Thanks for the feedback. Very interesting/disappointing.
It almost sounds like issues 1-5 are all related to the pump system somehow.
The most disappointing part is the sensors - that’s the main reason I would buy as well…
Can’t help with the pump issue but have had mine since the end of last season.
I have no problem running a zone manually just click on the zone in the app and it runs for the time configured.
My soil sensors track fine here. Ex: the front yard was at 37% it rained and maxed at 42% The max all depends on the soil. With the mild weather here they have been between 31-38% and hover that way until the rain comes then settle back down. A second one I haven’t put in the back garden is in a cactus plant indoors it will max at 33% when water then hover around 25% and have seen it drop to 3%. Soil type has everything to do with the readings. Sandy soil just isn’t going to read as high as like clay and the change in moisture will depend on temp, weather, evap and so on. I know mine now that I have tracked them for a while.
That’s good to hear. Can you assign specific thresholds so that it kicks on when the soil reaches a specified %?
Yes in the scheduler app under zone summary and setup.
do they recommend specific %'s based on soil/plant type - for example if it’s a new lawn or if you’re using it in the garden VS the lawn?
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I think it goes more by plant type. They is a short write up on it on their website.
That would be extremely helpful, but the users would have to know the soil type to determine its optimum saturation point. Im no lawn guy so I cant really determine that.
Is there a way other than hiring someone to do a soil test? Typical places (nursery) you can take a sample to to determine what its requirements would be? And if so, is there a correlation to the Spruce setup guide based on soil type?
Im really interested in this product but without this info, I feel it would be a waste for me without knowing these variables.
It dois seem like learning Greek but It’s fairly easy to figure it out on your own… I also bought a plantlink to compare sensors and hopefully use it with Spruce one day and their writeup on soil is great. Long but good
Setting up with a pump is incredibly flawed.
I don’t have a pump with my system and so can’t really help here. I have seen there is a delay setting for the time between the pump turning on and the water valves opening, I assume you have already tried adjusting this.
Manual runs are simply not possible,
You can turn on any zone for the default run time (I thought 10 mins) under Spruce Controller and push the button for the zone. It could be however that you cannot turn the pump on at the same time…
There is no way to run a complete cycle at all,
Same for a complete cycle. It is done under the Spruce Controller, Start Program button (under Things) and not through the Spruce Watering app.
Spruce is always finishing.
I think it is actually saying Spruce Finished and the text is cut off. But yes it does say that all the time as it is almost always finished.
It wouldn’t matter anyway, since the system doesn’t appear to care what the moisture level is.
System does care about the moisture % and increases or decreases the watering time based on the %. You can adjust the target % for each zone in the Watering app. Of course figuring out the target % is the hard part.
Testing out the system as it finally warmed up here and also only able to get manual zones to run 3-5 minutes. I’m putting in a support ticket.
I also noticed my zones keep showing on in the app even though they are off.
Running Android and.I am unable enable the smattapp… whenever I do ve I get an error. Please advise or I will have to return all equipment and my 12 sensors. No errors in log. I get aN unexpected red error popuP. I can save sub settings but not the main page
Not sure if this is your issue but Search this board for new app errors. You have to go in and unclick a box in IDE. It’s a Smart Things issue.
Here try this:
Go into the IDE and go to my locations - click list smartapps.
Go into the smartapp and uncheck the box for: Enable local child app discovery:
that worked for me with another app. Not sure why though.
Can’t say I’ve seen that. Did you try removing the app and re-installing. Might be a glitch.
Also I would contact Spruce support. Although this looks like it’s on the Smart Things side Spruces support have been great for me in the past.
Ya I have a feeling they having tested the android version well
I’ve been running it since the end of last summer with no major issues and this weekend when I fired things back up. But today things went south. First manual watering only goes for 5 minutes and my zones status always revert to on(zones are still off) after shutting off.
Unless Spruce updated the app behind the scenes I think something is off on ST side.
@Lgkahn @celblazer
Lots of good information in the thread, and many good tips on getting things going.
Please do get in touch with us http://support.spruceirrigation.com/contact/ with any issues, we can certainly help.
In the screenshot the message is indicating that the “notify” command does not exist for the device. I see a “z-wave metering switch” is listed, this indicates that either the wrong device is selected in the schedule app or it is set to some other device type. This would definitely explain the app error or crashing. I would recommend checking the correct “controller” is selected in the scheduler.
We have not changed the SmartThings released apps/ devices. However if you are running the pre-release version, it is recommended to update to the released versions. While they should still work, there are updates in the “official” releases.
I sent an support email with my issues earlier. 
That is not the case
. I thought the same thing and double checked that as I am a developer… I even unselected the scheduler and it still will not save and then reselected it and it still will.not save… see screenshot.
Sorry you were right there were two.places in the app you need to.pick the controller… not sure why it needs to be selected twice. But thanks.
I was setting the sync controller instead of the main.setting… my fault for not reading the fine print.
One problem is your time for.drip.lines is not even close …you need .a.fruit tree landscape type… these need way way more water than one hour once a week. I.can.post a chart but they typically need from one to 4 hours depending.on.type multiple times.a week to every day in.August
I want to love Spruce. But after spending two days setting it up (just the setup in smartthings)… not the wiring, etc. that was a breeze.
I’m finding the smartapp difficult to use. Is anyone comfortably using the spruce app? Have you made other smart apps to individually control zones? If I want to set zone 8 for 15 mins, just because, its impossible without writing a new app.
The layer of smartthings is what I think is my barrier here, I truly want this to be within smartthings for that single view… Are most people just installing and leaving alone?
J