Last year, I abandoned the various drip small diameter systems and bought new flat irrigator hoses and controlled the total flow timing.
The various systems of which you speak are to me an enormous hassle that in the end do not function properly. As you have noted, the expense for unused tube and never having enough of specific fittings and to many of others finally got to me.
However...... more power to you and your endeavor
I dunno, Guys. I ENJOY watering. I have 16 raised beds and enough hose to cover them all. I like talking to and inspecting everything as I go along. That way I can look for disease and stop it in it’s tracks. Same with Bad Bugs. And I can praise the Good Bugs I see, too.
And, of course, talk to my plants. :)
It takes me maybe an hour a WEEK to do so, but I also mulch heavily with straw which keeps the moisture in.
On a drought season (which I love!) it’s more time, but I do it early AM and then again PM if needed, with enough dry-time before sunset. And, yes. I’m retired, so I have the time to do this.
But, Gadget Guys are gonna Gadget, LOL! I get that, too. :)
I’ve been getting by pretty well with drip, even the 1/4” no-name stuff. Most of what I have left is several years old but has been in two different gardens, chopped up and rearranged. I learned a lot playing with the toy stuff.
I’m no longer doing the hokey pokey a hole and shove a tiny barbed fitting into it. Moving up from 1/4 to bigger stuff allows getting away from that and using compression fittings. I’m also trying to go with brand names as much as possible.
The tunnel is so simple. A main line straight across one end with drip lines coming off of it. Instead of running two lines per bed, I now run a single line twice as long. Run it down the bed, make a u-turn and back up to the main line. Seems to help even out the pressure/flow. Still requires two shut offs to be able to turn each bed off individually which I want.
I have no well or municipal water supply so I’m limited to tanks and flow rate is also limited by the pump and limited tank volume. That also helps keep things simple though. The pump is in the tunnel and tanks right outside so it’s all very self contained. It will even be running from the solar panels sitting 30 away as it did part of last year.
Having no spigot with an unlimited supply of water kind of forces me to use drip. Mulch as well.
Swapping to this Toro and actually growing in the entire tunnel is already going to push me to some limits. I’ve only grown in 1/3 of it so far. Just did some calculations.
Flow rate for 100’ of Toro drip tape is 1.12 gpm and my RV pump is 3 gpm. I could water up to 250’ of drip at once. My tunnel beds will be 150’ of drip.
I’m wanting to grow some in outdoor beds this year and those will need watering, at very least in July and August.
I could water a 50’ bed with two rows of drip along with the tunnel(250’ total) but I’d prefer to keep the tunnel as it’s own zone.
I’m thinking 40’ beds outside. They’ll be along side the 36’ tunnel. A 40’ bed with two rows of drip is 80’ of drip. Three of them would be 240’ of drip and be it’s own zone. Sounds like a plan for this year.
Shopping list:
100’ - Main line (DripDepot)
2,500’ - drip tape (Toro)
1 - 10 psi pressure regulator (Senninger)
18 - Tees (Irritec)
18 - Shut off valves (Irritec)
2 - end cap/plug (Irritec)
That covers a brand new system for the tunnel and three 40’ outside beds. Should last for many years. Also in the cart are 50 tomato clips for lean and lower plus 10 misters which are just to try for keeping direct sowed seeds moist. I have a 15psi regulator but the Toro requires 10psi. (see tagline)