Allow per-zone day configuration within sequences for independent watering intervals

[Kurisutian]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
I'm always frustrated when I need zones within the same sequence to run on different intervals. I have two zones on a single water supply line — a lawn (every 3 days) and flower beds (every 2 days) — that must run sequentially because the water pressure is insufficient to operate both simultaneously. The natural solution is to place both zones inside one sequence (which guarantees sequential execution), while giving each zone its own every_n_days interval. However, defining a day key at the zone level within a sequence is currently not supported and throws:

extra keys not allowed @ data['irrigation_unlimited']['controllers'][0]['sequences'][0]['zones'][0]['day']

The only workarounds available — separate sequences with manually staggered before times — break entirely when zone durations are calculated dynamically at runtime (e.g. via the Smart Irrigation integration), since the required time offset is unknown ahead of time.

Describe the solution you'd like
Allow the day parameter to be optionally defined at the zone level within a sequence, overriding the sequence-level schedule interval for that specific zone. The sequence would be triggered at the most frequent zone interval. On each trigger, each zone independently checks whether it is due today based on its own day definition — zones not due are skipped with zero duration. Sequential execution is always preserved.

  - name: "Garden (Summer)"
    schedules:
      - name: "Before Sunrise"
        time:
          sun: "sunrise"
          before: "00:10"
        anchor: finish
        day:
          every_n_days: 2          # Base interval (most frequent zone)
          start_n_days: "2020-01-01"
        from: 15 May
        until: 30 Sep
    zones:
      - zone_id: 1  # Lawn — runs FIRST
        duration: "00:25"
        day:
          every_n_days: 3          # Lawn: every 3 days
          start_n_days: "2020-01-01"
      - zone_id: 2  # Flower beds — runs AFTER
        duration: "00:20"
        day:
          every_n_days: 2          # Beds: every 2 days
          start_n_days: "2020-01-01" 

Describe alternatives you've considered

• Separate sequences with staggered before times: Each zone gets its own sequence with a manually calculated time offset to prevent overlap. This is fragile and breaks completely when durations are computed dynamically at runtime (e.g. Smart Irrigation), since the offset cannot be known in advance.

• Automation-based adjust_time to skip zones: Using daily automations to set a zone's duration to 0 on days it should not run. This works but requires significant automation complexity as a workaround for what should be native YAML configuration.

Additional context
This use case is particularly relevant for users combining Irrigation Unlimited with the Smart Irrigation integration, which calculates the required watering duration dynamically each day based on evapotranspiration data. In that setup, fixed before offsets to stagger sequences are not viable, making per-zone day configuration the only clean solution. The feature would also benefit any user with a single-line water supply serving multiple zones with different optimal watering frequencies.

[rgc99]

One way of doing this is to end one zone at a certain time and begin the other at the same point. When the duration is altered on the first zone it's start time is adjusted. On the second zone it is the finish time that is adjusted. They will never overlap.

If you want a delay between the zones then add a before and/or after to the sunrise times.

irrigation_unlimited:
  controllers:
  - name: "Garden (Summer)"
    zones:
      - zone_id: "1"  # Lawn — runs FIRST and finishes at sunrise
        schedules:
          time:
            sun: "sunrise"
            # before: "00:01" # Optional delay
          duration: "00:25"
          day:
            every_n_days: 3          # Lawn: every 3 days
            start_n_days: "2020-01-01"
          anchor: finish
      - zone_id: "2"  # Flower beds — runs AFTER and begins at sunrise
        schedules:
          time:
            sun: "sunrise"
            # after: "00:01" # Optional delay
          duration: "00:20"
          day:
            every_n_days: 2          # Beds: every 2 days
            start_n_days: "2020-01-01"
          anchor: start

[Kurisutian]

Thank you very much for this elegant solution! Using sunrise as a shared pivot point — with one zone anchored to finish and the other anchored to start — is a really clean approach that works perfectly for my two-zone setup.

That said, I think this solution is limited to exactly two zones on the same supply line, since you only have one natural reference point around sunrise to split them. As soon as a third zone is added, there is no second clean pivot point available, and the approach breaks down.

My original feature request would still address the general case: by defining every_n_days per zone within a sequence, Irrigation Unlimited itself would handle the scheduling logic and guarantee sequential execution regardless of how many zones share a supply line. As a workaround without that feature, I ended up using separate sequences per zone with manually calculated before offsets based on the maximum possible duration (e.g. 45 minutes for lawn + 10 minutes buffer = before: "00:55" for the flower beds sequence). This works reliably and never overlaps, but has the downside that on days with short calculated durations (via Smart Irrigation), there can be unnecessarily large gaps between zones — not ideal, but functional.

