Welcome to the 'Growing with Drip Depot' page! Here, we proudly showcase our valued customer success stories, offer recognition to our esteemed affiliate businesses, and highlight contributions from talented YouTubers. This space serves as a platform for you to celebrate your gardening achievements and draw inspiration from fellow DIY enthusiasts.

If you have any inquiries or wish to share your own story, please don't hesitate to reach out to Drip Depot's dedicated customer service team. We're here to assist you with all the details: Customer Service

Drip Depot Mission Statement:

To consistently exceed customer expectations with our unparalleled commitment to excellence, our extreme ownership, and by continuing to GROW:

Anonymous Drip Depot Customer

As a mom of two toddlers and a wife of a man who occasionally travels for work (family traveling along), I need my in-ground garden to run itself when I'm not able to give it full attention. This year is my second year gardening and it has been a year for learning with the bonus of some tasty produce and some pretty flowers on the side. 

The Drip Depot team helped me identify the parts needed to run a line from our spigot to the garden and they were able to verify compatibility once I got everything in my cart. I did need to replace some parts due to over-tightening. One part arrived defective and Drip Depot sent me a replacement package of the part promptly. 

When thinning plants, I decided to transplant some outside the irrigated zone and many of them produced at least as well or better, so I think I have some more learning to do about the water needs of my plants, but it has been a relief to know that the plants are getting regular water without me needing to be the one to do it. 

Setting up the system was simple and I have recommended Drip Depot to others who are considering whether drip irrigation would be a good fit for them. 

For my mulch solution, I used blank mats from gardenmats.com and cut holes where I wanted to put plants. Not everything germinated so I've included an updated plan of what's in the garden which was created on gardenplanner.almanac.com my seeds are all from Migardener. Pleased with how my second year of gardening has gone and looking forward to growing better in years to come!

09/07/2023

Land & Sea Slow Food Chapter

    Land & Sea is a non-profit Slow Food chapter located in Friday Harbor, WA, on San Juan Island. Our chapter's primary project is the Land & Sea Learning Garden, a community-focused garden situated on County-owned land. Established in 2010, the garden serves as a valuable resource for learning, food production, and providing assistance to families and individuals in need. 

    For the past 13 years, we have had an agreement allowing us to utilize the previously unused County land in exchange for maintaining and utilizing the space, as well as caring for the heritage apple, pear, and plum trees on the property. As proud customers of Drip Depot, we have incorporated efficient irrigation systems into our garden. Throughout our journey, we have developed various programs, provided resources, and made the space available to serve students and the wider community. In the past five years, we have focused on enhancing the garden's infrastructure, including fencing, water systems, gates, storage, and educational signage. Our garden now features a diverse range of culinary, dye, pollinator, and cut flowers, as well as multiple vegetables, fruits, berries, and grains.

    We aim to be a valuable resource for students, seniors, families, individuals, and social service organizations. In addition to serving practical purposes, our garden has become a serene gathering place where people can relax, meet at the picnic tables under the fruit trees, and admire the vibrant vegetables and beautiful flowers teeming with pollinators. All of this is conveniently located in the heart of our town, Friday Harbor.

    In our garden, we have a variety of planting setups including rows, raised beds, and a greenhouse with planted rows. To efficiently irrigate our fruit trees, berry bushes, and vining berries, we utilize straight runs of drip tape. In the past, we have also used dripline for watering our fruit trees. Currently, we are exploring the most effective irrigation methods for our fruit trees and berry bushes. We have experimented with planning and mapping out designs to optimize the layout of the tape, minimizing the number of hose runs from our main hose bib and manifold. Our goal is to maintain sufficient water pressure to reach the rows farthest down the lines.

    We initially encountered a learning curve, adjusting the water pressure to avoid excessive pressure in the closest lines when opening the hose bib valve fully, or insufficient pressure at the end of the runs when reducing the water flow. However, we discovered helpful how-to videos on Drip Depot's website, which have been invaluable in our journey. We continue to learn as we progress, discovering the usefulness of connectors, goof plugs, on/off valves, water pressure regulators, and other fantastic tools offered by Drip Depot.

