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Looking for the best irrigation system of 2024? Here are the top drip irrigation kit picks for a variety of needs and all types of gardeners (including beginners!)
I spent many years in the beginning of my home gardening journey hand watering my raised bed gardens.
I only had two 4’x8′ raised bed gardens along the front porch of my apartment. but it would take me nearly an hour in the morning to hand water my vegetables deeply enough with the hose.
It wasn’t until I read Weedless Gardening by Lee Reich that I learned about the virtues of drip irrigation. I opted to build a DIY drip irrigation system, but there are many drip irrigation system kits that make the process easier.
We’ll get more into the benefits of drip irrigation, but suffice it to say a drip irrigation system has saved me hours of work in the garden. With a little assembly, you’ll soon have a drip irrigation system that waters your plants without lugging a hose around the yard.
This post is all about the best drip irrigation systems.
What is Drip Irrigation?
Drip irrigation brings water from the tap directly to the base of your plants via a system of tubing and emitters.
There are several ways water can be delivered to your plants. Water can be emitted from dripperline, which is basically tubing that has evenly spaced holed (“emitters”) that leak water. Dripperline is good for evenly spaced rows of plants, like in a vegetable garden.
Alternatively, water can come from individual drip emitters. This is a good solution for single trees, shrubs, and smaller plant pots or grow bags.
Finally, these two emitter types can be combined in a system that serves garden beds and individual plants.
Why Use Drip Irrigation?
There are many benefits to using drip irrigation for home gardening.
- Water Efficiency: Drip irrigation delivers water directly to the roots of plants, minimizing evaporation. This targeted approach can reduce water usage by up to 60% compared to traditional watering methods like sprinklers. (Think about all the water that is wasted by misfire via a sprinkler system!)
- Precise Watering: Drip irrigation allows for precise control over the amount of water each plant receives, ensuring optimal hydration without overwatering or underwatering.
- Reduced Weed Growth: Since drip irrigation delivers water directly to the root zone of plants, it helps to minimize moisture on the soil surface, which can reduce weed growth.
- Flexibility and Automation: Drip irrigation systems can be automated with timers or controllers, allowing for precise scheduling and reducing the need for manual watering. This is particularly useful if you plan on going on vacation!
- Conservation of Time and Labor: Once installed, drip irrigation systems require minimal maintenance and supervision compared to manual watering methods, saving time and effort for gardeners. You can even leave most of your system outside in the winter. (Just make sure to take in any electronics, like a timer, and more sensitive pieces of the head assembly at the tap.)
- Healthy Plants: Consistent and controlled moisture levels provided by drip irrigation promote healthier plant growth. Unlike traditional watering methods, water does not land on plant leaves with drip irrigation, preventing fungal growth on vulnerable foliage.
- Environmental Benefits: By conserving water, drip irrigation contributes to environmental sustainability and reduces the ecological footprint of your home garden.
Components of a Drip Irrigation System
You may or may not find these common components in your drip irrigation system.
- Water timer – Automatically turns water on and off.
- Filter – Removes large particles from water so they don’t clog your drip emitters.
- Pressure regulator – Reduces the water pressure coming from the hose tap so it doesn’t blow your whole system.
- Female hose thread adapter – Connects your head assembly to 1/2″ blank tubing.
- 1/2″ Blank tubing – Transports water from the hose tap to your garden.
- Preformed wire hold-downs – Keep your blank tubing and dripperline in place.
- 1/2″ Barbed elbows or L-connectors – Connect two pieces of 1/2″ blank tubing at a right angle.
- 1/2″ Barbed tees or T-connectors – Connect three pieces of 1/2″ blank tubing to make a T-shape.
- 1/4″ Hole punch – Puts holes in 1/2″ blank tubing to connect dripperline.
- 1/4″ Barb connectors – Connect your 1/4″ dripperline to your 1/2″ blank tubing.
- 1/4″ Dripperline (6″ emitter spacing) – This is where the water drips from. Good for raised beds and other large areas.
- Drip emitters – Deliver water to individual plants like trees or shrubs.
- Goof plugs – Closes ends of 1/4″ dripperline and plugs up mistakes made with the 1/4″ hole punch.
