I have several medium-sized planters on the roof of my building that need to be watered when I'm away. I have access to a standard garden faucet, but there is a "walkway" of sorts between the faucet and my planters. Consequently, I've been told that I should limit myself to 1/4" tubing to water my plants. There are additional constraints: The faucet is in a locked-off area, meaning that I will need a solenoid-controlled valve to turn the water OFF and ON. However, the solenoid valve must be in close proximity to my planters to avoid running wires across the walkway. The building owner is rightly concerned about clutter and hazards on the maintenance walkway.
From previous experience, I've used Rainbird hardware. My first thought was to use their 1/4" tubing to connect the faucet to the emitters in my planters. T-junctions would be used to branch off to cover all the planters (5). A DC-powered solenoid valve would be used to turn the water on & off, and a small timer circuit would control the solenoid valve. Completing this system will also require identifying the necessary adapters to interface the solenoid valve with the 1/4" irrigation tubing. From my limited knowledge, this seems to be an NPT-to-barbed adapter of some sort?
Following is an outline of my current thinking on the layout, partly based on comments & answer already received, and some unresolved questions:
25 psi pressure regulator. I estimate the total run of tubing (from faucet to the first planter) at 50-60 feet. Will 25 psi yield enough flow for all of the planters?
Faucet-to-1/4" Tube adapter... Please note that I'm not using drip tube, but the regular 1/4" distribution tubing.
12-or-24 Volt DC solenoid valve: This selection is proving a challenge as some of the valves get poor ratings, and others are quite expensive. Are there other alternatives?
Fittings/adapters for NPT-to-1/4" distribution tubing. Most valves I've seen use 1/4" NPT, which is significantly larger than 1/4" distribution tubing. I know there are NPT-to-barbed adapters, but it's not clear to me whether these will work reliably with the 1/4" distribution tubing. Any experience or suggestions with this would be helpful.
Series-or-parallel: I have 5 planters now. Should I use a series of T-junctions, or a manifold to distribute water?
All inputs are appreciated, and hopefully this will be the "final revision" to this question.