Ready to save water and make your garden practically water itself? 

For backyard gardeners and DIY homesteaders, rain barrels and drip irrigation are a match made in heaven. 

Instead of doing a frantic rain dance for your veggies, you can collect the rain and let it slowly drip-feed your plants – all while you sit back with a cup of tea. 

In this article, I’ll share some of the best starter bundles that combine rainwater harvesting and easy drip irrigation. 

Below you’ll find budget-friendly options that are worth checking out for new homesteaders, as well as a few premium bundles frequently chosen by more seasoned home growers. 

Budget-Friendly Rainwater Collection Kits

You don’t need to spend a fortune to start harvesting rainwater. These budget-friendly picks are popular among home growers for their value and practicality. 

They range from classic 50-gallon barrels to a whopping 100-gallon collapsible tank – proof that even on a budget, you can store plenty of free rainwater for your garden.

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1. RTS Home Accents 50-Gallon ECO Rain Barrel (Recycled & Reliable)

If you’re looking for a solid starter rain barrel that doesn’t break the bank, the RTS Home Accents 50-Gallon ECO Rain Barrel is a top contender. 

This flat-back barrel is made from 100% recycled plastic, which not only makes it eco-friendly but also gives it a nice, sturdy feel. 

The flat side sits snug against your house, so it’s a top pick for small spaces like the side of a shed or garage. 

At ~50 gallons capacity, it’s just the right size for most beginner gardens – not too huge, but enough to catch a surprising amount of rain (remember, one good downpour can easily fill a 50-gal barrel!).

Despite its affordable price, the RTS barrel comes with thoughtful features. It has a mesh screen on top to keep out leaves, bugs, and neighborhood curious critters. 

There’s a front brass spigot at the bottom for hooking up your hose or drip line, and an overflow connection to link another barrel or direct excess water away. 

Many users like to daisy-chain two of these together using the included linking kit, effectively doubling their capacity when needed. 

(Yes, hoarding rainwater can get addictive – you start with one barrel and next thing you know, you’re connecting three!). The good news is the RTS barrel makes expansion easy with its built-in ports.

A casual tip: elevate this barrel on cement blocks or a stand if you can. The higher the barrel, the better the water pressure. This model has a flat bottom, so it’s stable on level ground, but raising it a foot or two will make it much easier to fill a watering can or power a dripline.

2. VINGLI 100 Gallon Collapsible Rain Barrel (Big Capacity on a Budget)

Need more water storage but short on space (or cash)? The VINGLI 100 Gallon Collapsible Rain Barrel might be your go-to option.

This thing holds a whopping 100 gallons when full, yet folds down flat when empty – perfect for seasonal use or if you don’t want a giant barrel permanently in your yard.

It’s basically a heavy-duty PVC tank that pops up with support rods, and it’s frequently chosen by home growers who want maximum rain harvest without a permanent bulky drum.

Despite the bargain price (often around the cost of a fancy dinner date), the VINGLI barrel has some sweet features.

The material is a tough anti-corrosion PVC mesh fabric supported by a PVC frame, designed to handle the elements without cracking.

In fact, unlike traditional rigid barrels, this one can even handle a bit of freezing without splitting – great if you live where winters get chilly.

The top has a fine mesh cover that keeps leaves and mosquitoes out (because nobody wants a mosquito breeding pool). It comes with a spigot and an overflow valve pre-installed.

When the barrel fills up, excess water can exit via the overflow, or you can use that fitting to connect another collapsible barrel in series.

One of the coolest perks

When dry, you can break this barrel down and store it in a garage or shed – it folds into a surprisingly small package.

If you have a tiny yard or you rent and can’t have permanent installations, a collapsible design is a top pick for small spaces and portability.

Many urban gardeners love that they can set it up for the rainy season and tuck it away in summer if needed.

A note for beginners: because this barrel is so large, it gets heavy when full (100 gallons = 800+ lbs of water!). Make sure you place it on a sturdy, level surface and ideally elevate it a bit (the bottom spigot is fairly low).

