GardenaStarter Set Flower Pots M automatic: The Micro-Drip System Starter Set for seven pots and three troughs (13002-20)

£19.99 was an excellent price, including a water timer over £30 on its own. Seems it's no longer available for that price, but would say it's worth £44, too.This will be long, as I'm going to try to answer questions I had before I bought my first irrigation kit.. Will give a short summary of my main points 1st, with more detail below. Below, am going to cover: Benefits of irrigation/general points, coverage of this kit, connections/instructions in kit, water timer, Gardena compatibility with other brands, 13 mm versus smaller tubing, and Gardena versus other brands.Positives:Trouble of setting up well worth itWell-thought out kit: easier to set-up, but mainly to change/take apart again than standard barbed connectionsConnections all work well so far, no leakingNice touches, like removable timer screen, cleaning needle within drippersStraightforward, effective timerGardena offer more irrigation options with which to extend (sprayers, area sprayers, micro-misters etc) than other systemsMakes their irrigation systems very flexibleIS compatible with other systems – 13 mm anyway, smaller tubing is 0.6 mm larger so also compatibleSo CAN be extended/combined with other systems (despite contrary info), have tested itGenerous lengths of both tube sizes, probably a lot more than you'll need for 7 + 3 containersLots of info available in PDF docs on Gardena website and YouTube videosKit uses 13 mm supply pipe, versus only 4.6 mm (or 4 mm) = better water pressure at drippers/outletsNegatives (not many):All drippers only water small area, and these are smaller capacity than many other brands, especially the inline, so suitable only for small pots/narrow containers, or less than stated – but: other systems mainly use drippers (or maybe misters), whereas Gardena offer other options for larger areasWhile good general info available on Gardena’s website, some instructions (master unit) seem complicated, some details not explained anywhere obvious (i.e. cleaning needles inside drippers, or multiple purposes of installation tool)Some necessary items not included, although not really an issue at this price: 9 volt battery for timer, length of 13 mm hose pipe, 2 female hose connectors, optional: Gardena installation toolPrice: while this is very good value, it doesn’t cover a large area. Gardena is probably worth the extra money, but cheaper options also work wellFull review:Benefits of irrigation/installation:While work to set up, micro-irrigation is well worth it. It's more efficient than watering by hand, saves loads of time and my plants look better now. Plus, you can go away without worrying. Gardena kits are quicker and easier to install compared to others, as you're either using push-on or screw-in connectors. No messing about with hot water, although, I've found cheaper brands easy, too, once you know about the hot water trick.. If you encounter problems, Gardena has info on their website: under water management, then micro drip system, if you scroll down below the products, there are 2 links to PDF documents with instructions, plus loads of stuff on help pages and YouTube videos.Coverage of kit:The content list in product info is accurate, so the following is not a complete list. You get 1 end-line dripper each for 7 pots (plus connectors to connect 4.6 mm to 13 mm pipe). For the window boxes/troughs, you get 3 inline drippers each (plus connectors and end bungs). In my experience using other brands, drippers do not cover a very large area. Gardena do different sizes: the included end-line drippers are their largest, adjustable 0 - 10 litre per hour, whereas the inline drippers are their smallest of 2 litre per hour (not adjustable). So far, I've used other adjustable drippers, supposed to be 0 - 70 litres per hour. With those, for larger hanging baskets (35 - 40 cm), I initially installed 2 drippers per basket, but didn't find that enough, and added another 2 drippers later. It's not the volume of water, but the coverage: it does seep to the surrounding soil eventually, but before that, it gushes out the bottom, especially with hanging baskets, no matter how they're adjusted. Compared to other drippers I've used, these, even the larger, end-line ones, provide quite a low amount of water. The in-line drippers give a tiny amount. So I'd say that this is best suited for small pots and narrow containers, or fewer of them than stated and you will probably need to water for a while, to get everything wet enough. According to Gardena's info, you should wet everything to a certain depth (think it was 15 cm), at least once per week, and they have instructions for working out how long you need to water to achieve this in the docs mentioned above. Generally, it's better to water thoroughly and then not again until dry on top, rather than keep dribbling small amounts.Gardena also do sprayers that cover 3 square meters, and small area sprayers, for 10 - 40 cm radius, which are more efficient than drippers, for anything larger. Their small area sprayers are also good for larger pots. This was one reason I was interested in Gardena. Having said this, as long as I water regularly, my plants do not seem to mind the uneven watering (although it can be wasteful if loads runs out the bottom).Connectors/instructions, master unit, installation tool:The water timer comes with 4 different connectors for the tap. Maybe due to being sold in different countries. The water timer screws on to the tap, and has a standard-size, push-on, male hose connector at the bottom (or a screw on fitting), to connect a length of standard 13 mm hose, which is not included. The 13 pipe included is not really suitable for this, as not flexible enough. So you need a length of normal 13 mm hose pipe, two female push-on hose connectors, a 9 volt battery for the water timer and possibly, their installation tool to screw in the end-line drippers. Everything else is included. There are 2 sets of instructions, both in English: one for the master unit and one for the water timer. The instructions for the water timer seem straight forward, as does the timer itself. The instructions for the master unit, which is a combination pressure reducer and filter, are bewildering, though. They show how many and what type of outlets can be connected, if you can understand them. Pressure reducers are good for optimal performance, but it's perfectly possible to do without. The filter looks to be a particle filter, like a sieve or mesh. The master unit is connected to other end of the hose pipe from the water timer, using the 2nd female hose connector. Its other end connects to the start of the 13 mm supply tubing (with built-in connector). There