"jeff" wrote in message
...

OK, the kits look pretty cheap, as cheap as anything these days!

I got mine for about $20. It's cheaper to buy the components individually,
but the kit gives you a "Dummies" version! Your description of your garden
elsewhere would probably use a small kit like this perfectly.

I like this idea, instead of one serpentine line, that way you can
reposition the drippers easily as the garden changes.

One thing to note is that, while it is possible to remove drippers and plug
them up (they sell plugs for this very reason), it is rather difficult. the
drippers off can be time consuming, so I generally buy new supplies instead
of trying to re-use old ones. But it is definitely possible to re-use the
old ones if you have the patience for it. One good thing to do is to lay
out one main line, and put a single 1/4" hole near each bed or plot, from
which you run a 1/4" tube that you can alter from season to season as
necessary. Since I rotate the types of vegetables in my beds, I sometimes
need closely-spaced drippers, and other times I need more widely-spaced
drips, or sprayers, or soakers, etc. Putting a single hole on the main line
for each bed gives you the versatility to change things up according to your
needs. It's pretty easy to change out the 1/4" tubes every season.

Are there valves or adjustments to control the rate, or is it all done by
time and fixed rates? It looks like some timers have multiple controls.

There are flow controls and whatnot, but I don't use them. I use only the
barest of technology, and just open my splitters enough to get the flow that
I want. I use splitters ABOVE other splitters so that I can adjust the flow
rate initially, then not have to adjust it again, but simply open the
necessary splitter valve! (Didn't I say I love splitters?) It isn't
uncommon for my water to go through three or four splitters before it gets
to its final destination. So much easier to open and close a couple of
valves every day than to open each one individually and re-adjust the flow
rate every time. Anyway (after this long-winded rant that has little to do
with anything you asked!), you can look into the timers and flow checks and
all that stuff, but I can't give any practical advice on these because I
simply don't utilize them.
--S.