3. FCMP Outdoor 50-Gallon Rain Catcher (Expandable & Sturdy)

For a slightly more upscale budget option, the FCMP Outdoor Raincatcher 4000 (50-Gallon) is a beloved workhorse. Think of it as the well-built rain barrel that’s in it for the long haul.

It’s frequently recommended for gardeners who foresee expanding their rainwater setup over time.

What’s special about the FCMP Raincatcher?

First off, it’s got a flat-back design so it hugs up against your house nicely.

The front side is a rounded rustic brown (with a wood-grain look) that doesn’t scream “plastic barrel” at first glance – form and function!

On top, there’s a large removable mesh screen to filter debris and allow easy access for cleaning or dunking a watering can. It includes not one but two spigots: one at the bottom for your hose or drip line, and another midway up the side.

Why two?

The side spigot is part of an expandable linking system – you can connect multiple FCMP barrels together using a hose so that when one fills, it overflows into the next.

If you think you might want to add a second (or third) barrel later, this FCMP makes it plug-and-play simple (no drilling required – just use the side ports and the included overflow hose & linking kit).

Durability is another strong suit here. The barrel is made from UV-inhibited, BPA-free polyethylene, which is a fancy way of saying it can sit out in the sun and rough weather for years without degrading.

In fact, FCMP (a Canadian company with 30+ years in outdoor products) designed it for long-term use – so this is not a flimsy thin plastic bin, but a solid rain barrel that can take a beating.

Setting up the Raincatcher is straightforward.

It comes with an overflow adaptor and tubing; you’ll still need a downspout diverter or a way to direct gutter water into it (the top opening is wide, so some folks simply position it under a gutter outlet or use a diverter kit).

Once installed, maintenance is low – check the mesh for debris occasionally and rinse it out before winter.

If you live in a freeze-prone area, you’ll either want to drain it before a hard freeze or ensure it’s only about half full (to give ice room to expand). The spigots are good quality plastic and standard hose thread.

All in all, the FCMP 50-Gallon is frequently chosen by home growers who want a reliable, upgradable rain barrel.

Casual tip: No matter which barrel you choose, consider adding a simple soaker hose or drip kit to the spigot – that’s where the magic of gravity-fed drip irrigation comes in. More on those in a moment!

But first, let’s look at some premium options for those who want an all-in-one setup or a few more bells and whistles.

Premium Rain Barrel & Drip Irrigation Options

Got a bit more budget to play with, or looking for extra convenience?

These premium picks bundle useful features (like integrated diverters or specialized drip systems) that can make your rainwater setup even smoother.

They’re popular among avid homesteaders who are serious about rain harvesting – or anyone who doesn’t mind spending a tad more for gear that’s super user-friendly.

Let’s explore a couple of top choices in the premium range.

4. Good Ideas Rain Wizard 50 Barrel with Diverter (Complete Starter Kit)

If you’re the type who loves a turn-key solution, the Good Ideas Rain Wizard 50 (with Diverter Kit) is basically a rainwater-harvesting starter bundle in a box.

This 50-gallon barrel includes everything you need to start collecting rain off your roof, right out of the gate.

That means the rain barrel and a downspout diverter are packaged together, already matched and ready to go – no guessing which size diverter fits, no separate purchases.

It’s all in one, which is a big reason this bundle is frequently chosen by beginners who want an easy entry into rain harvesting.

The barrel itself has a classic look – a faux oak barrel design that comes in various colors (Khaki, Green, Black, Oak, etc., to blend with your house or landscape).

Features

It’s made of sturdy BPA-free resin, so you won’t have to worry about rust or rot, and it’s sealed on top except for a mesh-covered opening where the diverter feeds water in.

That sealed design is intentional: it helps keep mosquitoes out and also creates a “closed” system where overflow water goes back through the diverter into your downspout once the barrel is full.

In other words, no overflowing mess – the included downspout diverter automatically sends excess water back down the gutter once your barrel fills up.

This is a very handy feature, especially if your barrel is next to your house and you don’t want water pooling around the foundation.

The brass spigot on the front is high quality and positioned to fill watering cans or attach a hose.

Good Ideas even gives you an additional overflow spout near the top, in case you want to link another barrel or just have a safety outlet. But as mentioned, the diverter system handles overflow elegantly.