are no instructions for set-up of the irrigation system, but a good diagramme on the back of the box. While the number of small parts can seem daunting, it's actually very straightforward once you start, I've found. The end-line drippers screw into the 4.6 mm tubing. You can use their installation tool to screw them in: not included, but available separately for around £6. But they easily screwed in by hand, too. The inline drippers and connectors all have Gardena push-on connectors, either 13 mm or 4.6 mm. These are similar to standard barbed connections, but easier to push on, and the metal strap thingy makes removal easier, by pushing off the first stretch, after which you pull them off.Water timer:Gardena do different timers at different prices. This is their Easy Control timer (article number 1881, their cheapest, I think). Apart from screen size, the difference mainly seems to be the number of waterings per day, and their length. This one does up to 3 waterings per day, between 2 - 60 minutes each. The display can be removed from the rest for programming. It runs on a standard (not re-chargeable) 9 volt battery, which is not included. It has the option to manually open the tap, outside of watering times programmed in, has a low battery indicator and you can connect a rain or moisture sensor and an anti-theft device. The timer was easy to connect to my tap without leaks, and very straightforward to programme. Have had 1 issue so far: delay setting keeps reverting to 24 hrs, and can't figure out why, but considering I've spent about 5 minutes programming it, and another 5 mins max installing it, that's not too bad. Had loads of problems with the cheap one I bought..Compatibility:As so cheap, I partly bought this to check out compatibility with other systems, as info was conflicting. Many said Gardena is not compatible, as their sizes are different. This is not true: only looking at the tube sizes, Gardena systems are at least partially compatible, if you use 13 mm supply pipe. They have 2 sizes for connectors and hoses: 13 mm, like standard hose pipe, and 4.6 mm. Most other micro-irrigation tubes are 4 mm (think these are all internal diameter). Gardena devices, such as the master control units, the water timers etc have attachments for 13 mm hoses (most, except for the water timers, also have 4.6 mm option). For the smaller tube size, it's 0.6 mm difference. Their screw-in drip-heads go into another brand's 4 mm tube quite easily, so do their reducing T-connectors/in-line drippers etc. They come off a bit harder than when using 4.6 mm tubing, but still come off quite easily. You can also insert 4 mm drippers into Gardena's 4.6 mm tube, which provides a good seal. I've used different 13 mm pipe with their stuff, and generally mixed their stuff in with various other brands, without any problems. So, as far as I can see, Gardena is fully compatible with other brands (although maybe not designed to be). You can also use all Gardena's stuff with other brands/types of 13 mm hose, although for the sprayers and certain other options, best would be stiff hose, like their supply pipe, rather than standard garden hose, although you could probably use that in a pinch, too. And you can use standard barbed connectors with their 13 mm hose (and with their 4.6 mm hose, for that matter).13 mm versus smaller tubing:It's definitely better to use 13 mm supply pipe in my view (from which you branch off lengths of smaller tube), rather than using just 4 mm or 4.6 mm for the whole set-up, unless you're only covering a small area with few outlets. If your supply covers more than 1 - 2 meters, or has more than a few outlets attached, in my experience, the smaller size tubing will not be sufficient to provide enough pressure at the outlets (even with good water pressure at tap). My system covers about 5 meters length, and despite using the 13 mm supply pipe, the pressure at the drippers is not great, as I have quite a few attached. Many of the cheaper kits only include 4 mm tubing, although you can buy 13 mm supply pipe and the necessary connectors separately. Btw: the above mentioned instruction leaflets on Gardena's website have instructions for computing how many drippers etc you can attach per system, depending on your water pressure, and guidelines for maximum pipe length etcGardena versus other brands:Have now used some of the kit, and confirmed my previous impression that Gardena seems better thought out than most other brands - probably worth the extra money, depending on your priorities. Their "quick & easy" connectors work well and are water-tight. Except for the drippers, which I'm not too impressed with, as very low capacity, everything else seems better than other brands. Years back, I initially bought a Hozelock irrigation system for pots, which I've since extended using other brands. I wouldn't buy Hozelock again, but would and have bought Gardena again. However, the non-branded or cheaper brands I've used are all perfectly acceptable, although I don't buy the really cheap drippers, as useless. The value of the "quick & easy" system is not only in putting it together, but in making changes and adaptations later. The barbed connectors used elsewhere are easy enough to get on by dipping the tube in hot water, but more or less impossible to get off again. As well as making it easy to make changes and additions, Gardena's system is very flexible in the options they offer. I've since bought a packet each of their 90, 180, 360 degree and small area sprayers for 13 mm, plus small area sprayers for 4.6 mm, and have done 2 small flower beds (3 x 1.5 and 2 x 2 meters roughly) using the 13 mm pipe from this kit, and still have a couple of meters left over. I've also been able to irrigate some odd containers that are close to the flower beds, by branching off the 4.6 mm tubing from the piping in the flower beds and using drippers or small area sprayers. The latter are also handy for odd little corners of flower beds, areas too small to use a full size sprayer of any type, but too large to cover with drippers. Overall, the more I use their stuff, the more impressed I am - while expensive, for me, it's worth it, as there's a solution for more or less every irrigation need.Conclusion:Would definitely recommend micro-irrigation and this set, although if I did not already have some, I would probably buy some cheap, higher capacity (adjustable) drippers to go with this - as said above, I was able to use standard 4 mm ones with the 4.6 mm tubing with no problems. This can easily be extended later, either using Gardena or other brands, based on my experience, or used to extend a different existing system, as I've done. And considering you're getting a decent quality water timer, the price is excellent.

