zone. This rate is expressed in inches per hour, so is directly comparable to natural rain and evapotranspiration. Rachio has set up your zone with a default rate based on manufacturers' averages for the type of sprinkler head you selected for the zone. ## Adjusting Flex Monthly Flex Monthly Schedules recommend a predictable monthly schedule using historical ET data to adjust the watering interval and duration on a monthly basis to follow the seasonal change. In this example, we will use a Cool Season Grass zone based in Boise, Idaho. Here are a couple of months with their watering frequencies.  Notice that March is on a 7-day interval, while  April is on a  4-day interval.   ![](https://cdn.kustomerhostedcontent.com/media/5f775c7b7cad407e578daa84/9a89732ecf508dce0ccf82423112db12.png)                                                                    If you'd like to adjust your zone to water less frequently, or maybe the other direction, where you have it set to water more frequently, the only **Advanced Zone Setting** that we recommend changing is your **crop coefficient.** ### How do I change the crop coefficient? Crop coefficient is the ratio of evapotranspiration (ET) observed for the crop. ET is the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth's land and ocean surface to the atmosphere. So, each crop has an adjustment factor for ET on how quickly water transpires. To adjust, go to the "Zones" tab, tap "Edit", then select "Advanced".  Now you can adjust the crop coefficient. We recommend you test small (+/-10% increments) and then navigate back to the calendar view to see the actual effect. **Crop Coefficient:** * Increasing this setting increases the watering frequency * Decreasing this setting reduces the watering frequency ## **Do you still need help?** We have a chat support team ready to assist you! You can submit a support request by selecting the chat icon in the bottom right of this page and a member of the support team will contact you live. ### **Summer Hours (April-September)** 7 am-5 pm (MST), 7 days a week. ### **Winter Hours (October-March)** 8 am-5 pm (MST), Monday - Saturday. We are closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.