    At the beginning, we were puzzled by the kinks that would develop in our drip tape by the end of the day. However, thanks to Drip Depot's instructional videos, we discovered the importance of burying the tape beneath the soil surface. This simple yet crucial tip, clearly explained in their straightforward videos, made a significant difference in our irrigation system. The videos also proved invaluable when we encountered challenges such as using hole punches and connecting valves and tape. They provided step-by-step guidance that helped us overcome initial difficulties. As volunteers with full-time jobs, time is precious to us, but we make it a priority to watch these informative videos as often as possible due to their incredible usefulness. In the near future, we have plans to incorporate irrigation programs into our activities, and these videos will undoubtedly play a vital role in educating others about effective irrigation techniques.

    When it comes to placing orders and seeking advice on pressure, tubing diameter, connectors, and valves, we've consistently reached out to Drip Depot's customer service. Without fail, our experience has been fantastic! The team members are patient, friendly, and incredibly helpful, providing us with excellent support. We couldn't ask for better or more helpful interactions!

    What sets the Drip Depot staff apart is their cheerful and positive vibe, which always brings a smile to our faces. And to top it off, each delivery comes with a delightful surprise: Jolly Rancher candies and Tootsie Roll pops! It's the little extra touch that brightens our day whenever a Drip Depot package arrives!

Thanks to Drip Depot's generous donation, our non-profit learning garden was able to start planting in a timely manner. This freed us from the labor-intensive task of hand watering, which is less efficient in conserving water and reaching the plant roots. As a result, we had more time to focus on successful outreach initiatives, extending the impact of our garden in the community. We are truly grateful for Drip Depot's support!   

06/15/2023

Whitebrook Farm

    The 30-acre farm in rural northwest Connecticut has a rich history dating back to the late 1700s. The 10-stall barn and other buildings were in a state of disrepair, but I saw the potential in this land and embraced the challenge. After years of clearing pastures and renovating the barn, I was ready to take on the next project: creating a fenced-in raised bed garden and outdoor amenities like a dining pergola and BBQ area. However, I faced a major hurdle during the early days of COVID—the severe lumber shortage. Determined to find a solution, I drove all the way to a small lumber mill near the Maine/Canada border to purchase a trailer load of Eastern White Cedar. Along the way, people jokingly suggested I should have armed guards to protect my precious lumber from desperate builders! Once back in Connecticut, I wasted no time in bringing my project to life!

    Gardening has been a lifelong passion passed down to me by my parents. Over the years, I've cultivated urban gardens on rooftops in NYC and rural gardens, totaling 40 years of experience. I wanted to continue enjoying a spacious garden while minimizing the hassle of manual watering and fertilizing. That's when I made the decision to install my very first drip irrigation system.

    I researched various options, including offerings from landscaping companies and big box stores, but ultimately chose Drip Depot. Their online tutorials, a wide range of options, and fair pricing won me over. Initially, designing the system from scratch felt overwhelming. However, once I tapped into the tutorials and familiarized myself with the terminology of different system parts, everything fell into place smoothly.

    In fact, the installation went so well that I decided to expand my system beyond a 3-zone setup for my raised beds of veggies and herbs. I incorporated stand-alone pots, hanging baskets, a perennial garden, and even a small orchard. Whenever I needed assistance, I reached out to Drip Depot and they promptly provided clear instructions to help me choose the right equipment for my specific irrigation needs. As the final touch, I added a liquid in-line fertilizing unit (fertigator) to automate the important task of fertilizing my gardens. With Drip Depot's support, the entire experience was fantastic.

06/15/2023

Thimbleberry Collaborative Farm

We are Thimbleberry Collaborative Farm, a non-profit educational farm in Oregon with the goal of co-creating a more sustainable, equitable, efficient, and healthy food system in our community. We are breaking ground this season on half an acre with the intention of utilizing low/no-till, regenerative farming techniques to raise mixed vegetable and fruit crops for a Community Supported Agriculture program that will be distributed through a local health clinic. Last year we donated over 1200 pounds of produce grown at our temporary location to a local food bank, and plan on continuing to increase our donation capabilities next season. We currently offer educational workshops for youth and are building towards hosting camps and regular community-building events.