I must quantify this review. 1) I am the most hopeless, uninformed and lazy gardener on the planet, but I do like to see some colour in my city centre 'Yarden'. 2) I am also utterly clueless on DIY, and putting together most things that need building. I have my wife for these purposes who both enjoys, and is excellent at all the stuff I'm just useless at.However, this was a big surprise. Having just spent a fair amount investing in containers, plants and associated items for our new home, and with a holiday coming up, we were keen to ensure that the plants we'd bought would survive for a couple of weeks, hence the purchase. As with all Gardena items, it is very well made, well thought out and designed, and, at the £50 or so we paid, great value for money. It seemed an easy enough task to put it all together, and in fact it was. Two hours or so from start to finish to stretch the system neatly for approximately 20 metres around our Yarden and we were done. The computer is simple enough even for me to use, and works very effectively. Not being horticulturalists, we had little idea about varying irrigation to different plant containers, so we set it for a straightforward 10 minutes per day to come on each evening. Incredibly, it does exactly that!Coming back from our hols, we found lots of well watered, very healthy, happy and fast growing plants. We'd only ever planned to use the MDS for the holiday (and perhaps for future hols too) and then use the watering can when we are at home, but this is such a good system it will stay in place now. My next task therefore is to bury the supply hosing under the paving slabs to neaten it all up a bit, and to bury the 15mm hose under the verge around the edge of the planted areas, and incredibly, I'm quite looking forward to the challenge!Well done Gardena, this is an excellent product, and worked tremendously well for us. As such, highly recommended.

