Smarten up your garden and take control with the Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Rachio. All opinions are 100% mine.

When it comes to gardening, there are two types of people: those who are naturally gifted and can grow any type of plant under any conditions and then there are those who can’t keep a low-maintenance cactus alive.

I fall into the latter group.

My total “gardening” routine includes spraying a vague amount of water over a patch of grass and hoping that all plants survive another week under the blistering Texas sun.

We all know that plants need water to grow. But how much? When? How much is too much? How much is too little? Should I water in the morning or in the afternoon?

There isn’t one simple answer.

Everyone’s garden is unique and depending on the garden’s location, the soil type, the gradient, the hours of sun, and the type of vegetation, the water quantity needs to be adjusted accordingly.

After yet another trip to the nursery to replace yet another bush that didn’t make it, is when I discovered the Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller which saved my garden, my water bill, and my sanity!

How I became an overnight horticulturist thanks to the Rachio 3:

The Rachio 3 is an intelligent system that takes all the guesswork out of watering your garden allows you to manage the dead grass situation…

The first step is to install the Smart Sprinkler Controller System. This is a very straightforward process which can be done under 30 minutes with minimal effort – I am no “handyman” and I was done in 15 min.

The Rachio 3 is compatible with any in-ground sprinkler system. All I did was snap a photo of the current wiring, removed the old system and mounted the new Rachio 3 system where the old system. I then slid the wired into place, replicating the old system. The instruction manual takes you through each step and there is a support number to call if you get stuck.

Once the physical Rachio 3 unit was powered up, the next step was to connect it to the WiFi and the app. Just follow the prompt and within minutes you have full control of your garden from your app from anywhere in the world.

The final step was to walk around the house to label the various zones and this where you start to see the intelligent power of the Rachio.

When you set up a zone, you can assign a friendly name (Front of House is much better than Zone 1) and add a photo of the zone.

Next, the app goes through a series of questions about that particular zone:

What kind of vegetation does it have, how much sun does it get, what is the soil type, what’s the gradient? This information is used to calculate just how much water should be distributed to that zone. What is also great is that it make suggestions based on your physical location so even if you aren’t sure, you can proceed.

How does the Rachio 3 take the guesswork out of watering?

Typically, a sprinkler system dispenses water based on a timed schedule and at best, uses a Rain sensor to work out if it is currently raining.

The Rachio is different.

The Rachio has Weather Intelligence which means it aggregates weather data 300 000 weather data points such as your local weather station. Based on the weather report for the next 24 hours, it adjusts the watering schedule accordingly. Should rain be forecast, or high winds, or your location is expected to be hit by a Freeze, it will skip the watering schedule. It is even able to skip the schedule if there is too much moisture in the soil. This not only saves money on the water bill but also gives the plants the right amount of water.

So in summary:

I like information to be able to make a decision and up until I installed the Rachio, it felt like I was blindly trying to take care of the garden and hoping for the best.

The Rachio 3 system changes all that.

Not only does it do most of the thinking for you, but it even integrates into Alexa and Google Home so you can issue an instruction with your voice. For those who want even more functions, the system links to Smart Home platforms such as SmartThings, Nest and even into IFTTT.

It really is the smarter way to water your lawn.

If you are tired of trying to work out whats best for your garden all year round, then the Rachio 3 should be on your shopping list!

The Rachio 3 Sprinkler Controller is available exclusively at www.rachio.com use my promo code until June 15thf for $30 off: THETECHIEGUY30!