Baseline Systems BL-5315B Soil Moisture/Temperature biSensor - Manual (Page 2)

BL-5315B Soil Moisture/Temperature biSensor™
Installation Guide
1-866-294-5847
Rev 11.1.2012
www.baselinesystems.com
biSensor Placement
 The sensor needs to be placed in the effective root zone of the plant it is monitoring. Usually the sensor
will be making the irrigation decision for many plants or even multiple zones of plants with similar water
needs, so it should be placed in the effective root zone of a representative plant.
 Consider your various plant types. For most sites, the ideal scenario would be to place one
sensor in the lawn, one in the shrubs, and one in the trees if these plant types are in separate
zones.
 Consider how the zones of the property can be grouped.
 Group plants that have similar water requirements.
 Group zones of sprinklers that have similar water usage and delivery characteristics such as
grass in full sun with rotors, or grass in full sun with sprays, or grass in shade with rotors, or grass in
shade with sprays, or drip zones.
 Use the functionality in your controller to set up watering strategies for the zones that are being
monitored by sensors.
 Refer to your controller’s user manual for information about configuring the watering strategies.
 Locate the biSensor within the primary zone that gets average to somewhat below average
coverage. Be careful that the biSensor isn’t buried in an area that gets substantially more or less water
in comparison to the rest of the zone.
 Bury the biSensor midway between two heads watering that location.
Notes
 Do not bury the biSensor too deep!
 If adjustments or repairs are made, make sure they do not affect the proper application of water to
the biSensor.
 Poor distribution will cause brown spots, or wet spots. You cannot compensate for distribution
problems with sensor-based watering.
For an in-depth look at soil moisture sensor technology and soil science, read
Watering with Soil Moisture Sensors on Baseline’s web site:
http://www.baselinesystems.com/mediafiles/pdf/watering_with_SMS.pdf