Best Drip Irrigation System
Rain Bird LNDDRIPKIT Drip Irrigation Landscape/Garden Watering Kit with Drippers, Micro-Bubblers, Micro-Sprays
- Comprehensive 108-piece kit for flower beds, gardens and landscaped areas; eliminates hand watering, saves time and money
- Ultimate watering efficiency for all plants, shrubs and trees; up to 80% water savings
- Simple 3-step installation: connect to faucet, insert fittings into tubing, attach watering devices
- Includes 3 differnet types of watering devices: drippers, micro-bubblers and micro sprays
- Pressure-compensating technology ensures all plants receive same amount of water
This drip irrigation system from Rain Bird is a great all-purpose kit for watering most garden types: raised beds, in-ground beds, and even for watering individuals plantings of trees, shrubs, and landscaping.
That’s because it comes with three different types of watering devices: drip emitters, micro-bubblers and micro-sprays. (For the most targeted watering, I would recommend using the drip emitters.)
This drip irrigation kit comes with everything you need to get water from your outside faucet to your plants: including a 25 psi pressure regulator, a backflow preventer, a 50’ roll of 1/2” tubing, a 50’ roll of 1/4” tubing, 20 drip emitters, four micro-sprays, two staked micro-bubblers, an emitter installation/removal tool, and complete instructions.
Best Drip Irrigation System for Raised Beds
Rain Bird GARDENKIT Drip Irrigation Raised Bed Garden Watering Kit
- Convenient Drip irrigation kit has everything needed to water up to a 4’ x 8’ raised bed garden
- Ideal for all types of raised garden beds with professional-grade components that are built to last
- Waters at low volume near roots for healthier plants, higher yields and up to 80% water-savings
- Pressure-compensating emitters deliver even watering throughout garden beds
- Easy-to-install: detailed user manual features illustrated instructions with various system layouts
This drip irrigation kit is best for beginner gardeners that want to start with a smaller project like irrigating a raised bed garden.
This kit has everything you need to water a 4’x8′ raised bed garden: a tubing adaptor to help fit the tubing to your faucet, a 25 psi pressure regulator, a mesh filter, a 35’ roll of 1/4” dripperline (or emitter tubing), a 25’ roll of 1/4” distribution tubing, and a detailed user manual that makes installation easy.
I especially love dripperline for watering raised beds, as it’s easy to organize in rows and doesn’t clog.
Best Drip Irrigation System with Timer
- Robust professional grade digital hose-end timer for use with hose-end sprinklers, Drip irrigation and soaker hose
- Simple-to-set automatic programming, 7-day scheduling and sophisticated functions provide worry-free watering convenience
- Extra-large dial and readout screen provide easy set-up and review of watering schedules
- One-touch override buttons for “Cancel Watering” (doubles as up to 96-hour rain delay) and “Water Now” (manual watering)
- Conveniently displays program status such as next scheduled water cycle, and time remaining on current cycle
Unfortunately, neither of my favorite drip irrigation systems come with a timer. Both recommend that you buy the Rain Bird 1ZEHTMR Hose-End Timer (sold separately, of course.)
This timer is easy and intuitive to use, proving a maximum run time of 6-hours with up to two starts times per day.
- 3/4″ FHT inlet and MHT outlet
- Easy programming using six buttons and large LCD display
- Watering duration from 1 minute to 12 hours 59 minutes in 1 minute intervals
However, I personally opted for the DIG Outlet Hose End Programmable Timer. It has a longer run time of 12 hours and 59 minutes and up to four start times per day.
Plus, its protective cover protect the display from the elements. (Several customers noted the hot sun can damage the Rain Bird 1ZEHTMR Hose-End Timer LCD display.)
Hi, I’m Leslie, the founder of PunkMed
Hey friend! I’m so glad that you stopped by the blog today. I had a blast sharing my top picks for drip irrigation systems.
If you’re into vegetable gardening, urban homesteading, or living a more sustainable life–stick around! There are a good number of resources on my blog, and I always love to hear from my readers (that’s you!) Feel free to send me a DM on Instagram!
This post was all about the best drip irrigation systems.
What to Read Next:
I so enjoyed sharing my favorite drip irrigation systems. Below, I’ve shared a few other gardening guides that share my experience on other important gardening topics!
