Budget Drip Irrigation Kit Buying Guide: Three 100-Foot Kits With the Most Pieces per Dollar

What a budget drip kit buys, and what it cannot

A budget drip kit is a coil of 100 feet of thin tubing, a bag of heads and the tees, plugs and faucet adapter to join them, for very little money. It will keep a couple of raised beds, a row of containers or a greenhouse bench watered through a summer, and that is what it is for. What it cannot do is feed a long line of many plants, because 1/4-inch tubing carries very little water: about eight heads per 50 feet is the limit one maker states, and the far end of a 100-foot run with 30 nozzles on it will barely dribble. The three kits here get the most out of 100 feet in three different ways.

This guide is built from the published specifications of each kit and from recurring owner feedback. We have not run these kits ourselves.

How the three compare

RAINPOINT 100 ft: the fullest box

Lay the RAINPOINT contents on the lawn and it is the most kit for the money here: 100 feet of 1/4-inch tube, 30 solid brass nozzles on bendable rods with an aluminum core, 30 push-in tees, four end plugs, four 3/4 to 1/4-inch faucet adapters, a pipe cutter, 40 cable ties, 40 half clamps and thread tape. Each nozzle head turns between mist for seedlings, shower, stream and drip, and the rod bends to aim it. The four adapters are the clue to using it well: split the 100 feet into two or three runs of eight to ten heads each, from a splitter at the tap, rather than one long line. Brass nozzles mist and spray more than they drip, which wets leaves, so set them to stream or drip for tomatoes and squash.

MIXC 100 ft: plain, and honest about capacity

The MIXC kit is the one that tells the truth on the listing: no more than eight rods per 50 feet of tubing. That is the capacity of 1/4-inch line, and MIXC sizes the kit to it, with 100 feet of tubing and 16 copper nozzles on 20 cm bendable rods, 16 three-way quick connectors, a two-way connector, a 3/4 to 1/4-inch adapter pack, two plugs, 40 nails and 40 cable ties. MIXC also sizes its fittings to 1/4-inch US tubing rather than the 5/16-inch some kits use, so spare parts from a hardware store fit. There is no cutter; sharp scissors do. It is the right kit for a patio of pots and one bed.

SMIDOLE 100 ft: a real mainline on a budget

SMIDOLE divides its 100 feet into 25 feet of 1/2-inch main and 75 feet of 1/4-inch branches, and the 1/2-inch pipe changes what the kit can reach: water arrives at the far bed with pressure to spare before it narrows to the emitters. Four six-way connectors branch the main, eight vortex and eight stream emitters adjust at the cap, every joint pushes together without tools and the maker says under 30 minutes to install. Sixteen emitters is a small count, but a 1/2-inch main accepts more branches and more emitters later, which makes this the budget kit that is still in use in two years. No stakes, filter or timer are listed.

Getting the most from 100 feet

Soak the coil in the sun for an hour so it goes on the fittings. Cut every end square with the cutter or sharp scissors; a ragged cut is the usual leak. Keep each 1/4-inch run to about 50 feet and eight to twelve heads, and use the extra faucet adapters or a two-way splitter to make more runs rather than one long one. Flush the line before fitting the last plug. Add a cheap inline filter at the tap, since brass nozzles clog with grit, and a 25 to 30 PSI regulator if the fittings pop. Pin the line with the nails or clamps, set heads to drip or stream at the root, and put the whole thing on a battery timer.

Which one should you buy

Buy the RAINPOINT 100 ft kit for the most heads and tools in the box, split into several runs. Buy the MIXC 100 ft kit for a plain 1/4-inch system for pots and one bed with US-standard fittings. Buy the SMIDOLE 100 ft kit for a 1/2-inch mainline that reaches a second bed and can grow.