this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2025
33 points (94.6% liked)
Gardening
5719 readers
1 users here now
Your Ultimate Gardening Guide.
Rules
- Be respectful and inclusive.
- No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
- Engage in constructive discussions.
- Share relevant content.
- Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
- Use appropriate language and tone.
- Report violations.
- Foster a continuous learning environment.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Build your own. Helluva a lot cheaper, and more configurable for what you need. All you need is a cheap spout timer, some drip tubing, and a couple connectors. Any hardware store will have all the bits and pieces you need, but there are tons of supply sites online that can ship any bits you need.
You can what a kit looks like here for example. You could just buy a starter, or source the bits yourself for a little bit cheaper. Once you have a basic setup going, it's dirt cheap to maintain and build off of in the future.
I was curious how hard it would be to DIY, sounds like a good option. A starter kit is appealing just from the lower mental effort aspect, but it's sounding like it's not as complicated as I was thinking. Do you know if there is a big difference in quality between the drip tubing manufacturers? Or are there particular parts I should invest a little more in?
Stick to well known brands sold by retailers that specialize in this. Don't just buy random branded stuff of Amazon, because you're likely to get junk.
There are 2 main materials for irrigation tubing: polyethylene and vinyl. The main differences between them are that poly is stiffer and harder to bend in tight corners, but it's probably more durable. Vinyl is (to me) a little easier to work with.