The diverter itself (which fits a standard downspout) can be easily disconnected come winter or whenever you want to store the barrel – it has a quick-connect that lets you pop the barrel out and cap the downspout return.

Setup is straightforward

You’ll cut a section out of your downspout to insert the diverter (don’t worry, it comes with instructions and all the parts).

Once installed, you can forget about it; every time it rains, the barrel will fill, and when it’s full, extra water just continues down your normal downspout path. No babysitting required!

For homesteaders with a busy schedule (or a penchant for convenience), the Rain Wizard 50 kit is worth checking out because it removes a lot of the DIY guesswork.

You’re not hunting for separate fittings or making your own overflow – it’s all been designed to work together.

It’s also a great option if you have a small space or a patio garden: you get efficient water collection without an open-top barrel sitting out.

5. BlueBarrel Gravity-Fed Drip Irrigation Kit (Rainwater to Garden, Made Easy)

Alright, let’s talk drip irrigation – the peanut butter to our rain barrel’s jelly.

The BlueBarrel Gravity-Fed Drip Irrigation Kit is a specialized package that turns any rain barrel (or tank/cistern) into a garden-watering hero.

If the Rain Wizard above handles the catching, BlueBarrel handles the watering. This kit doesn’t include the barrel itself; instead, it’s all the hoses, emitters, and fittings you need to create a low-pressure drip system that runs off of gravity (no pump, no tap pressure – just the water from your barrel).

It’s frequently chosen by home growers who want to automate garden watering using the rainwater they’ve collected.

So what’s in the box?

The BlueBarrel kit is a 45-piece set that includes 50 feet of 1/2″ mainline tubing and 100 feet of 1/4″ emitter tubing pre-drilled with inline drippers every 12 inches.

It also comes with a bunch of connectors, valves, and end caps to customize your layout for up to 10 rows of plants (covering about 250 square feet of garden area).

In plain English: you get enough tubing to snake around a good-sized vegetable patch or a series of raised beds, and all the little pieces to connect it together neatly.

The emitters are built into the smaller lines, which simplifies things – you just lay the lines near your plants, and water seeps out at each emitter point slowly.

The key feature

This system is designed for zero-pressure or low-pressure water sources – exactly what a rain barrel provides.

Typical store-bought drip irrigation kits assume you’ll hook to a pressurized house faucet (10+ PSI); if you tried those on a barrel without a pump, you’d get weak or uneven watering.

BlueBarrel’s emitters and tubing are optimized for gravity, meaning even with just a few feet of water head, the drippers will flow.

It’s a no-pump, no-electricity solution. Just elevate your barrel a bit, hook the kit’s tubing to your barrel spigot (often it’s as simple as attaching a provided adapter to the spigot), and let physics handle the rest.

As long as the water level in the barrel is above the garden, you’re in business.

Many homesteaders pair this kit with multiple rain barrels (BlueBarrel, in fact, started as a company helping people set up arrays of barrels).

If you have, say, two or four barrels linked, you can feed the combined output into one drip network – great for larger gardens.

Tips: When using a gravity drip kit: use a filter on your barrel’s outlet if possible, to keep debris out of the drip lines (some diverter kits include basic filters; if not, BlueBarrel sells an inline filter accessory). Clean water ensures your emitters don’t clog.

Useful Accessories for Rain Barrel Irrigation

To round out your rain-barrel-plus-drip setup, here are a few accessories and add-ons that are worth having.

These will make your system more efficient, easier to use, and even safer for your plants. Think of them as the supporting cast to your main rain barrel & drip irrigation stars:

Downspout Diverter

To get water from your gutter into your barrel, a diverter is essential (unless you’re literally sticking the barrel under a roof corner and hoping for the best).

A popular choice is the Oatey Mystic Rainwater Collection System, which fits standard 2″x3″ downspouts.

This little device sits in-line in your downspout and redirects water into the barrel until it’s full, then sends excess down the normal route.

The Oatey diverter is inexpensive and frequently chosen by home growers – it has thousands of positive reviews.

