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Plant catalog

LocalSky stores seasonal crop coefficients, root depths, and allowed-depletion defaults for the plant categories below. These are the values used by the model; local growing conditions and management can require adjustment.

Curves are listed January to December for the Northern Hemisphere. The engine shifts them six months for Southern Hemisphere locations. Use measured zone inputs where available and review the resulting demand.

The cited publications provide background on plant care and water use. The listed monthly curves are LocalSky catalog values, not a claim that each publication supplies that exact curve.

Warm-season turfgrasses

Select the matching turf species. Confirm its suitability and management needs with guidance for your local climate.

St. Augustinegrass

  • Citation: UF/IFAS ENH62, “St. Augustinegrass for Florida Lawns”
  • Kc (Jan-Dec): 0.55 / 0.60 / 0.70 / 0.85 / 0.95 / 1.00 / 1.00 / 1.00 / 0.95 / 0.85 / 0.70 / 0.55
  • Root zone depth: ~150 mm (4-6 in; aerated lawns up to 6 in)
  • MAD: 50%
  • Salinity tolerance: ~6 dS/m (ECe at 50% yield)
  • Mow height: 3.5 in (9 cm)
  • Notes: the dominant turf of humid-subtropical regions (US Gulf South; sold as “Buffalo grass” in Australia and New Zealand). Shallow-rooted; prefers deeper, less-frequent watering. Active through the warm season, semi-dormant through the cool season in cooler parts of its range.

Bermudagrass

  • Citation: UF/IFAS ENH19, “Bermudagrass for Florida Lawns”
  • Kc (Jan-Dec): 0.50 / 0.55 / 0.65 / 0.80 / 0.90 / 0.95 / 0.95 / 0.95 / 0.90 / 0.80 / 0.65 / 0.50
  • Root zone depth: ~200 mm (4-8 in; deep on sand)
  • MAD: 50%
  • Salinity tolerance: ~8 dS/m
  • Mow height: 1.5 in (4 cm)
  • Notes: deepest-rooted common turf (sold as “Couch grass” in Australia). Drought-tolerant; can go semi-dormant in heat.

Zoysiagrass

  • Citation: UF/IFAS ENH11, “Zoysiagrass for Florida Lawns”
  • Kc (Jan-Dec): 0.55 / 0.60 / 0.65 / 0.75 / 0.85 / 0.90 / 0.90 / 0.90 / 0.85 / 0.75 / 0.65 / 0.55
  • Root zone depth: ~150 mm
  • MAD: 50%
  • Salinity tolerance: ~7 dS/m
  • Mow height: 2.0 in (5 cm)
  • Notes: slow but dense; tolerates moderate shade; recovers slowly from drought.

Bahiagrass

  • Citation: UF/IFAS ENH6, “Bahiagrass for Florida Lawns”
  • Kc (Jan-Dec): 0.55 / 0.60 / 0.65 / 0.75 / 0.80 / 0.85 / 0.85 / 0.85 / 0.80 / 0.75 / 0.65 / 0.55
  • Root zone depth: ~200 mm
  • MAD: 55%
  • Salinity tolerance: ~4 dS/m
  • Mow height: 3.5 in (9 cm)
  • Notes: drought-tolerant; widely grown pasture grass across the subtropics (native to South America); tolerates low fertility.

Centipedegrass

  • Citation: UF/IFAS ENH8, “Centipedegrass for Florida Lawns”
  • Kc (Jan-Dec): 0.50 / 0.55 / 0.60 / 0.70 / 0.80 / 0.85 / 0.85 / 0.85 / 0.80 / 0.70 / 0.60 / 0.50
  • Root zone depth: ~100 mm (3-5 in; shallow)
  • MAD: 50%
  • Salinity tolerance: ~3 dS/m
  • Mow height: 2.0 in (5 cm)
  • Notes: low-maintenance; iron-chlorotic on high-pH soils.

Cool-season turfgrasses

For cool-temperate and transitional climates (northern US and Canada, the UK and northern Europe, New Zealand, highland regions). Catalog curves describe the application defaults.

Kentucky Bluegrass

  • Kc (Jan-Dec): 0.55 / 0.60 / 0.75 / 0.85 / 0.85 / 0.80 / 0.78 / 0.80 / 0.85 / 0.80 / 0.65 / 0.55
  • Root zone depth: ~150 mm
  • MAD: 50%
  • Notes: self-repairs via rhizomes; dormant in summer drought without irrigation. Peak ET in spring/fall; summer heat stress dips Kc.

Tall Fescue

  • Kc (Jan-Dec): 0.55 / 0.65 / 0.78 / 0.85 / 0.85 / 0.80 / 0.78 / 0.80 / 0.85 / 0.80 / 0.65 / 0.55
  • Root zone depth: ~250 mm (6-12 in; deepest cool-season)
  • MAD: 55%
  • Notes: deep-rooted; most heat- and drought-tolerant cool-season grass.

Perennial Ryegrass

  • Kc (Jan-Dec): 0.55 / 0.65 / 0.78 / 0.85 / 0.85 / 0.80 / 0.78 / 0.80 / 0.85 / 0.80 / 0.65 / 0.55
  • Root zone depth: ~125 mm
  • MAD: 50%
  • Notes: quick germination; often used to overseed dormant warm-season lawns in mild-winter regions.

Non-turf categories

Ornamental shrubs

  • Citation: UF/IFAS ENH1115, “Florida-Friendly Landscaping”. Kc range consistent with FAO-56 Table 12 ornamental values.
  • Kc: 0.45-0.55 year-round (low seasonal variation)
  • Root zone depth: ~250 mm
  • MAD: 40%
  • Notes: established shrubs use ~half the ET0 of turf. Water deeply + infrequently. Drip preferred.

Vegetable garden

  • Kc: 0.55 / 0.65 / 0.75 / 0.90 / 1.10 / 1.15 / 1.15 / 1.05 / 0.90 / 0.75 / 0.65 / 0.55
  • Root zone depth: ~400 mm
  • MAD: 45%
  • Notes: critical at germination and fruit set. Mulch heavily to cut ET. Curve drawn from FAO-56 Table 12 (vegetables mid-season).

Drip xeriscape

  • Kc: 0.25-0.35 year-round
  • Root zone depth: ~300 mm
  • MAD: 30%
  • Notes: established native plantings on drip. Water only during establishment / drought stress.

Other / unknown

  • Kc: 0.70 flat
  • Root zone depth: 150 mm
  • MAD: 50%
  • Notes: generic placeholder. Override per zone with measured values.

How LocalSky uses these

The catalog drives three things:

  1. ETc per zone per day: ET0 * Kc(species, day-of-year). Day-of-year interpolates linearly between mid-month anchor points with Dec/Jan wrap, so the curve is smooth across new year.
  2. Default root zone depth: feeds TAW (Total Available Water) computation, which together with MAD sets the irrigation trigger threshold. Operators can override via ZoneConfig.root_depth_mm.
  3. Default MAD: sets how dry the soil gets before LocalSky recommends watering. Override via ZoneConfig.mad_pct_override.

Contributing a species

New species PRs welcome. Open a PR against src/engine/species_catalog.rs with:

  • 12 monthly Kc values (mid-month anchors)
  • Default root zone depth (mm)
  • Default MAD percentage
  • A citation: FAO-56 Table 12, a university extension or national agronomy-institute publication (UF/IFAS, AHDB, CSIRO, etc.), or a peer-reviewed paper. We don’t accept “trust me” submissions.

The catalog stores citation and notes strings inline; the dashboard exposes them in the zone-editor’s species picker so operators see provenance at pick time.