That sounds great. Wonder if you could put the hose in a vise and drill it with a small bit?

Where do you get the bubblers? And is that all I would need: a Y-valve for the faucet, some bubblers, and a length of hose? I guess I'd need a cap for the other end of the hose too.

I have been considering a set up like this for this year, because I like the idea of the slow drip for deep watering without waste. I didn't see the kits in the garden center of Lowes, and I have very little patience with the blank stares of clerks in stores. Are they over in plumbing maybe?

Or maybe there is an online source you can recommend? Tell us more about your set up if you can.

I use NETAFIM.

If you look close, you can see the 4-way.

Tim

I would still rather have the drip system than the soaker hoses or go through the trouble you did.

I've used drip emitters in the past..and soaker hoses...(sprays more than soaks even with water pressure regulator..) this year I bought some of those Gilmour flat seeper hoses and I'm happy with them...using a 5 way splitter to cover both gardens..running them about 1 1/2 hours = 1 inch of rain so I figured using the rain gauge @ 25 psi water pressure regulator..

Happy Gardening.

>>>Or maybe there is an online source you can recommend? Tell us more about your set up if you can.I was surprised that my Sears didn't carry them, but if you search ebay (or google, or amazon, or homedepot.com, etc) for "drip irrigation," it will turn up all of the parts you need, and more. The emitters/bubblers are the key if you want to try my approach. You can plug them right into the rubber hose. You can also extend 1/8" tubing from the end of the emitters if you need to feed an area away from the hose. (I even attach 1/8" soaker tubing to the end of a few emitters to disperse the water a bit more -- but it's not necessary.)

By the way, I poked a few more holes in the hose today. It's really no big deal to do it by hand. It takes an extra 30 seconds and about as much energy as lifting a 30 pound weight a few times.

I'll post photos as soon as I have a chance.

I live in CA and the only water my garden gets is from drip irrigation (no rain May-Oct). For my tomatoes I use 5/8" drip irrigation tubing for my feed system using compression connectors and joints. I use the little $1.50 tool to punch holes for a 2 gph drip emitter for each tomato plant. I don't have leaks. I also don't try to adapt things that are meant for relatively thin ABS tubing to a garden hose. I'm redoing this year's garden with last year's system, shifting the tomato plants into a different area to try to reduce contact with any soil carried diseases. So I just cut the drip tubing, put in a in-line compression connector and 25' of tubing and shifted the tomatoes to the far end of the garden.

I have two feeds to the garden- one for tomatoes, one for everything else. Everything else is fed from one 5/8" line with 1/4" lines with all sorts of laser drilled drip lines, 1/4" soaker hoses (for peas and beans) and 1/4" lines with in line emitters. Right now I'm unplugging everything on that line, using the little plugs for the old holes and setting everything up for the 2008 configuration with new plants, new varieties and new whatever, reusing most of last year's feed tubes in new locations.

Put a system together correctly and you can reuse it and reconfigure it for years. You may not have good sources for drip supplies around you but here people use drip a lot to save water and keep down weeds. Ace, OSH and Home Depot all have big inventories.

This is the company I use. Their products are high quality, prices are very good and they seem to be efficient. Their website is a little difficult but you should be able to figure it out. Around here, HD doesn't carry drip and Lowes is ridiculously priced (about 5x the cost of this place)

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Drip

You have to checkout Dripworks out of CA...they sell to the public as well as bulk wholesale (I use them for parts for my product)...the stuff is great and the prices competitive and the customer service and timeliness is primo...

I use 1/4' drip tubing with embedded emitters every 6' (also have it with 12' spacing) and I have had no problems with clogging...you can buy it by the foot...

Here is a link that might be useful: Dripworks

I checked out dripworks when I was planning my system. They have a great selection and some very nice products. However, I just didn't want to pay so much for it. For example, a 500' roll of 1/2" line is $70 (including the $8 surcharge) at dripworks and $39 at gardendrip.

I had the exact same thought about a 75 foot hose I bought at Big Lots for $14...if I weave it around like a big S (25 ft from one end of my tomatoe bed to the other and about the same width) I may need 2 hoses, but I figured it would be the best way to get water exactly where I wanted it. I was not 100% sure what would stay in place (thanks for telling me what it is..ie: bubbler).And the special tool that you used (you said a drip irrigation tool, can you elaborate or describe what worked).

I'm going to go for it, it was either a hose or some EMT that I had laying around...but I got some negative feedback on my EMT idea. of course PVC pipe is also an option and I was going to see what kind of other plastic hose or tubing I could find...but a garden hose, seems like the best plan...

One question, have you had any problem with the water pressure? and how did you cap off the end of the hose? And have you had to secure the hose down? I thought if just placed out there, it might shift or get bumped out of place. I considered a u-shaped anchor thingie...

My hose doesn't move at all. It's a heavy black rubber hose (see link at the bottom of this post). I can't say for sure that vinyl hoses will work as well . . . since this is my one and only experience.

The exact simple little punch I used to bore holes in the hose:

This is an example of the drip emitter I used, from the same site:

{{gwi:1331462}}
You should be able to find these at your local hardware store to cap your hose.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rubber Hose

Rexx,
Where did you get the 1/2" line that you were disatisfied with? Where did it leak from? I'm asking because the first drip system that I had came from one of those cheap kits and it was not of very high quality. The one I currently have (years later) is much more robust and looks like it will last for years, probably more than the hoses I have.

I also learned a couple tricks. For example, lay the 1/2" line in the sun for awhile before trying to put it in place. Attach it to the main line and put the ends on it. However, wait for early morning while it's cool to punch the holes for the emitters. Once it's hot it doesn't punch well. Also, use a good punch tool that looks somewhat like a pair of pliers (rather than the punch shown above) to punch the holes. That makes all the difference in the quality of the holes. Also, never try to punch a hole in the same location if a punch failed. Use a ice pick or nail to make the hole.

My system has no leaks with over 500 emitters in it.

Also check out "Irrigation Mart" down in Louisiana. They have a website and their service is fast and they are very knowledgable.

Macheske, that's interesting info. I can't believe you have 500 drippers and no leaking. My system leaked slowly from most of the outlets, and considerably from joints and connectors. Furthermore, it wasn't unusual for a fitting to pop out completely and flood my yard a bit if I wasn't paying attention.

You may be right that it was the quality of my main line that was the issue. I see on that site that there is a "neoprene" line that sells for a bit more than the vinyl. I certainly wouldn't advise anyone to try to save a few dollars by skimping on materials. It can be a huge time-eater to keep up a system that doesn't work well.

I think part of my issue may have been that my water pressure is a bit higher than normal to accommodate a hillside sprinkler system. Nonetheless, with the numerous headaches my drip systems have given me over the years, and the flawless performance of my rubber-hose system, I can't see going back to the rigid plastic hoses.

As far as longevity goes, I'm pretty sure this $13 hose will outlast human civilization as we know it.

{{gwi:1331464}}