For my current two-zone case, your sunrise pivot solution is definitely the more elegant choice. I will go with that. But I still think the per-zone day feature would be a valuable addition for users with more complex setups.

Thanks again for the quick and helpful response!

[rgc99]

You are correct that this solution is limited to twin zones. What you have is a six day watering plan as follows:

Day 1: zone 1 & zone 2
Day 2: -
Day 3: zone 2
Day 4: zone 1
Day 5: zone 2
Day 6: -

Day 7 is the same as day 1, day 8 is the same as day 2 and so on. It just keeps going around.

Here is a solution with everything you require. You can adjust start times to suit and there will be no overlap and consistent delays between zones.

irrigation_unlimited:
  controllers:
  - name: "Garden (Summer)"
    zones:
      - zone_id: "1"  # Lawn every 3 days
        duration: "00:25"
      - zone_id: "2"  # Flower beds every 2 days
        duration: "00:20"
    sequences:
      - name: day1
        schedules:
          time:
            sun: "sunrise"
          day:
            every_n_days: 6
            start_n_days: "2020-01-01"
        zones:
          - zone_id: 1
          - zone_id: 2
      - name: day3
        schedules:
          time:
            sun: "sunrise"
          day:
            every_n_days: 6
            start_n_days: "2020-01-03"
        zones:
          - zone_id: 2
      - name: day4
        schedules:
          time:
            sun: "sunrise"
          day:
            every_n_days: 6
            start_n_days: "2020-01-04"
        zones:
          - zone_id: 1
      - name: day5
        schedules:
          time:
            sun: "sunrise"
          day:
            every_n_days: 6
            start_n_days: "2020-01-05"
        zones:
          - zone_id: 2

Good luck

[Kurisutian]

Thanks again for your proposal @rgc99 . Unfortunately something seems to be completely off on my side.
With the intention I had it now becomes very complex applying this to my actual situation. I also noticed that there must be some general issue, since also triggering manual runs suddenly stopped working. It simply ignores it (running from the manual run card copied from the documentation which worked during last years season).

Also all adjustments to the schedule seem to lead to no run at all. So I'm afraid I have to go back to square one with this.

Basically the idea is to have 3 "watering Seasons": Early Summer (May 1st to May 14th), Summer (May 15th to September 30th) and Late Summer (October 1st to October 14th). While the vegetable patch should be watered twice a week during early and late summer, the laws should only run once a week.
During Summer period the vegetable patch should run every other day and the lawn every third day.

This is basically what I want to achieve which would work straight forward with my initial proposal having the possibility to set day on a per-zone level.

Before, when things were working, I was not setting days but only full months and things worked in general. But with this years weather and the situation in May I need to adjust as only starting in June with a higher frequency was not enough and the lawn started drying out as did the vegetable patches. So I have to re-think about a working solution.

As briefly mentioned something else seems to be off, as atm. no watering is triggered at all and I am not able to find out why. ☹️

I also wanted to shift to UI based configuring (although being limited) and removed all YAML. However when starting fresh, HA claims, there is no UI config available which also seems odd. So I fell back you my YAML config to have something which then seems to cause issues... 🤔

Currently this is what I had (but this will lead to parallel runs, which is the origin of my request):

irrigation_unlimited:
  controllers:
    - name: "Bewässerung Garten"
      enabled: true
      preamble: '00:01'
      postamble: '-00:01'
      all_zones_config:
        show:
          timeline: true
        maximum: '01:00'
        check_back:
          delay: 30
          retries: 4
      zones:
        - name: "Rasen"
          entity_id: "switch.bewasserung_rasen"
          show:
            timeline: true
        - name: "Beete"
          entity_id: "switch.bewasserung_beete"
          show:
            timeline: true
      sequences:
        - name: "Rasen (Frühsommer)"
          delay: "00:01"
          schedules:
            - name: "Fertig vor Sonnenaufgang"
              time:
                sun: "sunrise"
                before: "00:10"
              anchor: finish
              day:
                every_n_days: 7
                start_n_days: "2020-01-01"
              from: 01 May
              until: 14 May
          zones:
            - zone_id: 1
              duration: "00:10"

