To keep your garden blooming beautifully all summer long, your lawn lush and green, and your vegetables thriving, proper irrigation is essential. With the right irrigation controller, you can even manage watering through Apple Home. And with the right workflow and Hub Mode in Controller for HomeKit, you’ll ensure your garden only waters when it hasn’t rained in recent days and the forecast shows no significant rainfall ahead. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you exactly how it works.
Start Event
Plants should be watered early in the morning or late in the evening, when temperatures are cooler, evaporation is lower, and there’s no risk of scorching the plants. To achieve this, add the “At Sunrise” start event and set it to “1 hour before sunrise”.
Conditions
True intelligence lies in the conditions, because they let us determine whether it has rained in the past few days or if rain is forecast for today or the coming days.
Add a "Precipitation Amount" Condition
Add a “Precipitation Amount” condition, select “Last 3 Days”, and set it to “less than 10 mm”. If your soil dries out quickly (e.g., sandy soil), shorten the “Last 3 Days” window to 2 days or lower the threshold slightly.
Add a "Precipitation Amount" Condition
Add a “Precipitation Amount” condition: select “Today” and set it to “less than 3 mm”.
Add a "Precipitation Amount" Condition
Add a “Precipitation Amount” condition: select “Next 3 Days” and set it to “less than 5 mm”. For clay soil, you can extend the “Next 3 Days” window to 5 days, since clay retains moisture more effectively.
Comparison Operator
Setze den Comparison Operator auf "AND". Das sorgt dafür, dass nur gegossen wird, wenn wirklich alle drei Zeiträume unter den Schwellen liegen.
Steps
Add a "Control Accessory" Step
Add a “Control Accessory” step, select your irrigation controller, and set it to turn on.
Add a "Notification" Step
Optionally, you can add a notification to let you know that watering has started.
Add a Wait Step
Add a "Wait" step with a 5-minute delay.
Add a "Control Accessory" Step
Add another “Control Accessory” step, select the irrigation controller again, and this time set it to turn off.
Add a "Notification" Step
After watering has stopped, you can optionally add another notification to let you know it’s finished.
Tip: You can duplicate individual steps by tapping the icon on the left.
Final Overview
Each day, the workflow checks whether it’s rained in the past days, today, or if rain is forecast in the coming days. If not, your garden will be watered one hour before sunrise. To make sure everything runs smoothly, you’ll receive notifications both when watering starts and when it stops.
Tip: In the settings section at the bottom of the screen, choose a device to receive an alert if an error occurs.