    Our 100’ long by 4’ wide, semi-permanent bed systems will be “raised” through plowing and maintained afterward through low/no-till practices, which builds soil structure and promotes healthy soil biology (think lots of worms!), which in turn creates healthy plants and beautiful produce.

    We plan on using zones of drip irrigation in our row crops on 3/4" tubing on timers attached to frost-free hydrants, as well as occasionally using low-flow overhead sprinklers to water in/establish cover crops and potentially tough-to-germinate seeds like carrots and parsnips. We have a learning garden with ADA-accessible raised beds featuring annual and perennial plants, in which we primarily use 3/4” tubing with 1/4" Drilpine. We also utilize the greenhouse overhead watering kit in our propagation house where we start all of our veggies. So far we’re really liking this system, though have worked with the patient Customer Service team at Drip Depot to troubleshoot how to protect it from freezing in the early spring months. After installing a flush valve to empty the lines to prevent freeze damage, we realized that air was getting trapped in the lines and preventing the pressure from dropping enough to trigger the valve. We’ll be ordering an air vent/vacuum relief  to mitigate this problem for next season.

    Drip Depot generously donated mainline tubing and drip tape to our organization last year, which we used on a temporary plot before acquiring our current property. We’re thankful for their support and plan on continuing our relationship into the future!

You can find Thimbleberry Collaborative Farm website here: https://thimbleberrycollaborativefarm.org/ 

05/03/2023

Eden Farms  is a small first-generation family farm in Clover, SC that caters to the greater community through multiple farming methods offering fresh vegetables & poultry products from our family to yours. As with many first-generation farms, trial and error is commonplace here but our passion for small-scale agriculture pushes us forward. We deploy traditional farming methods with organic methods as well as no-till methodologies. Our experiments with blending old methods and new, coupled with our great climate, affords us the ability to take full advantage and produce the best we can offer. We have relied on Drip Depot, their great products, and their wonderful staff for nearly a decade now. We learned early on that quality makes the difference between using something for one season and being able to use it for multiple seasons. This is where Drip Depot shines. Their quality products allowed us to stop reinventing the wheel every season. We just add to what we have that already works. When we have questions or need recommendations, their staff helps us right away. We have used their irrigation products in raised bed applications, no-till inground applications, field crop applications, and greenhouse applications.

A large challenge for our area is that we are very close to a shifting jet stream. We can see tons of precipitation, just the right amount of precipitation, or long stretches with no precipitation and it can swing rapidly very quickly. Ensuring that we are providing the right amount of water with as little work as possible is key to us being able to focus on other things around the farm. Drip Depot helps us do that. They help us work smarter, not harder.

Drip irrigation is a focus of Drip Depot, hence the name, however, they have also provided the perfect solutions to our overhead watering needs. They really are a one-stop shop.

We love showing off our Drip Depot products through our website, Facebook pages, and Instagram page.

You can find links to Eden Farms’  website and other media pages here:

• Website: https://theedenfarms.com/ 

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eden.farms.92 

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theedenfarms/ 

04/18/2023

Chris Haley

“I'm Chris Haley, a consultant, and father of three that recently moved from the DC area to Charlottesville. We completed a large renovation of our yard including hundreds of plants and wanted to install a drip irrigation system to help the garden survive the hot Virginia summers.

We have 500+ plants (many of them liriope) around the house and on a steep hill in our backyard. The landscaping covers the hill and surrounds a large patio and stone staircase we installed. Many of the plants are in neat rows (like the liriope) while others are organized in patterns around the yard.

The biggest challenges for us were the hill and the sheer number of plants, and the distance to cover. We started with 1/2" tubing  but then realized that 3/4" tubing would be necessary to cover the 400+ feet on one side of the yard. In fact, we ended up needing 3 separate "zones," each running to its own spigot (we installed 4-way spigots to have enough). Then, we realized we couldn't push enough pressure up the hill. We went from 25PSI to 35PSI  regulators, and also split one of the original zones into two zones so we could span the hill. We also overdid it on the flush valves, having them on every dead end. We changed to only having the ends with flush valves and this helped a lot.

