The big box stores have compression fittings for 1/2 inch and 5/8 inch irrigation tubing. These fittings will also work to connect cut ends of soaker hose. Cut your old soaker hose into the lengths you need. One Tee fitting can be used to make a loop of soaker hose in the barrel. Rick

Sounds perfectly normal to me and yes these are designed to be run at intervals, the length of which is chosen by you. They are very effective I have had particularly good luck using soaker hoses with tomatoes, which grow better when watered this way. To determine, with accuracy, how much water my soaker hose emitted I coiled it up on top of a window screen which I laid over a plastic kiddie pool. I then ran the hose for ten minutes and poured the water from the pool into 5 gallon pails and found the flow rate in GPM. This enabled me to control carefully my water applications.

When I started my garden, I used soaker hoses. The roses were babies and the circles of hose around them were small. Then the roses started growing and compost and mulch had been put down several times on top of the hoses. Pulling the hoses up in order to enlarge the circle around each rose was a pain in the butt and tricky, often tearing the roots. The most serious issue with soakers is the type of soil you have. In clay soil the water from the soaker will spread wider before it flows downward. In sandy soil it doesn't spread as far before gravity pulls it down, so more circles of hose are needed to wet the same area and more water is required. I found them to be inadequate during the Florida summer with my sandy soil. In the winter of 2010 I switched to micro-sprinklers from Lowe's like Nanadoll described. I like the sprinkler heads, which are basically misters, because I have placed them so that the whole bed is watered, i.e., the whole root zone of the roses and companion plants which keeps the soil cooler and the microbes happier with no dry areas. It's a very flexible system in that connections are easily plugged if not needed, moved or added on. The different radiuses mean there is very little overspray and wasted water. My only problem with the micro system has been the squirrels. They chew into the connectors (and regulators, valves, hose-end converters, etc), creating geysers, loss of pressure and dry garden beds, so if you run the system while your still asleep (like I do) unless you test the system regularly, you won't know you have a problem until the plants start to decline. I have had to bury the connectors or wrap them in hardware cloth to protect them from the %^#%@$* squirrels. I also wrapped the 1/4" lines going to the pots because the squirrels would cut them. They chew off the top on the shrubblers (they spray in a wagon-wheel pattern) which creates a geyser. Also, some of the little connectors between 1/4" tubing & the 1/2" poly are tricky because there is a right way and a wrong way to insert them in the poly. If you insert the wrong end into the poly, it's not a secure connection and it will pop off - uh-huh, creating a geyser. So there is a learning curve to this system, but once you get the hang of it, it's great. I'm very happy with my micro system. I only have a .17 acre lot (60x125) that is all garden, and I used at least 400' of 1/2" poly. The great thing is that you can easily extend it which I have done. Pressure has not been a problem, and I have sprinklers about every 6' on both sides of the beds. But I have learned to despise squirrels with a deadly (I wish) hatred since they also chew the canes on my climbers constantly. Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

You'll have quite a selection to pick this year. First thing you'll need to do is separate the determinates from indt. varieties. that way you can plan a taller trelis for the INDT varieties and shorter for the DETs. I'd avoid interplanting them as much as possible. Most Det. varieties will send out a network of branches faster than you will be able to weave them into the panel openings. You may end up just weaving string around the plants at different heights to hold them partially against the panels. The soaker hose will need to go under the plastic. If left above at any spot the water will just run to the lowest point- which is often the edge of the plastic. I would first lay out your soaker hose lines over your prepared bed in straight rows. Then lay the plastic over the hoses, exposing only the source ends (for waterline hookup). To minimize exposed area use a utility knife to cut a 6-8" slit parallel with the soaker hose where each plant will be planted. Then with a scissors cut a 3-4" perpendicular to each slit in both directions being careful to miss your soaker hose when cutting toward it. Now you can fold the flaps out, plant your tomatoes (again careful against the soaker hose) and then fold the flaps closed again against each plant. I don't think you need to be so careful with soaker hose but I use driptape and on occasion I'll need to splice a section that I nick with the utility knife or digging trowell. This method doesn't work if you need to trench plant. For that I usually plan to have the plastic mulch seam overlap slightly at the row and then laying rocks between each plant is necessary to hold the plastic down. I lay old boards between the rows to hold the plastic in place, provide a solid fotting and to keep from packing soil excessively throughout the season. Quackgrass is hardy and it will seek light at the slightest crack so be prepared. Some might suggest a newspaper "collar around each plant tucked under the plastic. Using a vegetative mulch around each plant might help but you'll need a thicker layer to prevent grass from growing through it. That brings up another point. Be sure the black plastic mulch is thick enough (2 mil.+) to keep quackgrass from sending tillers right through it.