One thing I always try to preach to myself and to other gardeners is the importance of using soaker hoses in the vegetable garden.
Soaker hoses are an ideal method for easily watering your vegetables by reducing water usage and directing water where the plant needs it most – at the roots.
But I have a confession. I have always hated soaker hoses.
You might be asking…”Well, why??”. I have always found most soaker hoses to be a royal pain in the patoot.
They come rolled up very tightly and when you try to uncoil them it’s like fighting a 50 foot boa constrictor. And don’t try to run a soaker around already established plants because they could easily become a victim of death by soaker hose.
Don’t even get me started on trying to roll the soaker hose up at the end of the season. It can be a nightmare just trying to roll it up so it can be stored. One thing is for sure – a soaker hose knows nothing about cooperation.
Constant holes and repairs were another issue I ran into frequently with most soaker hoses I used. You might be thinking, “Well, aren’t they supposed to leak?”. Yes, but I’m talking about a hole developing in the soaker hose causing a spray of water coming that resembled something like Old Faithful.
As I said, most of the time I felt there just wasn’t any good quality, affordable soaker hoses out there. I didn’t want to give up so I decided to try another type.
Finding A Solution
One day while scanning my local garden center, I came across a flat soaker hose that is supposed to be much easier to handle and easier to store.
Yeah right. There’s no way a soaker hose can be that easy to use.
This soaker hose was the Gilmour Flat 75ft Soaker Hose. The first thing I noticed about this soaker hose that is different than the others I’ve used is that it’s flat, instead of round like a normal water hose, and it’s made out of a type of fabric-like material instead of rubber.
It looked like it might be a lot easier to work with, and maybe it didn’t spring any holes like the rubber types of soaker hoses.
So I decided to give it a try.
Testing The Gilmour Flat 75ft Soaker Hose
I wanted to place a soaker hose around my tomato and summer squash plants to make it easier watering them this season.
The first thing I did after unwrapping the soaker hose was to stretch it out down the length of my garden.
I immediately fell in love with how easy the Gilmour Flat Soaker Hose was to lay out. I was also impressed by the length of it. I typically buy 50 foot soaker hoses and was surprised at how much longer that extra 25 feet is.
I was able to use the soaker hose to water not only my tomatoes and squash, but my pole beans and eggplant, too.
Because the Gilmour Soaker Hose is flat it made it very easy to get under already-established plants, like my yellow summer squash.
Once I had the Gilmour Flat Soaker Hose laid out around my plants like I wanted, it was time to hook it up to the water hose and give it a test run.
The Gilmour Flat Soaker Hose worked like a charm. Immediately the water started slowly dribbling from the hose just like it’s intended to. The great thing is I didn’t have not one leak all season long.
It is truly a “set it and forget it” garden luxury and one that I highly recommend for your vegetable garden!
Pros Of The Gilmour Flat 75ft Soaker Hose
- Very easy to use and set up
- Relatively inexpensive compared to other soaker hoses
- Much lighter in weight than most rubber soaker hoses of the same length
- Flat construction makes it very easy to roll up and store
- Doesn’t kink up and get tangled as much as rubber soaker hoses
- Fabric materials easily bend around sharp corners, making it easier to set the hose exactly where you need it most
- Long 75 foot length covers plenty of garden area
Cons of the Gilmour Flat 75ft Soaker Hose
- Fabric material fades and becomes more “brittle” if exposed in the sun
- Hose connectors on each end are plastic and seem a bit “cheap”
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Interesting info. I haven’t had much luck with soaker hoses, either. I have them connected to my rain barrels to water the areas that don’t get rain because they’re under the overhang. I do leave my round soakers outside over winter, just not connected to the rain barrel and that hasn’t damaged them, but the problem is they are very hard to move in the shape I want. Also, the water pressure from a rain barrel isn’t as much as from a normal faucet and I’m not sure if that would make a difference with this hose. Maybe they’re on sale now!
I have used those hoses for a couple of years now and I would like to add a couple of things. First, the connectors are cheap, I have replaced most of them on my hoses in the past 3 years. I have not used them much in my garden but on spots in my lawn that needed extra water and they work great for that as well but don’t hit the things with a weed eater. There is a porous plastic hose inside the fabric that can break with surprisingly little force after a couple of years of service. I have one hose that I just gave up and tied a knot in the end that was broken.
These hoses are much better than the recycled rubber ones that crack after the first winter.
The only other issue I have had is they don’t like to stay rolled up over the winter. I had an untangling mess that was a pain to get sorted out this spring. There must be a better way than a traditional rollup, I keep thinking a hose minder or something like that would work well.
Nice write up Tee, I am going to use those hoses on my garden next year. My regular sprinklers got covered by my corn and my raspberries this year so other things didn’t get enough water, that problem would be solved with the soakers.
I purchased 3 of the Gilmour flat soaker hoses this year. The questions:
Do I leave them on top of the mulch, or bury them about 2-3 inches?
Thanks
Jane
Hi Jane – You can place the soaker hoses on top of the soil and under the mulch if you like. Some gardeners prefer this method to conceal the hoses. I wouldn’t bury them under the soil if that’s what you meant, but putting them down then covering with mulch is just fine.
Of course, you could just lay them on top of the mulch as well.
I think you will really like using them, and your plant will like them, too.
Just to clarify…the Gilmour flat soaker hoses are okay to bury under mulch? I am getting ready to mulch my beds and want to make sure I can leave them underneath the mulch (I’ve read that some soaker hoses are not meant to be under the mulch). I do love these flat hoses, especially compared to the rubber ones that blow out at every turn!
Thanks.
Hi Jane (not the same) – Yes, you can place these soaker hoses under mulch. That’s how I arrange mine and they work perfectly fine. Have fun with your new soaker hoses
if you have more in 100 feets long
I have one of these because it’s the only soaker hose I can find in a 25ft length for a small side terrace in my garden. However, after a year of service, it just developed several leaks near the end which gush water while reducing water flow to the rest of the soaker system. All the info I’m finding online describe fixing the typical round soaker hoses. Do you have any advice on how to fix the flat soaker hose or should I just replace it/tie off the end as the previous poster recommended?
Thanks for the info on the Gilmour soaker hose, I just ordered one. Keep the info coming!