If starting from scratch, I would recommend this kit as it's great value for money as it's more expensive to buy the parts separately, especially when you consider an electronic timer is included. Gardener is a good quality product and their microstrip system is a lot more robust and easier to assemble than a brand like Hoselock.

Good product! Reason for only giving 1 star for easy to assemble is because you need a length of hose and 2 connectors in between the timer control and the piece that limits the pressure. That isn’t included in the kit and there is no mention in the instructions that it is needed. I had to phone Gardena (quite a long and costly phone call) while they investigated what was needed and gave us the part numbers. So an hour and a half later, we hadn’t even got the first bit of the connection done. In addition the plastic screw connector on the timer unit is quite shallow and doesn’t give a really tight fit like our old hosepipe did. This meant quite a bit of plumbers tape was needed to stop it spraying everywhere when connected (our tap is a standard outside tap). However, once those items were dealt with, the rest works very well and I am hoping it will save me hours of time over the summer.

I have had a Gardena system before, and loved it so much I bought another for a new house. The system is robust, easy to operate and is discrete.

Not worth the money as it fails to water as programmed. The EasyControl computer is the problem with this package - basically it does not work. Despite having good water pressure and a new battery in the unit it fails to operate. The ‘support’ suggests that the solenoid may jam - the ‘work around’ makes no difference. Buy Hozelock instead.

Used this set to automatically water 5 hanging baskets. Relatively simple to install and very effective in use.

Ürünün paketini açtığımda her şey yolundaydı. Evimin balkonuna sistemi kurdum. Her şey düzgün çalıştı ilk gün. Fakat ikinci gün ince borunun sonuna takılan su durdurma tıpası bağlantı yerinden çatlayarak tüm suyu dışarı verdi. Bunun üzerine yedek tıpası taktım. Fakat o da bir gün sonra patladı. Müşteri hizmetleri ile görüştüm yurtdışı ürünü olduğu için parça tedariği yapamayacaklarını, iade etmem gerektiğini söylediler. Gardena gibi bir firmanın böyle kalitesiz bir parça yapmasına anlam veremiyorum. Kapalı bir ortama bu ürünü kursam ve güvenip tatile gitsem, neler olacağını düşünemiyorum.

Ce kit complet permet de démarrer une installation d'arrosage automatique.Les tyuaux nécessaires, le réducteur de pression, des goutteurs, les supports de tyuaux pour les maintenir en place, en particulier sur les pots de fleurs.Ensuite il sera complété par des accessoires complémentaires tels que des gicleurs omnidirectionnels, des nouveaux modèles de connexions qui me semblent plus pratiques et fiables.Je conseillerais de commencer progressivement pour déterminer quels gouteurs installer en fonction du type de pot et de plante.Ne pas non plus sous-estimer la longeur des tuyaux nécessaires, en particulier le plus fin de 4,6mm. Ne pas viser trop juste.Ajouter également des croisillons à 3 ou 4 connexions, toujours pratique pour quand plusieurs petits pot de fleurs doivent être arrosés.Ne pas tendre les plus petits tuyaux au maximum. Ils sont naturellement courbés, conserver cette courbure pour garder une flexibilité dans le placement des tuyaux.Le programmateur fourni demande un peut de tatonnement mais ensuite son utilisation est assez simple. On programme un arrosage pour une durée déterminée (minutes-secondes) et un délai déterminé (toutes les 4 heures, 8 heures, 24h, 48h, ...). Une sonde, que j'achèterai peut être plus tard, permet de tenir compte de l'humidité mesurée dans un pot de fleur par exemple, afin de n'arroser quand qu'à de nécessité.Des programmateurs plus évolués existent, avec connexion Bluetooth par exemple, qui permettait de relier l'appareil à une centrale domotique. Mais ceci est une autre histoire.