It’s easy to install (just a couple cuts in your downspout) and comes with a hose attachment that leads to your barrel’s lid or intake.

If your home has larger 3″x4″ downspouts, look for a diverter made for oversized spouts (they exist too, often with adjustable valves).

Bottom line: a diverter saves you from having to cut huge holes in your barrel or deal with overflow messes. It’s a must-have accessory for a neat and efficient rain harvesting system. 

First-Flush Diverter

Not to be confused with the above, a first-flush diverter is a smart add-on for water quality.

It’s basically a device that captures the first few gallons of dirty rooftop runoff (the “first flush” of rain) so that cleaner water goes into your main barrel.

Why?

The first flush often contains dust, bird droppings, and debris from your roof. By diverting that initial water to a small separate chamber, you prevent a lot of gunk from entering your big tank.

A popular unit is the Rain Harvesting First Flush Diverter Kit (model WDDS98, for example), which is highly rated.

It attaches to your downspout: when rain begins, the first couple gallons fill the flush chamber; once it’s full, cleaner water overflows into your barrel.

Later, a slow release valve empties the flush chamber automatically. This is a fantastic accessory if you plan to use rainwater for vegetable gardens or just want to minimize sludge in your barrel.

Rain Barrel Stand (or Base)

Remember how we mentioned elevating your barrel improves pressure and ease of use?

You can certainly DIY this with cinder blocks or wood, but for a more polished look consider a rain barrel stand.

These are designed to support the heavy load and often made to fit specific barrels.

For example, the Good Ideas Rain Wizard Barrel Stand is a heavy-duty plastic base that boosts the barrel about a foot and increases water pressure & flow (by using gravity to your advantage).

It also creates space to stick a watering can under the spigot. Whether you buy a stand or build one, definitely plan for elevating the barrel.

Even an extra 11 inches off the ground can make a noticeable difference in how fast water comes out and how easy it is to fill containers.

If you opt to purchase, make sure the stand is rated for the size/weight of your barrel (a full 50-gallon barrel is ~400 lbs).

Linking Kit

As you get the hang of rainwater harvesting, you might add more barrels to collect even more water (hey, it happens!).

A linking kit is basically a hose and set of fittings that connect one barrel’s overflow to another’s intake.

Some barrels (like the FCMP we mentioned) come with one. If yours didn’t, you can buy universal linking kits or even just use a short piece of garden hose with the right adapters.

This accessory isn’t needed on day one, but it’s good to know about. Linking barrels means when the first barrel fills, excess water automatically flows into the next barrel, and so on, keeping all barrels at equal levels.

It’s an easy way to expand capacity without needing additional diverters on every barrel. So, keep it in mind if you catch the rain barrel bug and add more units.

Inline Filter and Other Bits

To keep your drip emitters happy, consider an inline filter on your barrel’s outlet (some drip kits include this). It catches fine particles that could clog tiny drip holes.

They’re usually simple screens you can rinse out occasionally.

Also, a hose adapter might be useful – for instance, converting a barrel’s spigot (which might be ¾″ garden thread) to a ½″ drip tubing connector.

Most kits include what you need, but adapters are cheap if you need extras or different sizes.

Lastly, if you want to automate things, there are battery-powered timers made for low pressure.

You could set one to release water from your barrel drip system at certain times. It’s a bit of a luxury (and one more thing to maintain), but worth noting for the future.

And one more pro tip for the road: if you live somewhere that gets cold winters, don’t forget to winterize your setup.

That means draining the barrel (water expands when frozen – you don’t want a burst barrel) and either removing the diverter or flipping it to “closed” so water doesn’t accumulate and freeze in your system.

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Starting a rain barrel and drip irrigation system is one of those homestead projects that pays you back year after year.

You’ll conserve water, save on bills, and your plants will love the gentle, deep watering.

Plus, there’s a certain joy in being out in the garden during a light rain, knowing that every drop is either feeding your soil or being saved for a sunny day.

With the right starter bundle – be it a budget 50-gallon barrel or a premium all-in-one kit – you’ll be well on your way to a more self-sufficient (and sustainable) garden.

Happy harvesting and happy watering! 🌧️💧🌻