We reached out to the customer service team multiple times, and their responses were incredibly timely and helpful. I drew rudimentary pictures of our yard in MS Paint and the customer service agent marked up the pictures and responded with pictures of our own. This was critical in working through our challenges, and we're really grateful!”

10/18/22

Neelie

“My name is Neelie and I am an avid urban small gardener. My grandparents and parents always had bountiful gardens growing up in Cleveland, so naturally, I followed in their footsteps (except I have always lived in cities where space is limited and container gardening is the best option). I like the challenges and small rewards I get out of my little gardens. I love sharing and helping others learn about growing their own food and now (since I feel like an expert haha) putting in irrigation systems! I managed to assemble an irrigation system for three raised beds and a ton of potted plants.

For the most part, I didn’t encounter any issues because I drew up plans months before I installed the dripline, and watched every video I could on drip lines before placing my order. The hardest part was figuring out how much water each potted plant needed on a daily basis, so I did need to buy different sprinkler heads down the line. I would email Customer Service pretty consistently the day I installed the system and within minutes they responded! Truly the best customer service I have ever experienced!

I was super intimidated to do this myself, but it was so easy. I highly recommend doing it yourself because you feel like a superhero after!”

10/04/22

Lazy Dog Farm

“Lazy Dog Farm sits on two acres in rural southwest Georgia where the growing season is long, but the growing conditions can be tough. After college in 2013, my wife (Brooklyn) and I (Travis), moved back home into her grandparents’ home that they built in the 60s. Her grandparents were avid gardeners. But years after they passed, the garden area had become mostly grass and wooded thicket.

We started with two garden plots that were approximately 1,000 sq. ft. each and have since added 8 more. We like having small subplots as opposed to one large plot because it allows us to rotate our plantings more effectively and makes garden maintenance more manageable. We recently converted one of our 1,000 sq. ft. plots into a raised bed plot with 13 different raised beds that are all different shapes and sizes. We also have a growing fig orchard with over 50 trees and over 20 different varieties. We used to have a weekly CSA operation where we sold our vegetables and fruits locally, but now we just grow for ourselves, friends, and family — and for the fun of course!

Our climate allows us to grow food year-round, but the heat and humidity can make it tough. The humidity here can cause a myriad of disease issues for our plants, but we’re able to mitigate that with drip irrigation. The more we can reduce leaf moisture, the healthier our plants will be. Our soils are sandy which means they drain well, but they don’t hold water for long. As such, drip irrigation is essential to keeping plants happy and we couldn’t garden without it.

We also love the water conservation that drip irrigation provides. If we were to overhead water all our plots, we would be using significantly more water and losing much of that water through evaporation on hot days. Furthermore, drip irrigation allows us to fertilize our plants more effectively. We have several EZ-Flo Fertilizer Injectors that we use to feed our vegetables and our fig orchard on a frequent basis.

We enjoy ordering from Drip Depot online because their website is easy to use, and they have a vast selection. Their fittings, drip tape, tubing, etc., are well-categorized so it’s easy for us to quickly find the fittings we need for our next project. We’ve used quite a few different brands of drip tape over the years, and much prefer the P1 Drip Tape over any of the other brands on the market. We use the 8 mil P1 tape in our in-ground and raised bed gardens and can usually get several years of use from a single line of tape.

We also like the ability to order mainline tubing in a wide variety of roll sizes. This helps us get exactly what we need for each project so that we don’t have to worry about storing much excess. And who doesn’t love free shipping over $50?!

We’ve yet to have to talk to anyone on their Customer Service team, but that’s a

testament to the excellent functionality of their website.”

