How long should your drip system run each week? Enter your setup below and get a starting runtime. It is an estimate — soil, weather, mulch, and water pressure all move the real number around, so use this as a starting point and watch your plants.
Had rain this week? Subtract roughly that many inches from your weekly target before you calculate — this tool cannot see your weather.
How it’s figured
One inch of water spread over one square foot is about 0.623 gallons. So your weekly water need is: bed area × target inches × 0.623.
Your system’s total output is: emitters × gallons per hour per emitter. Runtime is: gallons ÷ total output.
Sandy soil drains fast, so it typically wants around 1.5 inches a week split into 2–3 sessions. Loam sits in the middle at about 1 inch. Clay holds water well, so around 0.75 inch in one deep session does it.
Real-world flow varies with water pressure, clogged or aging emitters, slope, mulch, and what you are growing. Start here, then fine-tune with the finger test: moist 2 inches down means you are good.