On 5/14/2016 4:35 PM, Frank Miles wrote:
My spool of drip line is now all used up. For that inevitable clogged-
line replacement, I'll be needing to get more. I've used four kinds
of drip line so far {all 1/4" diameter}:
* an impermeable line with manually installed emitters (RainDrip - these
seemed to clog fairly quickly, and AFAIK are no longer sold);
* soaker hose - uniformly permeable line. These are cheap but fall apart
relatively quickly, and emit more near the water-source end than the
distal end if the length is much over 6' or so;
In our heat the soaker hose doesn't last past about three months at most
* "laser drilled" line {clogs fairly quickly, probably worse than the
RainDrip}; and
* impermeable line with preinstalled emitters, e.g. Agrifim Dura-Flo line.
This last has seemed to hold up the best, if not perfectly.

I've never tried the "drip tape" line. Has anyone tried this, and can
compare with any of the types above? Especially over multiple years of
use...

THANKS!

We have two sections of 20 feet of flat drip tape, works fairly well.
They were gifted to us as brand new by a neighbor who quit gardening.
One of them had not been pierced at all. I used a small ice pick just on
one side. Both of them work pretty good.

We garden in two 4X8 raised beds plus a 4X16 raised bed. Plus in ground
gardens around the back fence line. Luckily we got about a half inch of
rain today and it was a gentle rain at that. I use the soaker hose
around the fence line because the overflow will also water the grass.

Sometimes we just use a hose with a spray nozzle to just give everything
a quick drink. We're looking at rain for the next several days,
hopefully not heavy. Mainly we're heavy watering the fig, pear, and
kumquat trees to keep the fruit going.