        - name: "Beete (Frühsommer)"
          delay: "00:01"
          schedules:
            - name: "Fertig vor Sonnenaufgang"
              time:
                sun: "sunrise"
                before: "00:10"
              anchor: finish
              day:
                every_n_days: 4
                start_n_days: "2020-01-01"
              from: 01 May
              until: 14 May
          zones:
            - zone_id: 2
              duration: "00:05"

        - name: "Rasen (Sommer)"
          delay: "00:01"
          schedules:
            - name: "Fertig vor Sonnenaufgang"
              time:
                sun: "sunrise"
                before: "00:10"
              anchor: finish
              day:
                every_n_days: 3
                start_n_days: "2020-01-01"
              from: 15 May
              until: 30 Sep
          zones:
            - zone_id: 1
              duration: "00:25"

        - name: "Beete (Sommer)"
          delay: "00:01"
          schedules:
            - name: "Fertig vor Sonnenaufgang"
              time:
                sun: "sunrise"
                before: "00:10"
              anchor: finish
              day:
                every_n_days: 2
                start_n_days: "2020-01-01"
              from: 15 May
              until: 30 Sep
          zones:
            - zone_id: 2
              duration: "00:20"
              
        - name: "Rasen (Spätsommer)"
          delay: "00:01"
          schedules:
            - name: "Fertig vor Sonnenaufgang"
              time:
                sun: "sunrise"
                before: "00:10"
              anchor: finish
              day:
                every_n_days: 3
                start_n_days: "2020-01-01"
              from: 01 Oct
              until: 14 Oct
          zones:
            - zone_id: 1
              duration: "00:25"

        - name: "Beete (Spätsommer)"
          delay: "00:01"
          schedules:
            - name: "Fertig vor Sonnenaufgang"
              time:
                sun: "sunrise"
                before: "00:10"
              anchor: finish
              day:
                every_n_days: 2
                start_n_days: "2020-01-01"
              from: 01 Oct
              until: 14 Oct
          zones:
            - zone_id: 2
              duration: "00:20"

Before I was relying on a list of months and weekdays which worked. Then I switched to every_n_days and now it does not work at all anymore. So I presume I understand this wrong. I wanted not to rely on certain weekdays but on individual watering frequencies but ensuring they are not overlapping because of insufficient water pressure to run more than one at a time.

This is what I had before, when October was not included, etc.:

irrigation_unlimited:
  controllers:
    name: "Bewässerung Garten"
    enabled: true
    preamble: '00:01'
    postamble: '-00:01'
    all_zones_config:
      show:
        timeline: true
      maximum: '01:00'
      check_back:
        delay: 30
        retries: 4
    zones:
      - name: "Rasen"
        entity_id: "switch.bewasserung_rasen"
        show:
          timeline: true
      - name: "Beete"
        entity_id: "switch.bewasserung_beete"
        show:
          timeline: true
    sequences:
      - name: "Komplett (Sommer)"
        delay: "00:01"
        schedules:
          - name: "Fertig vor Sonnenaufgang"
            time:
              sun: "sunrise"
              before: "00:10"
            anchor: finish
            weekday: [mon, wed, fri]
            month: [jun, jul, aug, sep]
        zones:
          - zone_id: 2  # Beete
            duration: "00:20"
          - zone_id: 1  # Rasen
            duration: "00:25"
    
      - name: "Beete (Sommer)"
        delay: "00:01"
        schedules:
          - name: "Fertig vor Sonnenaufgang"
            time:
              sun: "sunrise"
              before: "00:10"
            anchor: finish
            weekday: [tue, thu, sat, sun]
            month: [jun, jul, aug, sep]
        zones:
          - zone_id: 2  # Beete
            duration: "00:20"
    
      - name: "Komplett (Frühsommer)"
        delay: "00:01"
        schedules:
          - name: "Fertig vor Sonnenaufgang"
            time:
              sun: "sunrise"
              before: "00:10"
            anchor: finish
            weekday: [mon]
            month: [may]
        zones:
          - zone_id: 1  # Rasen
            duration: "00:10"
          - zone_id: 2  # Beete
            duration: "00:05"

      - name: "Beete (Frühsommer)"
        delay: "00:01"
        schedules:
          - name: "Fertig vor Sonnenaufgang"
            time:
              sun: "sunrise"
              before: "00:10"
            anchor: finish
            weekday: [wed, sat]
            month: [may]
        zones:
          - zone_id: 2  # Beete
            duration: "00:05"