Does as advertised. Very easy to adapt and expand according to your needs. You can adjust the amount of water each plant gets and the timer is really easy to program.If you need to follow a corner I suggest buying the corner adapters because the hose is fairly rigid and it would take a large radius without the corner inserts.

J'ai mis 5 étoiles mais le produit, ou du moins la marque, n'est pas exempte de reprochesGardenna vend une très large gamme de produits permettant de monter son arrosage automatique entièrement sur mesure mais ... si on a jamais mis les mains dans ce domaine avant, on rame tellement les infos sont raresRien que le boitier de commande ... j'ai réussi à trouver à quelle heure démarrait le programme grâce à un commentaire Amazon (je remercie encore la personne), car écrire l'information sur le site, sur la notice ou ailleurs ... ce serait trop demander.Pour infos, si ça peut aider, la réponse est : faites un programme (temps d'arrosage, nom de fois par jour, etc) validez le et ... l'heure de démarrage sera le moment ou vous appuyez sur OK. Si vous initiez un programme à 19h55, l'arrosage se déclenchera tous les jours à 19h55. Ceci n'est indiqué nulle part.Idem pour buses qui diffusent l'eau, il y a plein de modèles mais les infos sont spartiates, on peut les brancher sur un tuyau 4.6mm relié au 11m via un T, mais saviez vous que l'on peut directement les brancher sur le 11mm (un trou avec un clou, dans le tuyau, et on visse) ? C'est pas super indiqué, en tout cas pas sur la fiche produit.On peut l'apercevoir au détour d'une de leur vidéo Youtube, ça met la puce à l'oreille mais avouez qu'un schéma clair, step by step, sur la fiche produit des buses, c'est quand même plus clair, non ? Mais ça n'existe pas.Bref la marque gagnerait à garnir ses fiches produit, à proposer des tutoriaux, des schémas, des cas de figure (tel jardin ou telle terrasse, avec xx pots, xxx bacs), des step-by-step, etc, car c'est juste un manque d'infos, sinon les produits sont bons. Très bons. Je recommande à tout un chacun de ne surtout pas investir dans les kit chinois pas cher et de s'appuyer sur une marque comme Gardenna : c'est fiable, c'est étanche, c'est solide, ça fonctionne. Evitez les fausses économies, vous gagnerez du temps et ... de l'argent.

En la caja viene absolutamente todo lo necesario para hacer una pequeña instalación de riego automático, a saber:1 Programador EasyControl15 m Tubo de instalación de 13 mm10 m Tubo de distribución de 4,6 mm7 Goteros en línea 2 l/h3 regulables Tapones de cierre 4,6 mm y demás accesorios (tapones, reductores y soportes de tubo)El programador es bastante fácil de manejar para dejar el riego exacto que se necesita. Tiene todas las opciones para determinar duración del riego y frecuencia.Las piezas y tubería encajan a la perfección, creando un sistema bastante robusto. Esta diseñado para macetas, pero yo lo he instalado en el suelo (parterre) y también se consigue muy buenos resultados.Ahora ya he añadido otros accesorios, mas tubería y varios tipos de goteros. Todo funciona adecuadamente y hacer cambios o variaciones en el sistema es bastante sencillo y seguro.Altamente recomendado para cualquier huerto o jardín, más si hay una oferta especial de Amazon. Recomiendo entrar en la web de Gardena, para aprender más cosas sobre sus sistemas de riego, allí podemos encontrar videos, recomendaciones e incluso una aplicación para diseñar.