I use this homemade DIY drip irrigation system with soaker hose for my raised vegetable beds. Its easy to build and works great. Watch the video to see our first take on a soaker hose system.
The drip irrigation system I built uses copper pipe, which can be expensive, you can also use PVC pipe to build the manifolds that feed the soaker hoses.
I dug a slot into the ground and pushed the garden hose into it to hide the hose feeding each raised bed. This makes lawnmower much easier too, no chance of running over a garden hose that way.
Key to watering your garden with drip irrigation is to not water it too much, i know its fun to watch the water ooze out of the soaker hoses, but you want the beds to dry out a bit between waterings. I water my vegetable beds every 4-5 days. Tomatoes, especially, grow best when the soil dries out between waterings. Too much water is just as bad as not enough water, it makes it easy for fungus and disease to grow.
How long do soaker hoses last? I’ve had these in the ground year round for about 10 years. Some hoses have leaked, but not a lot. And its obvious when they are leaking, and easy to fix. All you do is cut out the leak, and connect the two pieces back together with a piece of pipe.
If the water pressure going into the hoses is fairly low, or if you use an inline pressure reducer attached to the garden hose, you can use cable ties instead of clamps to put the lines together. 
Water timers for garden hoses have improved a bit lately, below is one i recommend. Some of these timers are awful to try to program.
Kris from Hamden, CT
Hi Eric,
I found Garden Fork a couple weeks ago and am quickly becoming an addict! Seriously, my Boss hears the intro music to your videos and calls from the next office, “you’re watching that guy AGAIN.” (it’s a family business so I get away with a lot) So now I’ll get to the point – I have a question…
Before I attempt to mimic your ‘hard-wire’ system on my soaker-hose I’d like to make sure it will solve my problem. I have the same exact set-up, a garden hose I buried the same way going 200 ft up a slight incline to my 4 raised beds(it’s the only place that gets enough sun). The problem is when I attempted to attach a soaker-hose and snake it around all 4 beds the 1st was waterlogged and the 4th was a desert. Does your copper connection system rectify this? If not do you have any suggestions? (I checked the obvious and the hoses aren’t clogged but the water doesn’t come out evenly over the 75 feet of hose.)
Thanx,
You’re latest GF addict
Eric Gunnar Rochow
Hi Kris, i’ll have to answer this in a new post , my beds are under snow right now, mbe i can find some picts to explain. thx, eri c
Mary Speecie
Eric, I just found your site. What happened to part 2 of the drip irrigation soaker hoses? Mary
Mimi
Hi Eric, I am planning 3 raised beds for herbs and vegetables. I love the idea of the soaker hose with the timer. I am eagerly looking for part 2 of this video.
Ronald Boehm
Just happened onto your site. I love your attitude, (video demeanor)(stage manners), you know, your friendly personality. The way you speak to your audience and camera girl is healthy for the listen/viewer.
Your ideas are simple easy and clear. You make it look easy. The annoyances of the pestering dogs are your springboard for positive reinforcement of your ease of teaching. The camera girl is in synch with your presentation. A great team you make. Your purpose of the video is never left hanging and you bring to conclusion like a family visit well spent.
Thank you … keep making the videos.
Ron.
Thaddeus Dizon
your dog are so cool.and so you are,i just want to ask question if your drip irrigation are suitable in large scale land i mean commercial farming.quetion from choi of laguna phillipines.
Eric Gunnar Rochow
sorry, i don’t know if this method could be applied on a large scale, maybe check with your local agriculture university? thx, eric.