Adjust your irrigation timer in extremely hot weather

So far 2019 has seen some of the driest weather in recent years. Since March 1st we've had a total of 30mm of precipitation, compared to the 86mm from the same time last year. Needless to say we should be expecting some very hot and dry conditions now that we've begun to transition out of Spring and into Summer. Fortunately as residents of the beautiful Okanagan valley we are no strangers to the extreme heat that this region is known for experiencing. However, there are a few ways that we can help the plants in our gardens during this transitional period. During extremely hot weather you can adjust your irrigation system just slightly to compensate for the lack of precipitation. Almost every irrigation timer out there has a setting called "Seasonal Adjustment", "Water Budget" or "Special Function", and are usually marked with a "%". This adjustment is typically set to "100%" which means that all of the times set on each zone are running normally for as long as they've been set. If you crank the Seasonal Adjustment to "110%" each zone will have its time increased by 10%. When we have extreme heat expected in the forecast we recommend that you turn the Seasonal Adjustment on your irrigation timer up to 110%, and don't turn it back down until the weather begins to cool off.