You can find the Lazy Dog Farm YouTube channel at this link: https://www.youtube.com/lazydogfarm

10/03/22

Jenny Carr

“Hello! My name is Jenny Carr. My husband and I are both retired educators. I have always enjoyed square foot gardening but when the pandemic hit and we were forced to stay home from our traveling adventures, I began to dream of larger gardening spaces, following inspirational gardeners such as Jess Sowards of Roots and Refuge, MIGARDENER, Mary’s Heirlooms, and others. A musician who doesn’t love gardening, my husband began building raised beds and fencing to keep out the deer to make my dreams come true. Raised sprinklers worked for a year until I realized how top watering was causing so many of my plant’s unhealthy issues. After much research, I contacted Drip Depot (as they had an amazing amount of great reviews). 

Molly was amazing with her knowledge and quick responses to my questions as I began to develop my system. This summer (2022) as we were installing (so easy with the videos and illustrated instructions) she continued to answer my emails, sometimes multiple times a day. There was one tiny glitch and she immediately mailed a different part, which arrived the next day and fixed the issue. I have two 4’x15’ raised beds on the ground and one 4’x15’ raised bed that is 4’ off the ground. I purchased the Drip Depot kit for 3 raised beds and it worked great. I even had enough of the 1/4" dripline to run some over a half dozen container beds. Soon I will probably need to order a few more items as my husband just enlarged my garden space and built me another bed. (Most of my beds/fencing are made from recycled materials…. tin roofing works great). One adjustment I made to Drip Depot plans was to add a 4th line of dripline to my beds that have arched trellises so those plants planted close to the edge of my beds would have good access to dripline also.”

10/03/20

Griswold Family Farms

“Griswold Family Farms was born from a dream...a desire for self-sufficiency. Some call us homesteaders, some call us farmers, and some just call us crazy. After many years of asking the questions, "Where does our food REALLY come from?" and "Can we do better?", we decided to make a change. A young married couple set out on a course for happiness, uprooting themselves, and moved to their homestead. A historic farmhouse built in the 1800s, sitting on a few acres of land was the perfect spot to begin this next chapter of our lives. Two years ago, we began this crazy adventure with one main goal in mind -- become as self-sufficient as possible. We started small, with a single raised garden bed. One raised garden bed quickly turned into eight....then twelve. Suddenly, some chickens appeared! Each day was a new adventure -- Between the ever-growing garden and our farm animals, there has never been a dull moment. 

As our homestead keeps growing, we always try to reflect on what we can do to improve. An early pain point in our gardening career was always watering. Watering by hand was manageable when we had just one garden bed, but we quickly realized we needed a better solution. This is what led me to Drip Depot. We needed proper irrigation solutions for our homestead, whether it be for our small orchard, our raised garden beds, our row garden, or our greenhouse. I spent a year of frustration dealing with really cheap irrigation kits that I purchased from other online retailers. I was fed up with the cheap plastic cracking and the whole system leaking. Once I found Drip Depot, the difference was night and day. Through some trial and error, I have set up a drip irrigation system that isn't too expensive, is completely automated, and works perfectly for our various gardens.

     YouTube has always been an invaluable resource in the gardening and homesteading world. I created my channel early in 2022 with the intention to connect with the community, share my ideas, and give back where possible. Let's build, create, and grow together!

I have not had to interact with anybody from Drip Depot, but that's mostly because the online resources from them are absolutely amazing. Nearly every product you could need has an in-depth Buying Guide associated with it. I have learned more from Drip Depot's support website than any other place! With the combination of support articles, buying guides, and video resources, I felt confident I could shop for the best products for our gardens.”

You can find the Griswold Family Farm YouTube channel at this link: https://www.youtube.com/c/GriswoldFamilyFarms

9/30/22

Dee's Yard

“Hello, I'm Dee, and have a YouTube channel called Dee's Yard. There I share and offer tips, tricks, and lessons learned in and from my own garden. As an Air Traffic Controller, I've found gardening to be my way to escape, relax and unwind. Creating a youtube channel was simply to share, help, and inspire others to make their own space beautiful and somewhere they want to be. I garden in East Tennessee, zone 7a, and have many obstacles including native soil, southern heat, and humidity and want to share how I manage gardening in these conditions. I work a shift work schedule and have to work around the clock. Quickly, I learned in order to maintain a garden that I want to be in, I would need an efficient and effective way to water it. I found Drip Depot and fell in love with the company and its products. Not only does Drip Depot have the best products and prices on the market but, they have an amazing website with helpful information and tutorials. Anytime I have had to contact Customer Service for any questions, advice, or issues, I have always been amazed by the swift response and professionalism provided. They say customer service is dead these days but, this is not the case with the phenomenal customer service at Drip Depot. I always highly recommend this company for any irrigation needs and I truly believe anyone that has worked with this company will agree.”

