Topic: Very wet in Iowa

[Aardvark]

I almost got out in the garden to get rid of the growing weed crop and then we had 0.60 dumped of rain.. supposed to be that way all next week.   Where is summer.


Anywho... below is the gif from my weather site showing the soil moisture readings and temp at various depths.  0 is OMG  where is that ark when you need it and 200 is bone dry or during the winter.. the sensor froze..  (I keep in my sensors year round).

[d_l]

Wow.  Your soil seems deeply saturated.  Are those readings in a heavy (clayey) or light (sandy) soil?  I was curious as to how long it took for the deepest sensors to become that saturated.

[Aardvark]

The soil is clay at 3 feet.  We have had a lot of rain with little period to drain...  Normally I can get soil moisture readings at 3 feet  being about 8.

this is a page where I have been keeping average soil readings  http://home.mchsi.com/~toubes1/soil_history.htm  and you can see how saturated we are right now.  We are supposed to get 2 days of drying with the rest more rain.... 

[d_l]

That's interesting about the soil moisture levels.  I'm mostly interested in soil sensors for use with turf irrrigation and how well they would perform in rocky sandy loam. Your two shallowest sensors would probably be closest to something I might install if I ever do it.


You have plenty of humidity and rain to the west of you heading your way.

[Aardvark]

what you need to do is to dig your hole the depth you want. Put in your sensor and then you are where you need to be.    I had to auger a 3 foot deep hole which wasn't that awful, (Last time I did it I caught up a tree root and hung up the auger.. not fun getting it out.), then I ran the soil sensor and the temperature sensor in.  I used a plastic tie to fasten the temperature probe to the moisture probe.  Then carefully put back the soil in the order I pulled it out, then when I got to 2 feet put in the other pair .  and did the same filling.   hooked up the sensors and soon online.

Here is my soil page: http://home.mchsi.com/~dsmweather/Soil.htm   and here is my equipment page  http://home.mchsi.com/~dsmweather/station_setup.htm

you should be able to do it.. just getting your hole to the right depth is the tough part, but after that  it sits out there all year...

[d_l]

Thanks for the advice and suggestions.  I'm sure you must have read the Davis instructions for sensor installation and noticed that turf installations are a little different than garden installations.  They say the sensors are to be planted under wedge cuts of sod.  Davis only suggests one depth for the turf installations and I've guessed that maybe they might want multiple sensors in several scatttered locations at that same depth.  I wondered if maybe a better installation might be Davis' suggested depth and a deeper one say just below most grass roots (8-12" or so).

Not many people here have moisture sensors.  So I'm trying to use your experience and knowledge in gardens to evaluate/translate how well they might work on turf AND my soil may have better drainage than yours. Percolation tests on it say that septic tanks should have no problem, ever (I don't have anything more concrete than that).

Basically I suspect (after 20 years) that the soil might have a limited water holding capacity and if I irrigate too much the excess water simply is wasted as it percolates through and below most of the roots of the grass although that would help the trees root deeply. I know there is a bit of a problem with these Watermark sensors in extremely sandy soils, but I'm fairly sure that doesn't apply to mine.

Anyhow this isn't for an immediate installation and is more a possibilty or a long-range plan for when I can better afford it.  I'm just fact and thoughts gathering now.