You can find the Dee’s Yard YouTube channel at this link: https://www.youtube.com/c/DeesYard 

9/26/22

Green Tech Town 

When Robert was younger, he discovered that he enjoyed different aspects of technology and the ability to create a device or application that could perform a useful task. He also recognized that he had a passion for finding creative ways to present a topic in such a way that made learning easier and enjoyable.

One of his beliefs is that we should share knowledge so we can continue to stimulate innovation and growth worldwide. Creating a YouTube channel provided him with a platform to use his skillsets to help carry out that belief. At the same time, it allowed him to form an online community of like-minded individuals where we can share ideas and support.

    Words from Robert, “One of the primary reasons why I highly recommend Drip Depot to others is because of their Customer Service and sales team. I probably contacted Drip Depot's service team over 10 times for different questions I had, and every time they responded promptly to help me install a successful drip system. I wish more companies had a customer service team like Drip Depot!”

You can find the Green Tech Town YouTube channel at this link: GreenTechTown.youtube

9/26/22

Terry Pahl

Charlie

First on our “Growing with Drip Depot” page, we have Charlie! Charlie grew up in one of those towns in Norman Rockwell paintings. While enjoying DIY projects on the weekends, Charlie has a technical writing encore career to keep him busy. Charlie enjoys gathering information, planning, and problem-solving just as much as he likes the actual doing. He really appreciates the wealth of knowledge available on the internet and YouTube. 

Charlie’s current irrigation system is 25 years old! It consists of valves buried up to the solenoid wires in valve boxes, 11 circuits on the main controller for his lawn and landscaping, two small controllers with two ¼" drip circuits (each for pots on patios and walkways), and one raised bed. Charlie also has upcoming projects that include: finishing converting bed circuits to 1/2" Dripline, converting lawn sprinklers to rotary nozzles, remodeling the front yard manifold, and making a raised-bed garden behind the garage.

Charlie’s most recent project started out as a simple find and fix of a leak in the backyard manifold. Ahhh, but to find the leak, he had to dig out the six valves and expose the nest of pipe connections to see what was leaking. There went the simple find! It turned out that a valve body was cracked. There went the simple fix! Charlie would have to cut the valve out of the manifold and replace it. Well, if he had to do that, he might as well add a local shutoff valve so he wouldn't have to walk all the way up the driveway to the street valve. Well, and if he had to do that, he might as well raise the valves so he wouldn't have to dig two feet below grade again to fix the next one. 

Now, here's the easy part: Charlie drew up a list of materials, found everything he needed at Drip Depot online, placed his order, and received his products in time for the weekend. However, once installed, one of Charlie’s valves wouldn't shut off. Thank goodness for those local shutoff valves! 

Despite viewing multiple YouTube troubleshooting videos, Charlie couldn't figure out why his valve wouldn’t shut off. The programming was correct. The controller was sending a signal to the solenoid. The solenoid ohmed correctly. The manual shutoff was off. There was no debris in the valve body or the bonnet. The diaphragm was brand new, with no cracks or tears, and no debris. These valves only have two moving parts (solenoid and diaphragm). How hard can it be, he thought? Frustrated with the thought he’d have to cut a brand new valve out of his brand new manifold, Charlie contacted Drip Depot customer support. The ensuing email exchange gave him an idea. Charlie realized the little hole in the diaphragm's filter was completely missing, making it impossible for water to get above the diaphragm to push the diaphragm closed) did the trick. Charlie was so happy, he added remodeling the front yard manifold to his DIY projects for next year!

9/22/22